Global Politics Take home essay Rohan Vakil

Power, Sovereignty and International Relations

Discuss how globalisation has affected both the interdependence of states and the balance
of power in the international system.

Globalization has many different definitions. One, and most likely the simplest definition,
says that it is “the widening, deepening, and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness”
(McGrew 2010:16). Another says that it is “the integration of the world-econoxmy” (Gilpin
2001:364). Regardless of the definitions, one thing is for certain – globalization brings
countries closer together. Globalization is a term that only became a “buzzword in the
1990s” (Keohane and Nye Jr. 2000:2). It can be used both in terms of international relations
as well as economics and has been happening for a long time but it has only massively
accelerated after we managed to find ways to communicate through technology and later,
through the internet.
Globalization is very closely linked to interdependence. Some might even say that this
globalization is what may have partly lead to interdependence, in which many different states
are working closely together because we have found ways to be interconnected. Trade and
the global financial market is a good example in which this happens, where the states are
very interconnected and interdependent because globalization has brought us all closer
together. This can be a very good thing for states, as they achieve more power as collective
and their overall economy can grow through foreign investment. Globalization has allowed
many states to work together across borders and continents for common benefits. An
example is currently the relations between India and Japan. While Japan is supplying India
with a lot of technology and improving its general society based on their model, India and
Japan have agreed to be strong allies and work together for the economic benefit of both
parties.
In addition to that, globalization also makes it much easier for smaller states to have some
impact on the international stage. On its own, many of these smaller countries wouldn’t be
able to do much and affect the larger picture, but with many of these smaller countries
coming together as well as bigger countries as well, they have a greater collective voice and
can actually make a difference. Also, due to this interdependence, countries in some sort of
crisis can actually receive aid from allies when required, like was done when the Nepal
earthquake happened in 2015 and because of the international community created through
interdependence, a lot of aid, both in the form of money and military/volunteer help came in.
Without globalization, a lot of this wouldn’t have happened and it is partly down to
globalization that states have managed to come together and be interdependent on each
other.
One thing globalization has done is made the balance of power a lot harder to happen. In a
system where everyone is interdependent on a lot of other people, it is very hard to turn
against a state who you are dependent on. For example, China is allies with the DPRK and
the US at the same time, and while their relationship with the US is shaky, it still does have
ties with it because they are arguably the two biggest global superpowers at the moment on
many different levels. At the time, however, the US is the hegemon, but because China is
also interdependent on the US, it can’t simply turn against it in favour of going with the
DPRK and create a balance of power.
In this current time, it is actually hard to tell where the balance of power should occur,
because usually, it would happen against the hegemon, however, in a time when the US has
Global Politics Take home essay Rohan Vakil

Power, Sovereignty and International Relations

so many allies, all be it many due to a bandwagon effect, there is no real balance to it. The
only way China can really overtake it is through its economic power (Ikenberry 2008), which
is rapidly growing, and is said to overtake the US very soon. In the time of the Second World
War, it was easy to see this effect. Seeing Germany gaining rapid power, the Allies made a
balance of power against Germany, even though it wasn’t the immediate hegemon per say,
but because they predicted it to be growing too fast (Nye Jr.1990:9). The band wagon effect
also played an effect in this, as Italy saw this rising power and decided to join them along
with Japan.
In the time of the Second World War, it was clear to see who would side with who against
who because interdependence wasn’t as deeply rooted at the time, however, now, a balance
of power is a lot harder to have because everyone is in some way dependent on another,
and it has become a lot more complex. In this way, globalization has led to a much more
confusing international scene in which it is not exactly known that who will go up against
who.
In conclusion, one thing that can be said, is that globalization is directly linked to
interdependence. As illustrated previously, globalization could actually have led to
interdependence between states due to increased international ties and the world becoming
“closer”. Through this increasing interdependence and globalization, it has also led to a
much more complex international scene and has made predicting a balance of power a lot
harder. Every day, the world is getting more and more interconnected through things like
new treaties between countries, trade deals and foreign investment and through this, the
system to balancing power will getting increasingly more complicated. In a time like this, it
seems like economic progress is actually going to gain more power than military progress,
and therefore, I believe that the way the world should actually develop through increasing
interdependence. This will not only make the world as a whole more connected, but also will
reduce the chance of war due to countries being so dependent on each other, and will most
likely lead to the most peaceful and internationally cooperative future possible.

Bibliography:

Mcgrew, Anthony. “Globalization and global politics”. in J Baylis, S Smith & P Owens
(eds), The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International
Relations. 5th edn, Oxford, pp. 14-31., 2010.Print
Gilpin, Robert.Global Political Economy.Princeton,NJ:Princeton University
Press,2001.Print
Keohane, Robert O and Nye Jr, Joseph S. “Globalization: What’s New? What’s Not? (And
So What?)” Foreign Policy No. 118. Washingtonpost Newsweek Interactive, LLC, pp. 104-
119, 2000. Print
Ikenberry, G. John. “The Rise of China and the Future of the West.” Foreign Affairs, Council
on Foreign Relations, 15 Sept. 2015, www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/asia/2008-01-01/rise-
china-and-future-west.
Nye, Joseph S. “The Changing Nature of World Power.” Political Science Quarterly, vol. 105,
no. 2, 1990, pp. 177–192., doi:10.2307/2151022.
Global Politics Take home essay Rohan Vakil

Power, Sovereignty and International Relations

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