Global Political Power Research Articles

South Africa's foreign policy and the strategy of soft power

The increasing importance of soft power in global politics is recognised both in the literature and among scholars and practitioners of international relations. There is a rich literature on the dimensions and characteristics of soft power in countries such as the US, China, Brazil, Norway and Canada. The application of soft power in analysing the activities of middle and regional powers/hegemons has also been extensively explored. However, this area of study has been neglected somewhat in South Africa's foreign policy literature, and has not been taken sufficiently seriously by practitioners, despite increasing evidence of the country's engagement of soft power. The article traces the sources of South Africa's soft power and contributes to the nascent discourse on establishing the usefulness of soft power for Pretoria. It argues that the opportunities inherent in soft power present a significant platform for South Africa to reassert itself as an accepted regional power, particularly in Africa, where its leadership is often contested.

Global Governance and Power Politics: Back to Basics

For many students of global governance who explore the myriad institutions, rules, norms, and coordinating arrangements that transcend individual states and societies, what really marks the contemporary era is not the absence of such governance but its “astonishing diversity.” In addition to “long-standing universal-membership bodies,” such as the United Nations, writes Stewart Patrick, “there are various regional institutions, multilateral alliances and security groups, standing consultative mechanisms, self-selecting clubs, ad hoc coalitions, issue-specific arrangements, transnational professional networks, technical standard-setting bodies, global action networks, and more.” The proliferation and diversification of governance mechanisms—yielding a jumble of formal and informal arrangements—has supplanted the simpler image of state representatives gathering at official assemblies. Many scholars believe this pluralism opens important new avenues for tackling a growing array of complex transnational problems, particularly at a time when the responsiveness of traditional multilateral institutions is being called into question.

Handcuffing the hegemon: The paradox of state power under unipolarity

The exercise of state power in global politics often involves a vexing paradox: strategies intended to create or project power may end up reducing it. Under unipolarity, the lack of structural constraints in the international system do as much to undermine hegemonic power as to magnify it. Through an examination of the structure and process of unipolar politics, the three works reviewed in this article investigate the unintended consequences of preponderant power, especially as it relates to American grand strategy. As such, the paradox of state power has direct implications for the durability and relative peacefulness of the unipolar politics.

The power of celebrities in global politics

The political commitment of celebrities is growing in scope and significance, especially when considering their increasing involvement in global politics. Bono is a prominent example of such a celebrity, who arguably has played a role in tripling the US budget for Africa. Even celebrities beyond the Anglo-Saxon context, such as the German singer and actress Heike Makatsch, have become globally esteemed celebrity activists. Scholars, however, face limits when it comes to assessing these individuals’ particular power in global politics. This article aims to develop a more complex understanding of how celebrities exercise power in global politics by first looking at theories of power and then considering how power plays out in two case studies of Bono and Makatsch as celebrity activists in global politics.

Importancia de la necesidad de la coerción mutua en la globalización o la descivilización progresiva

