Regionalism and Finance: A Conceptual Approach

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-378
Author(s):  
Randall D. Germain
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
World Economy ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Regional Finance ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Commercial Exchange ◽  
Fernand Braudel ◽  
The Way

There is a widespread debate within the field of international political economy (IPE) regarding the causes and consequences of regionalism in world politics. Rarely, however, has this debate considered the effects of regionalism on finance. This article contributes to this debate by reaching beyond conventional categories of political economy to explore the way in which the organization of finance is being shaped by regionalism in Europe. By employing a theoretical framework adapted from the work of Fernand Braudel, it locales the effects of regionalism within the context of the market economy, or what Braudel identifies as the domain of transparent commercial exchange. It explores the changing nature of identity among selected financial institutions in order to ask how far a regional dimension is emerging within the organization of finance, and concludes that what may be called regional finance is in fact emerging in Europe. Such an approach contributes to existing debates on regionalism in world politics by drawing our attention to the changing motivations, practices and dynamics of finance in Europe, and the way in which this may be seen as part of the overarching structure of the contemporary world-economy.

Reexamining the “obsolescing bargain”: a study of Canada's National Energy Program

1986 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
World Economy ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
International Markets ◽  
The State ◽  
International Capital ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Role Of The State

Rarely has an issue in the field of international political economy aroused more controversy than the role of the state in economic development. Much of the debate centers on theories of dependency which portray the state as a captive of the “universal standards” of international markets, constrained by its position in the international capitalist economy. In response to this provocative stance, there has been a recent renaissance of theories which see the state as a prominent force in the contemporary world economy. Numerous authors from a wide ideological spectrum have endorsed this argument. In their view, the state is not a helpless puppet subject to the whims of international capital and a comprador bourgeoisie. On the contrary, it is a key economic player capable of using international capital to forward its own interests.

Learning Geopolitical Pluralism

2018 ◽  
pp. 167-192
Author(s):  
Clement M. Henry
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
International Regimes ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Supply And Distribution ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
State Actors

The Middle East, viewed by many as a geopolitical prize astride three continents, is now sharply contested and fragmented by proxy wars in Libya, Syria, and Yemen reflecting a painful readjustment of the global balance that empowers regional rivalries. While the local conflicts are not about oil, the imputed strategic value of the commodity has reinforced the region’s geopolitical significance as an arena for competition among great powers. This chapter surveys present and past international regimes for managing the supply and distribution of oil. It is argued that key state actors may learn to practice geopolitical pluralism in this clearly defined sector of international political economy, with potential spill-over into related sectors alleviating the contemporary world disorder

International Organizations and the Pursuit of Justice in the World Economy

2000 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 99-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Weber
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Labor Unions ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
World Economy ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Technological Changes ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Core Set

Evaluating the role of international organizations (IOs) in promoting social justice in a globalizing international political economy, this essay presents and defends four propositions:IOs are in a different, and more vulnerable, political space vis-à-vis globalization than are nation-states, firms, nongovernmental organizations, or labor unions;Central perceptions about problems of social justice in the context of globalization common to many IOs are a product of the history and intellectual trajectory in which these organizations have evolved;As a result, there is a common theme and a core set of objectives at play, having to do with promoting and sustaining liberalization. That is obviously not the same thing as social justice, although in some intellectual frameworks there is a tight relationship; andThe ability of IOs to promote these goals has been challenged and will continue to be challenged by globalization.The essay concludes by arguing that IOs are suffering a loss of legitimacy, and that both social and technological changes associated with globalization will make it harder for IOs to recapture the power to affect the behavior of other actors in world politics.

Cave! hic dragones: a critique of regime analysis

1982 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 479-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Strange
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
General Theory ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Limiting State ◽  
Regime Analysis

This article questions the usefulness of the concept of regimes on the grounds that it is a fad; ambiguous and imprecise; value-biased towards order rather than change or equity; essentially static in its interpretation of the kaleidoscopic reality of international cooperation and conflict; and, finally, rooted in a limiting, state-centric paradigm. Each of these objections represents a dragon that unwary young scholars should be warned to avoid—or at least to treat with caution. On the grounds that those who look for a tidy general theory encompassing all the variety of forces shaping world politics are chasing a will o' the wisp, the article suggests as an alternative that we should pay attention to the overlapping bargaining processes, economic and political, domestic as well as international, by which the outcomes of the interaction of states, of authorities with markets and their operators, and of political institutions and economic enterprises, determine between them the "who-gets-what" of the international political economy.

