Globalization and war
Globalization is “the cluster of technological, economic and political processes that drastically reduce the barriers to economic exchange across borders.” (Richard Rosecrance). It leads to increased economic interdependence, which can be defined as two or more countries depending on each other by trading and performing economic transactions that benefit their economies. Globalization does not make major militarized conflict between states obsolete. Rather, globalization only minimizes militarized conflict between state actors with similar interests. Major militarized conflict between states is still possible because war is inevitable, and globalization/increased economic interdependence has empowered multinationals, thereby increasing their influence in bringing about war and conflict.
War is inevitable because International Politics is characterized by anarchy. With no central authority to enforce rules or regulations, each state’s main concern is security and will compete and fight each other to ensure their own safety. According to Waltz, anarchy is characterized by self-help behavior among states, and that limits cooperation between states in the international system. Even though states might trade under globalization, they still often seek to produce as much as they can for their own population. Overall, globalization is a just a way for states to ensure they can produce enough to sustain their own economies.
Since globalization helps states advance their own interests, the economy of each state often improves, which allows them to be able to focus more of their profit gains on security. The big bang of globalization wasn’t fully integrated into the global economy until the 19th century and since then, we have still had major militarized conflict. During and after the 19th century, there have been 3 major wars within the sovereign system; Crimean War, World War I and World War II. Each of the super powers in the Crimean War was the same ones in the other
War is inevitable because International Politics is characterized by anarchy. With no central authority to enforce rules or regulations, each state’s main concern is security and will compete and fight each other to ensure their own safety. According to Waltz, anarchy is characterized by self-help behavior among states, and that limits cooperation between states in the international system. Even though states might trade under globalization, they still often seek to produce as much as they can for their own population. Overall, globalization is a just a way for states to ensure they can produce enough to sustain their own economies.
Since globalization helps states advance their own interests, the economy of each state often improves, which allows them to be able to focus more of their profit gains on security. The big bang of globalization wasn’t fully integrated into the global economy until the 19th century and since then, we have still had major militarized conflict. During and after the 19th century, there have been 3 major wars within the sovereign system; Crimean War, World War I and World War II. Each of the super powers in the Crimean War was the same ones in the other