WHO GETS WHAT, WHEN AND
HOW IN THE GLOBAL ARENA?
July 2020
What is the global arena?
§ Usually associated with the following:
ú Diplomacy
ú States/countries
ú Cultures
ú United Nations
ú United States
ú the world economy
definition
§ According to Conway Henderson:
“ It is a question of WHO gets,
WHAT, WHEN and HOW in
matters external to the state”
WHO
§ Defined as the actors/players in
international arena
ú Two types
a) States – The Philippines, China, United
States, Zaire, Singapore etc.
b) Non-states– United Nations, terrorists,
multinational corporations, etc.
Sub: topic
§ What is a state?
§ There are a lot of
definitions of STATE.
§ From legal tradition to
Marxist perspective
§ Some would define it using
the 1933 Montevideo
Convention on the Rights
and Duties of States.
Article 1 of the Convention states:
The state as a person of
international law should
possess the following
qualifications:
A. permanent population;
B. defined territory;
C. government; and
D. capacity to enter into
relations with the other states
Other definitions of state
§ It is an instrument of
exploitation of the elite.
§ It has two apparatuses a)
repressive state apparatus
and b) ideological state
apparatus (Louis Althusser)
States are still the #1
§ It is the only actor (entity)
allowed to use legal violence
and force such as
declaration of war and use
of military and police.
§ It is the only entity that has
sovereignty
§ It can mobilize people and
resources towards a specific
course of action
WHAT
§ Objective or goals that must be
achieved.
§ This must be according to the
interests of the actor.
§ It could be political, economic,
cultural or social. It can be short term
or long term.
When
§ Matter of time or
duration
§ Two types
ú Routinary
ú Crisis /situation
How
§ Instruments on how to achieve
the goals or objectives
§ Two types
ú Persuasion
ú Coercion
Factors that made global
arena relevant
§ Security
§ Global Economy
§ Information and Communication
Technology
§ Health, Human Rights and Other
Issues
Security
§ Absence of threats
§ Feeling of being safe
§ It is both physical and mental
§ Associated with military, police, weapons,
etc.
§ But can an environmental crisis be considered
as a threat? Poverty? Economic crisis?
Threats
§ Two types
ú Actual threats
ú Perceived threats
§ Sources:
ú Internal
ú External
Two types of definition
§ Traditional definition
ú Still associated with military, police, weapons etc.
ú It is based on the idea that all states are paranoid.
ú Power preponderance (power projection)
ú High politics
§ New definition
ú It includes non military such as environmental,
poverty, economic crisis etc.
ú Issues that would impact the stability of states
Global economy
§ No man is an island
§ Interdependence
§ Two schools of thought
ú Capitalist based
Globalization
Investment/capital and technology driven
People and markets are critical component of the world
economy
Competitiveness and upgrading of skills and knowledge
Innovation
Continuation
§ Globalist
ú Exploitation
ú Human rights violations
ú Environmental degradation
ú Wall street versus Main street
ú Financial crisis
ú North-south divide
ú Beggar thy neighbor attitude
Immanuel Wallterstein’s view of the world
economy
Periphery
Semi- Periphery
Core
Information and Communication
Technology
§ Information and communication revolution
started in the 90s
§ the system and infrastructure tremendously
changed—much faster and more efficient
§ People are more connected than before
§ Data transfer, processing and analysis
§ Gave people– a sense of ownership and
participation
§ World economy is dependent
§ Created more opportunities
§ 24/7 and 365 days service
§ Privacy has been sacrificed
§ New forms of threats—cyber terrorism; e-based
scam etc
§ Redefined the concepts of time, space and
relations
§ Quality of life has been changed
Contiuation
§ Transnational issues affecting government
and people
§ Product of human interactions and
government actions
§ Connected with mobility
§ W. Brown said, “ The environment is the third
pillar of international relations.”
§ Scholars agree that the are more non political
and economics issues threatening states and
people
