Week 1 (e) 2024 Globalization & Global Politics PDF
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2020
Baylis, Smith & Owens
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These notes cover the topic of globalization and global politics, discussing the widening, deepening, and acceleration of worldwide connectivity. They analyze the complex and contradictory nature of globalization within the academy, highlighting different perspectives and case studies. The document also examines the historical context, definitions, and impacts of the topic.
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INTERPRETING | TOLKING This module provides interpreting into Afrikaans. Scan the QR code to listen to your lecture in Afrikaans. - Hierdie module verskaf tolking na Afrikaans. G...
INTERPRETING | TOLKING This module provides interpreting into Afrikaans. Scan the QR code to listen to your lecture in Afrikaans. - Hierdie module verskaf tolking na Afrikaans. Gebruik die QR-kode om na jou lesing in Afrikaans te luister. Type author names here WEEK 1 1. Globalization and global politics © Oxford University Press, 2020. All rights reserved. Globalization: a complex and contradictory phenomenon Globalization refers to the widening, deepening, and acceleration of worldwide connectivity or interconnectedness It simultaneously unifies and divides the world Its significance is contested within the academy Globalization is deeply detested by many, including advocates of nationalist populism (which is, itself, a global phenomenon) Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Mapping globalization (I) Nations, communities, and households are bound together in a global economy through complex webs of global trade, finance, and production networks Pre-2008 global financial crisis (GFC), economic globalization (measured by global flows of capital, trade, and production) reached historic levels This slowed immediately following the GFC, but global economic flows have for the most part recovered to levels near or above those at the turn of the twenty-first century Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Mapping globalization (II) Transnational corporations are key decision- makers in today’s global economy Contemporary globalization is associated with the revolutions in modern transport and communication technologies – Make it possible to manage intercontinental, just-in-time production networks and to mobilize like-minded people in virtual real time The scale and intensity of global connectivity has created highly complex systemic interdependencies that generate profound systemic risks Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Mapping globalization (III) Over the last four decades, there has been a dramatic growth in transnational and global forms of governance, rule-making, and regulation – With the expanding jurisdiction of global governance has come its deepening reach into the domestic affairs of states Global migration patterns have shifted – Migration is from Global South to Global North, and from East to West – Backlash has made this a contentious issue Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Analysing globalization (I) Globalization is a historical process characterized by: – Stretching of social, political, and economic activities to have a direct or indirect impact on all regions of the world – Intensification/growing magnitude of interconnectedness in almost all spheres of modern life – Accelerating pace of global flows and processes due to the evolution of worldwide systems of transport and communications – A deepening enmeshment of the local and global such that the domestic and international are indistinguishable Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Analysing globalization (II) Globalization is indicative of an unfolding structural change in the scale of human social and economic organization – Human affairs are no longer organized solely on a local or national territorial scale – Human affairs are increasingly organized on transnational, regional, and global scales However, this structural shift is not experienced uniformly worldwide (e.g. inclusivity, distributional consequences) There is an ongoing process of time-space compression and the deterritorialization and denationalization of power Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Globalization: A definition “a historical process involving a fundamental shift or transformation in the spatial scale of human social organization that links distant communities and expands the reach of power relations across regions and continents” Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Debating globalization Theoretical disagreements concern the descriptive and explanatory value of globalization scholarship Sceptics: globalization is a highly exaggerated and superficial phenomenon that distracts attention from the primary forces which determine world politics (e.g. hegemony or imperialism) Globalists: globalization is a primary source of disruptive change in world politics – Transformationalists: a group of globalists who argue that this disruptive change is associated with significant transformations, creating a more profoundly complex, dangerous, and unpredictable world Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The crisis of globalization and the liberal world order (I) The GFC gave momentum to a resurgence of nationalist populism and widespread public disenchantment in the West with the ‘system’ which produced and ‘fixed’ it Three developments challenge the legitimacy of the international consensus that promoted and sustained globalization and the post-war Western liberal order itself 1. Global populist revolt 2. Drift toward authoritarianism 3. Return of great power rivalry Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The crisis of globalization and the liberal world order (II) Will these developments bring the end of globalization and the liberal world order? Sceptics: principally symptomatic of the underlying (relative) decline of US power – Scale and implications for world politics are exaggerated Globalists are split: – Liberals: indicate a return to a dystopian world without a rules-based order, where might is right – Transformationalists: crises have been exaggerated; a new post-Western global order is emerging alongside a resurgence of new forms of globalization Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Globalization and the transformation of world politics Globalization scholarship challenges