La falta de inclusión dentro del actual modelo de crecimiento económico global adoptado por la mayoría de países del mundo, se evidencia por la creciente brecha que se está generando entre ricos y pobres, este modelo económico capitalistaliberal, que privilegia al mercado sobre todas las cosas, alienta la lucha por una mayor competencia y la realización de transacciones financieras especulativas de mayores rendimientos desalentando producir bienes o brindar servicios que son esenciales para la vida, donde el capitalismo se ha convertido en una plutocracia, es decir, en una oligarquía donde se concentran grandes cantidades de dinero que además ostentan el poder político mundial. Según instituciones e investigadores de reconocido prestigio, indican que hay una desmedida ambición del 1% de la población mundial que no tiene reparos en condenar a la pobreza al 99% restante; indican que las 225 personas más ricas del mundo tienen un patrimonio que sumado superan el ingreso anual del 47% más pobre de la población, es decir cuentan con un ingreso equivalente a los ingresos de 2,500 millones de habitantes. Establecen que la máxima concentración de dinero se da en el capital financiero, específicamente en el sistema bancario global, el cual posee 60 veces más dinero que los propietarios del resto de negocios, fábricas, industrias de bienes y de otros tipos de servicios. Sin embargo hay que reconocer también que según información confiable, la pobreza actualmente no llega al 13% de la población mundial, cuando hace tan solo 140 años esta llegaba al 85%, lo cual podría estarnos indicando, que el aumento de las brechas mencionadas, es una preocupación exagerada. La liberalización económica ha permitido que nuestro país crezca a tasas líderes en forma sostenida en los últimos 10 años y que además, entre inicios de los 80 y mediados de la primera década de este siglo, China ha logrado sacar a más de 500 millones de personas de la pobreza y que India, el segundo país más poblado del mundo, reduzca su porcentaje de pobreza a la mitad. Otros indican que la causa de esta creciente brecha entre ricos y pobres es el desarrollo tecnológico el cual está ganando la carrera frente al capital humano y las habilidades organizacionales. Esta situación de distanciamiento entre ricos y pobres es insostenible en el tiempo, porque generan problemas de gobernabilidad. Si consideramos que el poder es la capacidad de controlar recursos, en consecuencia son los ricos quienes concentran el poder político mundial, lo que ha motivado y seguirán produciendo protestas y movimientos como de los “indignados” , “la primavera árabe” en el mundo, que quieren revertir estas grandes desigualdades e inequidades. La desigualdad en los ingresos y su consecuente creciente brecha entre ricos y pobres es motivo de preocupación y de diversos estudios de investigación para identificar un correcto diagnóstico y acertar en sus soluciones, dado que son muchas las variables monetarias y no monetarias cuya interrelación de efectos globales es muy difícil de analizar. Es por este motivo que en este artículo se revisan algunos aspectos históricos considerados relevantes en el actual contexto global, como la importancia del Banco Central Norteamericano, la existencia del dinero fiduciario, la China de hoy y su roll en la antigua confrontación ideológica entre el MERCADO y LA PLA NIFICACIÓN CENTRAL, la actual y progresiva desregulación bancaria del país central, la receta de la doctrina económica del Consenso de Washington, los desbalances globales, la inflación y las burbujas financieras, que explicarían las actuales consecuencias y situación del sistema monetario y financiero global en la que nos encontramos involucrados todos, planteándose algunas alternativas de solución, en sus efectos sobre la economía real y el bienestar social, como la necesidad de una mayor toma de conciencia colectiva global sobre la economía del bien común, a través de la necesidad de la coerción mutua a fin de lograr socializar adecuadamente los egoísmos, evitando una descivilización.

Cognitive Existentialism and the Global Politics of State Survival: The Nigeria/Cameroun Bakassi Conflict

This paper attempts to situate Nigeria’s capitulation to Cameroun in the Bakassi boundary conflict between the two nations within the context and logic of global politics driven by global states such as the United States of America, Great Britain, France and Germany. It makes a case for why and how a sub-regional war was averted within the Gulf of Guinea. The paper argued that although the crisis was a sub-regional inter-state boundary dispute which threatened to escalate into a sub-regional war within the Gulf of Guinea, it acquired a global stature within the context of the operational security architecture of AFRICOM that seeks to globalize security in the incipient second wave of neo-global governance. The crisis provided ample opportunity for the operationalization of the new geography of power in global politics, founded and driven by the mirror image of ‘cognitive existentialism’. The paper concludes that Obasanjo’s lowering of the Nigerian flag in Bakassi in the context of the new security architecture was fuelled more by the fears of an escalated anti-federal militant upsurge in the Niger Delta; the official records showing Bakassi as an oil axis; America’s incorporation of Bakassi into the Gulf of Guinea; the painful remembrance of the ugly Nigerian civil war experience; and America’s refusal to supply Nigeria arms in the event of a war with Cameroun, than by a global environment characterized by the low politics of environmental recreation, humanitarian intervention and the politics of human rights.

A térszerkezet és a geoökonómia

Az elmúlt néhány évtizedben kibontakozott és folytatódó transzformációk, mindenekelőtt a globalizáció, a hatalmi viszonyok átalakulása, az éleződő verseny, a demográfiai változások, a tudásalapú társadalom kibontakozása sokoldalúan befolyásolják bolygónk térszerkezetét. A változások új követelményeket támasztanak a földrajztudományban és a kapcsolódó területeken folyó tudományos kutatásokkal szemben. A geopolitika mellett kialakult fiatal tudományterület, a geoökonómia a transzformációk, a gazdasági folyamatok és a térbeli viszonyok kölcsönhatásainak feltárásával és az államok ezzel összefüggő stratégiájának kérdéseivel foglalkozó diszciplína. Az Enyedi György professzor emlékére készült tanulmány e diszciplína kifejlődésének hátterét megvilágítva fogalmazza meg a feladatokat a 21. század világának feltételei között.

Knowledge, Desire and Power in Global Politics. Western Representations of China’s Rise, Chengxin Pan, 2012, Northampton, MA, Edward Elgar, 247 p.

Knowledge, Desire and Power in Global Politics. Western Representations of China’s Rise, Chengxin Pan, 2012, Northampton, MA, Edward Elgar, 247 p.

