Globalization, dwindling state power, and the asymmetric forces challenge

Abstract

The vast and yet growing body of literature on the subject of globalization and the state suggests a cause-effect relationship in which the former is the cause of the latter’s declining power, in the face of the credible challenge of asymmetrical forces. However, this paper takes a different stand that, far from being the cause, globalization is merely the environment, a historical stage, within which a third variable creates an HIV-like condition on the state and which has enabled opportunistic asymmetrical elements to contest with the state for power and space. We intend to demonstrate that the real culprit is an agglomeration of interests and movements espousing pseudo-liberal tendency that has undermined the capability of the state, and has evened the odds for the asymmetrical forces. We will identify the trends of this tendency and the methodology of their operation. This discussion takes place within the frameworks of classical liberalism and Thomas Ferguson’s investment theory of party competition. This paper method is entirely analytical, relying on existing literature but putting the facts in their proper perspectives.