the state- centric, Western-centric, and static analysis of traditional approaches to the study of world politics There are several important transformations associated with globalization: – From (state-centric) international politics to (geocentric) global politics – From a liberal world order to a post-Western global order – From intergovernmentalism to global governance Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case study I: Rubbishing globalization—crisis in toxic trade Beijing’s 2017 decision to ban the import of all recycled waste led to the near collapse of the global trade in recycled waste in 2018 – Ban has diverted recycling exports from the West to other countries across Asia (e.g. Thailand) – Ban has also resulted in diversion of recyclable waste to landfills Resistance to the trade has mobilized across Asia, Europe, and the US at all levels of governance Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case Study II: Globalization 4.0—the next phase Two developments are leading globalization into a new phase: Digital globalization – Global e-commerce – Services sectors – Globotics Globalization ‘with Chinese characteristics’ – Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): financing and construction of infrastructure projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Central Asia Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Opposing Opinions: Globalization is eroding the power and sovereignty of the state For: Against: States are impotent in the face State power is not in decline of global markets States are not ceding power or States are ceding power in key sovereignty to unelected areas to unelected global and international bureaucracies regional institutions Globalization is part of the States are increasingly solution to states’ growing vulnerable to disruption or vulnerabilities violence orchestrated from Challenges to democracy result abroad from domestic factors, not States are experiencing an globalization erosion of democracy States have greater capacity to Many states appear ineffective control borders than ever in controlling immigration before Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Type author names here 2. The rise of modern international order © Oxford University Press, 2020. All rights reserved. Introduction International orders are regularized practices of exchange among separate political units that recognize each other as independent World history has seen many regional international orders, but only over the past two centuries has there been a modern, global international order Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe ‘The West’ The contemporary international order is dominated by Western ideas and institutions ‘The West’ is usually defined as Europe (especially northern and western) and the Americas (especially the United States) The ‘rise of the West’ occurred only recently, over the past two or three centuries Many aspects of its rise can be traced to international processes Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Historical international orders (I) Some accounts trace the historical origins of international orders all the way back to Sumer However, most accounts begin with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, which allegedly established the principle of ‘sovereign territoriality’ Critiques of the Westphalian narrative: – Westphalia was a local affair, not a European-wide agreement – The gains of Westphalia were relatively slight – Westphalia set limits to the principle of sovereignty established in 1555 Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Historical international orders (II) Stressing other forms of ‘regularized practices of exchange’ yields alternative starting points More recently, scholars have argued that the modern international order emerged in the last two centuries, when various regional systems were forged into a deeply interdependent, global international order Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe How did modern international order emerge? (I) A ‘great divergence’ occurred between East and West during the nineteenth century It was fueled by a global intensification in the circulation of people, ideas, and resources (interdependence) Key international dimensions – European imperialism – European powers assumed control, often coercively, over the trade of many commodities – Western advances arose from the emulation and fusion of non-Western ideas and technologies Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe How did modern international order emerge? (II) The great divergence is linked to three main dynamics: 1. Industrialization – Helped to dramatically expand the world market, which brought new opportunities to accumulate power – Industrialization in West linked to deindustrialization elsewhere Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe How did modern international order emerge? (III) 2. Rational states – States became organized by abstract bureaucracies, and assumed greater control over the use of force within their territory 3. Imperialism – Took various forms, but was deeply destructive Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The consequences of the global transformation: Shrinking the planet The infrastructural gains prompted by the global transformation made communications (and therefore trade) far faster and cheaper Enabled by steamships, railways, and the telegraph – Steamships and railways underpinned the division of labor between an industrial ‘core’ and a commodity- producing ‘periphery’ Together, they helped construct a global economy and a single space of political-military interactions, while increasing cultural encounters Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The consequences of the global transformation: IGOs and INGOs The emergence of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) resulted from the demands for international coordination and standardization produced by technological change A variety of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) also emerged – Some INGOs formed in response to the inequities of industrialization or to put pressure on states to democratize Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The consequences of the global transformation: Inequality The global transformation generated a deeply unequal international order ‘Scientific’ racism argued that it was possible and desirable to establish a political hierarchy based on biological markers – Resulted in the