Revisiting the national question and rethinking the political trajectory of Africa in the 21st century

The national question in postcolonial Africa encapsulates the totality of national and social challenges that needs resolution. These include the burden of building postcolonial nations, reconstructing postcolonial states, promoting economic development, entrenching popular democracy, defending national sovereignty, consolidating political power, and eventually achieving regional integration and pan-African unity, as long term goals. To resolve these issues, founding fathers crafted different national projects as working ideological and political frameworks, aimed at resolving the national question. This article builds on the continuing concern about the national question, to carry out a critical historiographical study of the nature and conflicted agendas of national project(s), while at the same time providing substatiation for their resuscitation during the current age of failing capitalist neo-liberal project. The premise of the article is that the national question remains relevant beyond the 20th century as it entails dealing with unresolved national and social questions including challenges of converting territorial nationalism into pan-Africanism as well as democratising global asymmetrical power politics in the 21st century.

Knowledge, desire and power in global politics: Western representations of China's rise

Contents: Preface 1. Introduction: Knowledge, Desire and Power in Western Representations of China's Rise 2. Threat and Opportunity: A Bifocal Lens 3. Of Fears and Fantasies: Neocolonial Desire in Western Self/Other Imagination 4. The `China Threat' and the Political Economy of Fear 5. The `China Threat': A Self-fulfilling Prophecy 6. The `China Opportunity': False Promises (and Premises) 7. The International Politics of Disillusionment 8. China Watching: Towards Reflection and Dialogue Bibliography Index

Recasting the Power Politics of Debt: structural power, hegemonic stabilisers and change

The 2007–08 financial crisis exposed and exacerbated the debt pathologies of the West. This paper examines whether the new global debt relations that have been generated by this crisis have transformed global power politics, changing the way in which the global South and the global North interrelate and interact. To do so the paper analyses the G20 advanced and emerging economies, examining a number of key indicators related to debt, indebtedness and financial leverage. This research leads to two main findings. First, the crisis has indeed given rise to new global debt relations. As a result, any reforms in the post-crisis global political economy will take place in an environment that favours the rising powers. Second, the USA maintains its capacity to control the parameters of this new global debt politics and economics, but cannot directly impose the terms of a solution to the existing ‘global/hegemonic imbalances’ on the rising powers.

The European Union’s Normative Power in a more Global Era

The global environment in which the EU and other actors are constituted has changed significantly over the past twenty years, as the international system of the 16th century gives way to the global life of multipolarity. What this change suggests is that such widespread global transformations necessitate a rethinking of both power and actorness in global politics. This article argues that in a more global era the understanding of normative power, including the EU’s normative power, is more vital than ever. This globalising, multilateralising and multipolarising era requires a reconsideration of the nature of power and actorness and the theorisation of ‘normative justification’ in this context. This reconsideration is necessary because processes of globalisation have empowered transnational actors such as global credit ratings agencies; because multilateralising processes have empowered international fora such as the G20; and because multipolar processes have empowered emerging actors such as the BRICS. Second, the global era requires a reassessment by rethinking the nature of power, in particular because the breaking old dichotomies of ‘hard power’ vs. ‘soft power’ demands the reintroduction of an ideational dimension in the form of normative power. Here a discussion of ‘normative justification’ in action is useful in illustrating a rethinking of nature of power. Third, within this context of power and actors the article rethinks actorness because new global actors such as transnational movements, regional organisations, global governors, and emerging economies demand new thinking on how these actors are constituted through their use of new forms of power. Finally, the article argues that in this global era, the rethinking of power and actorness are crucial aspects of understanding the EU and understanding normative power in global politics.

China Eyes Artic Access & Resources

Within the next two decades, we could witness a strategic shift in the centre of gravity on oil and geopolitics from the Middle East to the Arctic prompted by global competition for new crude oil reserves and shortened sea lanes across the Arctic. As a result, the Arctic could become another flashpoint in global power politics. Arctic states should expect future geopolitical challenges from non-Arctic states particularly China. Moreover, changes in the Arctic will further increase territorial claims and border disputes between Arctic and non-Arctic states. These issues are primarily related to free passage and resource extraction rights. Though China is not an Arctic littoral state, it argues that the Arctic belongs to all people around the world as no nation has sovereignty over it and that the region is part of the common heritage of mankind. And with one fifth of the world’s population, China must have access to Arctic natural resources and its shortened sea routes. China’s position clearly contrasts with that of the five Arctic littoral countries, namely, the United States, Norway, Denmark, Canada and Russia. This paper will argue that China and other nations of the world have entitlement to the riches of the Arctic given the fast-depleting global oil reserves and the fact that, under international law, no country currently owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. This paper will also argue that Arctic issues are becoming inter-regional and that a balanced approach towards common interests should be adopted so as to pre-empt future conflict.