International Organization and the Study of World Politics

1998 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Katzenstein ◽  
Robert O. Keohane ◽  
Stephen D. Krasner
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
World Politics ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Theoretical Orientations ◽  
Specific Research ◽  
Research Programs ◽  
Relevant Variables ◽  
Over Time

A distinct subfield of international relations, IPE, has emerged over the last thirty years, largely in the pages of International Organization. IPE began with the study of international political economy, but over time its boundaries have been set more by a series of theoretical debates than by subject matter. These debates have been organized around points of contestation between specific research programs, reflecting fundamental differences among the generic theoretical orientations in which these research programs are embedded. The fate of specific research programs has depended on their ability to specify cause and effect relationships and to operationalize relevant variables. Scholarship in IPE has become more sophisticated both methodologically and theoretically, and many of its insights have been incorporated into policy discussions. Past points of contestation, including those between realism and its liberal challengers and between various conceptions of domestic structure and international relations, help us to understand recent debates between rationalism and constructivism.

Wealth and Power: Quesnay's Political Economy of the “Agricultural Kingdom”

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Natural Order ◽  
New Science ◽  
Sensitive Question ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
National Power ◽  
Immanuel Wallerstein ◽  
The Military ◽  
Fernand Braudel

The Physiocrats “New Science” of Political Economy is often represented as unrelated to the pursuit of national power. A recent study (Fourquet 1989), which rests on the approaches of Fernand Braudel (1979) and Immanuel Wallerstein (1980), has radicalized the thesis already propounded by Edmond Silberner (1939) who claimed that Quesnay was profoundly ignorant of military matters and failed to understand the power struggles being played out on the seas and in the colonies. Did not Quesnay propose turning back to an agricultural economy, banishing industry, trade, and the navy—in short, all the active forces thanks to which Great Britain had snatched domination of the world economy from Holland and thanks to which she would prevent France from obtaining it?Yet this thesis is weak. It must be remembered that Quesnay's first economic writings date from 1756–57, that is to say a period when confrontation between France and England was at a peak, with the start of the Seven Years' War. How could an author who claims to de ne the economic government ofan agricultural nation ignore the military problems which were so crucial in this period? Even if he wanted to, how could he succeed in doing so once he came to deal with taxes and the highly sensitive question of finance? How could he make himself understood by his contemporaries with a political theory that set aside all the burning issues of the day? How could he find an audience among those developing the science of commerce who always accorded great importance to the pursuit of power?Under scrutiny the traditional thesis appears inaccurate. After recalling the writings of some of his contemporaries, whom Quesnay knew and read (section 1), I shall show that articles drafted between 1756 and 1757, like published or unpublished works which Mirabeau and Quesnay elaborated between 1757 and 1760, give significant room to the nation's military power, particularly when the economic government is in question (section 2). From the years 1763–64 the idea of a natural order does not lead Quesnay to neglect the pursuit of power (section 3). These links between power and wealth in the work of the founder of Physiocracy will lead finally to some remarks on political economy as a form of rationalization of politics.

The torture convention, rendition and Kant's critique of ‘pseudo-politics’

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-214
Author(s):  
HOWARD WILLIAMS
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Convention Against Torture ◽  
Kantian View ◽  
Ordinary Morality ◽  
The Way

AbstractBy what standards ought we to judge politicians? The article addresses the question in the light of the treatment of two controversial issues in contemporary world politics: the implementation of the 1984 UN Convention against Torture; and the post 9/11 rendition of terrorist suspects to US authorities by European governments. Their treatment brings out the way in which the role of political leaders is popularly conceived and understood. This conventional understanding is contrasted with the role recommended by Kant's political philosophy. An answer to the question depends on how we conceive politics in the first place. If politics is seen as a ‘free for all’ where all strategies can be canvassed then the response will be entirely different from a situation where we consider ourselves bound by rules of legitimacy and its attendant problems of morality and law. The article represents a rejection of certain received accounts of politics and approval of a Kantian view. The account of politics which in one respect or another tries to drive a wedge between politics and ordinary morality is seen as inferior to a Kantian concept of politics which is always conditioned by morality.

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