formation of an international order premised in large measure on a ‘global colour line’ and its accompanying ‘standard of civilization’ – Further strengthened by settler colonialism Economic exploitation: profits from capitalist expansion helped to forge an unequal global economy Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case study I: The standard of civilization The ‘standard of civilization’ referred to the idea that people could be ranked culturally and/or racially Distinctions were made between the ‘civilized’ world of the white West, ‘barbarians’ (mostly light-skinned people with an urban ‘high culture’), and ‘savages’ (mostly dark-skinned people without an urban ‘high culture’) These distinctions formed the basis for a range of international practices and for how Western powers interacted with other peoples Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case study II: Imperialism with Chinese characteristics During the nineteenth century, Western powers pressed China to open to higher levels of trade The Treaty of Nanjing marked the first of a series of unequal treaties, under which China was forced to make concessions to Britain and other Western powers China was further weakened by domestic unrest China’s experience of Western imperialism was deeply destructive Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Opposing Opinions: The rise of the West was the result of its own strengths For: Against: The West alone had inclusive Very few, if any, of the political institutions materials that were The Englightenment promoted fundamental to the rise of the new forms of scientific thinking West originated from within The West pioneered a range Western societies of new economic practices For many centuries, Asian The West enjoyed unusually powers were held in respect beneficial geographical in many parts of Europe circumstances European success was based on imperialism European power was premised on multiple forms of inequality Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Type author names here 3. International history of the 20th century © Oxford University Press, 2020. All rights reserved. Modern total war I The nature of this war (length, geographic reach, associated costs and casualties) changed the very perception of what war was In the Versailles Peace Treaty were lodged the seeds of a more serious conflict still to come, as victor unity was lacking, and new borders were contested A ‘side effect’ was the creation of the USSR Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Modern total war II German revanchism and the Great Depression destabilized the already weak post WWI world order Liberal democracy was in many places pushed back by communism, Nazism and fascism (and attendant ideological preferences) Arms development rendered many existing defensive military strategies obsolete Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Rise and fall of Japan Japanese aggression against Manchuria in 1931 was met by ineffective international responses (an example of League of Nations ineffectiveness) Japan invaded China in 1937 US sanctions against Japan precipitated the surprise Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 Japan was defeated in 1945, and the world entered the nuclear age Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe End of Empire Decolonization after WWII was influenced by many factors including attitude of the colonial power; the ideology and strategy of anti-imperialist forces; and the role of external powers Between 1947 and 1980, 49 British territories were granted independence (mostly peacefully) France tried harder to hold on to colonial (or national’ in the case of Algeria) territories Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe European decolonization 1945-80 Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Onset of the Cold War (1945-53) The end of WWII was swiftly followed by a ‘cold war’ between the Western allies and the Soviet Union and its allies The Marshall plan, though notionally open to all European countries, aided economic recovery in Western Europe, and strengthened ties with the US The Truman Doctrine aimed to contain Soviet expansion Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Cold War NATO was established in 1949 A founding principle was that an attack on one NATO member was to be considered an attack on all The rearmament of West Germany in 1954 precipitated the creation of the Warsaw Pact, and further military build-ups The world was not as neatly divided between the super-powers as is sometimes thought: a case in point is the Middle East Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Cold War A slight thawing of relations occurred in the late 1950s Crises in (particularly) Berlin and Cuba led to the possibility of direct military confrontation 1969-79: rise and fall of détente SALT I (1972) & II (1979) 1979-86 (‘second cold war’) Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Cold War 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev became Premier à glasnost (openness) à perestroika (restructuring) Revision of the hardline Brezhnev Doctrine restored sovereignty in many USSR nations The fall of the Soviet Union marked the end of the cold war, but did not result in nuclear disarmament Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case Study I: China’s cold wars After a long struggle, the Communist Party under Mao Zedong came to power in 1949 The Great Leap Forward launched in 1958 resulted in widespread famine Relations with the Soviet Union gradually went sour China’s regional interests clashed with those of the US until a rapprochement in the 1970s Reforms in the 1980s stabilized the situation Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case Study II: The Cuban Missile Crisis Oct. 1962: US discovered that Soviets were secretly deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba Kennedy responded with naval blockade The crisis was resolved 6 days after US announced the blockade The risk of inadvertent nuclear war through misperception, the actions of subordinates and organizational failures was much greater than believed at the time The crisis led to progress made towards the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963 Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Opposing Opinions: The use of the atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified For Against It was decisive in bring The war was already won about Japanese surrender Targetting cities was morally and