Globalisation – A Threat to National Sovereignty

This paper argues that globalisation has become a threat to national sovereignty. It explains the phenomenon of globalisation and how it has affected national sovereignty. The paper discusses the impact of globalisation on the world economy and politics.

Running head: GLOBALISATION – A THREAT TO NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
GLOBALISATION – A THREAT TO NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
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GLOBALIZATION – A THREAT TO NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
Introduction
Globalisation, especially in the field of economy and politics, has disturbed the
sovereignty of the states, as many would argue. “Globalisation, in its economic and political
forms, has led to a process of state retreat, even fashioning what some called the post-sovereign
state”, states Heywood (Heywood 2014).
The present paper aims to provide evidences and arguments in favor of the notion that
globalisation has indeed become a threat to national sovereignty (Bigo 2014). In doing so, the
paper will provide explanation of the globalisation phenomenon and the way it has threatened
national sovereignty.
Discussion
Globalisation has been defined mostly as “a process of increasing interconnectedness
between societies such that events in one part of the world increasingly have effects on peoples
and societies far away” (Baylis, Smith and Owens 2017). The phenomenon has caused states to
be affected by the social, political, economic and cultural events happening in far away societies.
Globalisation began to make its mark post the industrial and financial revolutions during the 19th
century when countries like China and India lost much of their share of world manufacturing.
The United States emerged as the new world power and its share of world manufacturing
surpassed even that of the United Kingdom. By the end of 1945, the US economy prospered and
its gross national product increased to 355.2 billion dollars as compared to 209.4 billion dollars
in 1939 (Young and Kent 2013). Gradually, the US began to dominate the world economy and
had a huge impact on international politics as well. This is the reason why many scholars deem
globalisation as ‘Americanisation’ of world culture and politics.

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GLOBALIZATION – A THREAT TO NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
Globalisation has caused the world to ‘shrink’ as people around the globe are constantly
engaged through the internet. The internet, as Baylis, Smith and Owens (2017) state, “is but the
most graphic example of the world shrinking since it allows people to sit at home and have
instant communication with websites around the world”. The electronic mail or ‘email’ has
played a huge part in this regard prior to the emergence of the social media revolution. Apart
from this, the global franchises like the McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola amongst others, the
global economy and even some diseases also spread due to globalisation. These developments
led to the changes in the world politics scenario as well. While the US became the most powerful
and dominant nation, most of the Asian and African nations feared a threat to their sovereignty.
Globalisation has been categorized into different fields as already discussed in the above
sections. Economic globalisation is certainly the most used category that involves the absorption
of world economies into “an interlocking global economy”. The recent trends indicating
economic crises around the globe establish the fact that globalisation indeed has affected national
sovereignty.
The governments around the world especially those in the developing nations have given
way for globalisation to take control of their economy, believes Heywood (2014). According to
the scholar, “once viewed as the brains of the state, controlling the body politic from the center,
government has seemingly given way to ‘governance’, a looser and more amorphous set of
processes” (Heywood 2014). A state is defined by four major characteristics that include a
distinct area, a permanent population, an efficient government and the ability to form
international relations. However, the most important of all is the sovereignty that the state
enjoys. Globalisation, as many would argue, has curtailed the sovereignty of the states making
them dependent on “trans-border trading, capital and other flows” (Heywood 2014). The

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GLOBALIZATION – A THREAT TO NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
developing economies have struggled to cope with the rapidly growing global economy and have
to depend on the powerful nations. Owing to this, they are compelled to give up their national
sovereignty.
In contrast to the above arguments, proponents of globalisation and economic
neoliberalism in particular, state that globalisation has in fact helped the weaker economies to
realize their potential. According to them, evidences of globalisation helping the states to return
to power are in abundance (Lyubashits, Mordovtsev and Mamychev 2015). They put forth the
argument that due to globalisation, the states have become more competitive. With the rise in
multinational corporations due to globalisation, national governments have the opportunity to let
their skilled workforce contribute towards building national economy.
To state that globalisation has helped weaker states to be exposed to the benefits of global
economy would be void if one looks at the current economic condition. It has been more than
three decades since globalisation has emerged and it is yet to help the weaker states regain their
lost power. On the contrary, globalisation has further strengthened the already powerful nations
like the US and European nations. Those who argue that national sovereignty has not been
threatened are probably stating it from the perspective of the powerful nations. The national
governments themselves have failed to realize that ‘societies’ rather than ‘states’ are the
principal actors on the world platform (Young and Kent 2013). National sovereignty would not
be threatened if the societies were allowed to prosper rather than the states.
Conclusion
The conclusion that could be drawn from the above discussion is that globalisation could
not have turned out to be a threat to national sovereignty given the governments channelized it

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GLOBALIZATION – A THREAT TO NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
properly. As discussed in the paper, globalisation was a result of the revolutions that made some
nations powerful and some weak. The US became the superpower and it began to dominate the
world economy. The weaker states could not fathom the phenomenon’s reach and failed to
capitalize on it. The paper however had some limitations of space and time and hence, further in-
depth research on the topic is recommended.

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GLOBALIZATION – A THREAT TO NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
References:
Baylis, J., Smith, S. and Owens, P. eds., 2017. The globalisation of world politics: an
introduction to international relations. Oxford University Press.
Bigo, D., 2014. Globalized (in) security: the field and the ban-opticon. In Terror, insecurity and
liberty (pp. 20-58). Routledge.
Heywood, A., 2014. Global politics. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Lyubashits, V.Y., Mordovtsev, A.Y. and Mamychev, A.Y., 2015. State and algorithms of
globalisation. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(3 S6), p.277.
Young, J.W. and Kent, J., 2013. International relations since 1945. Oxford University Press.