The governance of REDD+: an institutional analysis in the Asia Pacific region and beyond

This paper explores the changing nature of North/South relations in contemporary climate change governance. Focusing on the United Nations Collaborative Programme to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), the paper presents a theoretical framework, through which stakeholder perceptions of REDD+ governance quality and institutional legitimacy can be evaluated. This is tested by means of a small-n survey of state and non-state participants from both the developed and developing countries, including the Asia-Pacific region. The survey results reveal generally higher ratings for REDD+ amongst Southern participants than in the North. A number of caveats are placed on the interpretation of data, and some conclusions drawn regarding contemporary climate governance and the emergence of a possible ‘South/North Divide’, challenging traditional notions of global power politics.

Challenges and prospects of German foreign policy

For the last few years, the German foreign policy has been under constant temptations and substantial reconsideration. The key role in resolving the difficult economic and financial crises in the EU, the development of close economic ties with the Russian and other rising world economic powers, the decision to sustain in the UN Security Council in deciding to authorise the use of force in Libya, as well as the dominant attitude towards the crises in Greece and Kosovo clearly shows the wish of Germany to pursue a more independent foreign policy. In spite of all these efforts and its huge economic power, Germany has failed to become a global political power. Moreover, in order to protect and develop its trade interests Germany must remain within the frameworks of the EU and the NATO. For a long time, Germany has been one of Serbia?s most important economic and political partners. Since it is realistic to expect that Germany will be more oriented towards developing its economic ties with the new world economic powers, the Western Balkans and Serbia will not be in the focus of its foreign and economic policies. Therefore, for Serbia, it will be useful to concentrate on the cooperation with the mighty German provinces that have their interests in developing this cooperation. In the future, the Kosovo issues will remain the main obstacle to it.

Ten years after

Ten years after, the United States has suffered an extraordinary loss of the global political power it seemed to grasp in the wake of 9/11. This commentary discusses the reasons for such an implosion of power, different scales of geopolitical response and implications for the state and geopolitical analysis, all in the shadow of the 2011 Arab spring.

Global Quest and Regional Reversal: Rising India and South Asia

The end of the Cold War coincided with a significant change in India’s relationship with the rest of the world. The somnolent elephant awoke to energize itself by liberalizing its economy and quickly emerged as a potential major power in global politics. From the standpoint of its neighbours in South Asia, there might well be cause for anxiety. India has long been viewed as a hegemonic power in the region. Do the strengthening sinews of the regional ‘hegemon’ bode ill for them? The article argues that India was a limited hegemon in the past, but that, in the contemporary era, while its economic and military power are growing significantly, it is actually becoming less hegemonic in its orientation towards its neighbours. In contrast with its strategic behaviour in the 1980s, it has now adopted a less interventionist relationship with its neighbours and its strategic gaze is focused beyond South Asia to the global setting as it pursues the status of a world power.

The Link between Extractive African Industries and Global Political Power

The Link between Extractive African Industries and Global Political Power

Deterritorialisation and the Transformation of Statehood: The Paradox of Globalisation

Since the end of the Cold War, states and civil societies face a radically different security situation. In addition to state-to-state threats, transnational security issues have risen to previously unknown relevance. I will argue that – in order to create effective counter-policies against transnational threats – states must transform fundamental principles of traditional statehood according to the logic of global deterritorialisation. To develop this argument, the nature of changed security will be analysed which itself can be found in de-territorialisation: transnational actors withdraw from the territorial principles of traditional security, as best epitomised by transnational terrorism. Consequently, ‘national security’, developed according to the territorial ‘inside’-‘outside’-logic of the state, no longer counters those actors. States must elaborate deterritorial strategies. This development causes a transformation of the state since territoriality is the basic principle of modern statehood. Thus, the reassertion of the state in global security unveils a paradox: to react to deterritorialised security and to reassure their power in global politics, states must overcome their traditional principles of territorial politics and further the development of deterritorialisation.

ORTHODOX RELIGION IN SERBIA AND CONTEMPORARY NEO-LIBERAL ECONOMIC POLICY

In this article author analyzed, on one side, important theoretical determinants of basic categories by which ontological integrity of the Orthodox religion has been based and contained of, in comparison with other religions. On the other side, the author analyzed important theoretical determinants of the basic categories of ontological integrity of the Orthodox religion with basic principles and contents of neo-liberal economic politics. In the context, the Orthodox religion, not even by its one single value or principle, is not signifi cantly contrastive to authentic values of liberalism, universal humanism, development, active attitude and love toward life, and to overall progress, in material and economic sense. Thereby, it is possible to consider that individualism within the Orthodoxy is not in contrast with democratic principles of neo-liberalism (accumulation of the wealth of nations, emancipation of poverty, etc.) The Orthodox individualism is against global political power, which has been imposed by economic centers of the world power in the name of neo-liberalism.