ending the Pacific wars wrong when other options Bombing several targets existed was necessary to shock The bomb helped to create Tokyo into surrender the cold war Other military options could The event fuelled nuclear not have ended the war as proliferation by swiftly demonstrating the The event has served to destructiveness of nuclear strengthen the nuclear weapons taboo Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Type author names here 4. From the end of the cold war to a new world dis-order? © Oxford University Press, 2020. All rights reserved. The Cold War – some characteristics 1944–89 Concerned: superpowers (USA; USSR) Emergent protectorates caused a global ideological divide into a communist ‘East’ and a capitalist ‘West’ (Nuclear) arms race led to a security dilemma between the two superpowers The attendant reduction or concentration of conflicts created its own form of stability However, few envisioned the end of the bipolar system (and thus the end of Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe the cold war) The US and the unipolar moment The collapse of the Soviet Union left the United States the overwhelmingly dominant force in the world Clinton administration: Concentrated on economic engagement and leverage Pushed hard for NATO enlargement Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe After the Soviet Union Key challenges: Securing control of formerly Soviet nuclear weapons Displacement of ethnic/national Russians now located outside their home country Defining Russia’s relationship to former Soviet states Transition from a centralized, planned system to a competitive market economy Rise of Putin and deteriorating relations between Russia and the West Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Europe: rise and decline? Initial optimism for the new united Europe, with its open borders, democratic institutions, and reduced external threats Key debates: Whether to set up specific European security arrangements or remain closely tied to the US The role of the nation-state and the reach and depth of the EU Extent of state involvement in economy ‘Enlargement’ of the EU Europe: strong economic and soft power, but weaker militarily ‘Sick man of the West’: challenges of Brexit; migration Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe A new Asian century? After WWII, the continent was plagued by cold war/superpower-led conflicts Post-cold war Asia has been relatively stable and peaceful despite simmering tensions In spite of some bleak predictions the region underwent rapid economic development and created some important institutions (e.g. ASEAN) China is the main economic engine, but its ascent has also increased regional tension Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe A new global South The Third World affected, and was very much affected by, cold war dynamics The ‘Third World’ as a political project was intended to bring ‘real’ independence from the West In many cases it was brought down by corruption and instability The imposition of Western-style structural reforms and debt servicing has left both burdens and a lingering resentment Frustration in the new global South has motivated millions to migrate to the North Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe From 9/11 to the Arab Spring 9/11 was a major turning point in modern international relations The new sort of terrorist threat meant that old defense methods were less relevant Although the Bush administration’s war of self- defense in Afghanistan was legitimate, its war of choice in Iraq was a great strategic error The Arab Spring led to instabilities that now threaten the Middle East and the West Among these, Syria has been extremely costly and intractable Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe From Obama to Trump Obama’s election resulted from: The increasingly unpopular war in Iraq The severe economic crisis in 2008 Obama’s foreign policy aimed to restore US soft power standing in the world, while recognizing new economic realities in Asia and drawing home US troops from the Middle East Trump’s nationalist foreign policy and skepticism of globalization unsettled world politics and raised questions about the future role of the US Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case Study I: Russia and the West: a new cold war? Indications of a ‘new’ cold war: Russian military interventions in Georgia and Ukraine Murders of Russian journalists Targeted assassinations outside Russia Meddling in the Baltic Republics Cyberwar and disinformation campaigns Ukraine Critics agree that the two sides are at odds, but argue that ‘cold war’ referred to a historically specific, ideologically driven conflict between the West and the USSR in which the two sides were kept apart Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case Study II: Populism, globalization, and the end of the liberal order? Rise of a new nationalist or populist politics since 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 Identifies distant metropolitan elites as the problem, immigrants and refugees as a threat, and globalization as a challenge to economic security Characterized by the election of Trump in the US and ‘Brexit’ in the UK What are the implications for the future of the liberal world order? Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Opposing Opinions: The 21st Century will be Asian For Against Asia’s GDP is rising quickly Asia’s economic rise is and will exceed that of the largely dependent on the US and the EU combined by Western economic model mid-century Western countries remain The Western-led leading powers in the global international order is economy, security, and declining education China has already begun to The countries of Asia have a take a more assertive role in strong sense of their own global affairs identities, but little common identity Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Type author names here 5. Rising powers and the emerging global order © Oxford University Press, 2020. All rights reserved. The post-cold war order (I) Three different liberal stories about the post-cold war world 1. A focus on non-state institutions and the cooperative logics of institutions 2. The Kantian idea of the gradual diffusion of liberal values resulting from ever tighter interdependence and a move towards global governance 3. Unipolarity: the US would be accepted as the system ‘owner’, and would exercise self-restraint in exchange for procedural legitimacy Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The