The nation-state has never acted in vacuum and the very fact of interaction amongst them could lead to some form of integration or consolidation or association, transcending the logic of national boundary. Broadly, three forms of association or supra-national integration could be observed: politico-military associations in the form of military blocs, economic associations in the form of regional economic or trade cooperation and cultural associations. These three may not operate exclusively of each other but may feed and get fed by the other. Further, they generally involve some form of regionalism.
Politico-military blocs like NATO and Warsaw Pact affected the operation of nation-states during the cold war periods by setting bloc priorities over the priorities of the nation-states in terms of communist and capitalist goals. In the post–cold-war era, NATO continues to exist and in the absence of its original opposition (the communist bloc states), keeps looking for, and in many cases creates new enemies. In fact, after the formal declaration of end of cold war, NATO has extended its membership to even newly liberated states, who were part of erstwhile Warsaw Pact bloc. NATO acts on the doctrine of collective defence, which stands for the principle that aggression or violation of national security of one nation-state is considered as aggression and violation of all the members. This doctrine of collective defence gives a new dimension to the concept of national security and arguably makes the nation-state no longer the primary focus of a standing national army. It may be added that the UN also enshrines the concept of collective security as the basis of international peace and security. Both these concepts have led to military interventions in the affairs of other nation-states.
During the bloc politics of the cold war, external sovereignty of many states was influenced by the First and the Second World conflict. However, most of the post-colonial/underdeveloped and developing states sought to maintain their autonomy of decision-making in the form of a movement and a foreign policy doctrine called Non-Alignment. Non-Alignment stands for policy of independence and autonomy maintained by a group of post-colonial/underdeveloped and developing countries in their decision-making and a strategy of equidistance from the bloc politics. Non-Alignment, as such, seemingly provides a basis for protecting external sovereignty. However, in the wake of our discussion on neo-colonialism, it may be argued that whatever independence non-alignment would have secured could get neutralized by the impact of neocolonialism on sovereignty.
In contemporary times, supra-national organizations and regional economic groups and common trade and monetary arrangements are visible. The likes of the Group of 8 (G-8), industrially and economically advanced countries which also includes Russia, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the South Asia Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and most of all, the European Union (EU), are prime examples of external process that in some way or the other affect the traditional concept of a sovereign state. In fact, in some of the cases, there are tendencies towards supra-national integration. For example, the European Union is an attempt to create what has been termed by some writers as ‘European super-nation’.135
Growing importance of regional and continental economic groupings emerges from the needs and interests of business, trade and market on a wider scale. The supra-national groupings are to facilitate better trade and commerce between the members, evolve a common currency and monetary system, minimize intra-and inter-regional competitions, harness common resources for collective benefits, etc.
It has been argued by international economists, like Fred Bergstein, that regionalism because of integrating and locking the different national economies into some kind of trade, monetary and economic association, could prove to be beneficial for emergence of integrated world economy. This argument is based on the presumption that autarchic and isolated economies could be locked in regional and supra-national bonds, in this way. However, on the contrary, some others have argued that regionalism and globalization are two contradictory processes and regional economic groups may not augur well for a world economic order being sought under the WTO process. WTO has come to be accepted by the member countries as a regulator and facilitator of world trade. At the same time, economic regionalism by giving certain preferential treatments to member states violates many clauses of the WTO agreements. Either way, the nation-states are not in full control and regulation of their trade, commerce and economic transactions and hence the sovereign decision-making is largely affected.
Besides, politico-military and regional economic supra-nation organizations, there are also efforts to transcend national identity and boundaries in cultural sense. This has reflected in mobilizing consciousness and forging pan cultural identities. Instances of this supra-national cultural process could be found in the movements like pan-Arabism, pan-Africanism, pan Europeanism, pan-Latin-Americanism, pan-Slavism etc., In case of pan-Arabism and pan-Africanism; in fact, seeking supra-national consciousness has been considered a solution to transcend the problem of lack of national consciousness where segmental and tribal affiliations beset any chance of emergence of national consciousness. People like Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt have been associated with these efforts. In Europe, Jean Monnet and the European Movement founded in 1948 in The Hague advocated pan-Europeanism.136 Pan-Europeanism has sought to advocate the distinct European bond and shared cultural and emotional experiences. This could probably be flowing from renaissance and other historical experience. However, none of these efforts has been successful and differences in Africa, Arab world and Europe vis-à-vis the difference on Maastricht Treaty could prove that pan-cultural efforts have failed at least for now.
Certain other supra-national forces have also emerged as a result of either economic process of globalization or espousal of global concerns. While emergence and operation of MNCs can be taken as example of the first category, birth of global NGOs like environmental groups, human rights groups and civil rights or anti-globalization activists, as examples of the second category.
Leave a Reply