post-cold war order (II) General liberal thoughts about the new era The ‘liberal Greater West’ had triumphed and was bound to increase its global reach Competing systems would gradually become part of the US-led ‘Western’ order Soft power would grow in importance Liberal ascendancy was more or less inevitable Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The post-cold war order (III) Other views on the stability of the US-led order Certain neo-realists argued that a US-led order was indeed inevitable because US power was so great that the idea of a balance of power had lost all meaning Critical political economists also foresaw stability because neo-liberal norms were disseminated through US-dominated institutions Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The US order under challenge (I) 9/11 challenged existing notions of unilateral power and its usefulness Human rights abuses by US forces (and others) eroded Western claims of moral superiority Large developing countries increased their diplomatic activism, and began to cooperate to push their own agendas—and in some cases resist ‘globalization’ This was present in both economic and political terms, illustrated by BRICS, IBSA, and BASICs COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine, Gaza, Trump 2.0… Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe The US order under challenge (II) The financial crisis that began in 2007 seemed to underscore the shift in relative economic weight toward emerging countries Recent developments such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the creation of the New Development Bank by the BRICS countries suggest the increasing global influence of rising powers Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case Study 1: The BRICs ‘BRICs’: Brazil, Russia, India, and China These countries have been seen as key emerging market economies because of their rising share of the world economy Analysts predicted that China and India would rise as principal suppliers of manufactured goods and services, while Russia and Brazil would be dominant suppliers of raw materials However, recently attention has shifted to the fragility and vulnerability of these economies BRICS+ is also a diplomatic grouping Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Case Study 2: Brazil Notion of Brazil as rising power emerged under President Luis Inácio Lula Lula urged Brazil to challenge unipolarity and strive toward more balanced multipolar world order: - reassert national autonomy - form coalitions with other developing states - increase bargaining power However, Brazil has become mired in economic and political problems Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Where is power shifting to? Two different perspectives: 1. Power shifting to major emerging states as part of the on-going dynamic of the rise and fall of great powers What will ‘they’ do with ‘their’ power? 2. More general diffusion of power: Multiplicity of actors who demand to be heard Diffusion of ideas/values, which has reopened questions of social, economic and political organization If true, predict less effective power, both within states and internationally Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe What is power? Essentially contested concept. Relational power: capacity to impose your will on others and resist attempts in the reverse Institutional power: ability to control the agenda (what is left out of discussions?) Structural power: constitution of action and the material and discursive conditions for action Hard (military) vs. soft (getting others to emulate your society and its values) power Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Power for what? Lists of ‘power resources’ are not enough if we want to understand how different kinds of power shift from one society to another Key questions: Why is the shift in power important? What/who is it affecting? How do the countries that power is shifting towards matter politically/geopolitically? Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Impact of rising powers on international relations Realist/neorealists: rising powers matter because their growing material power disrupts the balance of power, resulting in conflict Liberal institutionalists: power shifts have been accompanied by an increased role for countries with more varied interests, preferences, and values, leading to collective action problems Critical political economists: should focus on the underlying structural changes in global capitalism rather than the rise and fall of great powers Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Beyond the BRICS Contrary to previous expectations, emerging powers (except China) are again secondary actors in global affairs Many emerging powers have experienced economic, social, and political difficulties The global system is now characterized by geopolitics, the structural instabilities, and inequalities of global capitalism and disruptive patterns of social and political mobilization The Westphalian state system remains durable Backlash and nationalist policies pose the biggest threat to global order Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Conclusion Nevertheless, studying the emerging and developing world remains relevant Vital to understanding the causes of current challenges to global order and debates on what kind of order is likely to emerge Today’s rising powers are unique because they are large, but relatively poor (with the exception of China) and because they have been historically positioned outside, or on the margins of, the ‘West’ A post-Western global order is developing, of which BRICS2.0 are just one part Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe Opposing Opinions: Today’s rising powers are powerful enough to affect international order For Against International society is now more US dominance of military global, and is constituted by a technology will ensure its global variety of actors willing and able hegemony to contest the Western, US-led The United States remains the order most central actor in Rising powers’ diplomatic determining the agenda of achievements have been international organizations considerable and persistent Rising powers (e.g. BRICS) Rising powers have gained face internal divisions that influence from their role in make it unlikely they will functional institutions that deal counter-balance US hegemony with pressing global challenges Baylis, Smith & Owens: The Globalization of World Politics 3xe