International Entrepreneurship: Competing Models of Nationalism Essay

Introduction

Whether the nation state is of any more importance as compared to supranational organisations remains an intriguing question. Ralston Saul, the author of ‘The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World’, as well as Ronkainen Czinkota, Sutton-Brady, and Beal, the authors of ‘International Marketing: Asia Pacific Edition’ come in handy to provide a clear-cut distinction between the two in terms of their importance. Examples of nation states include Japan, Portugal, and Iceland.

On the other hand, supranational organisations involve all the Non-Governmental Organisations, Inter-Governmental Organisations characterised by treaties signed by each member state, collective decision making, and a committee body elected by each member state (Demirpolat, 2009, p.98).

Examples of such organisations are the United Nations, World Bank, Common Wealth, African Union, European Union, and World Health Organisation amongst others. They, too, have their own pros and cons. Though the paper so far is silent in terms of the pertinence of the two, it argues out that the nation state is not as important as supranational organisations.

Why not go for the Nation State

Loose of sovereignty

Sovereignty is “the quality of having supreme independent authority over a geographic area such as a territory” (Alenikoff, 2004, p.1997). It is the power of a state to rule and make laws. Arguing against the nation state, Saul criticises the sovereign states like the US referring them to as “confused empires…suffering from negative nationalism” (2005, Chap. 25). The world is constantly changing daily. New forms of technology are being introduced each day in the markets.

This is posing a very great challenge to the nation state, as it has to change constantly with the other people outside its territory. This forces the nation states to join other states to form supranational organisations in order to conduct trade with them. In agreement with Saul, Mukherjee shows the importance of unity among the UN member states.

According to Mukherjee, all the 191 nations who are members of the United Nations had agreed “…to work together towards the achievement of a set of health and development goals by 2015” (Mukheerjee, 2010, p.593: Alenikoff, 2004, p.1997). They also agreed to work together to fight the challenges faced in the individual states

Internal friction

A nation state can have two different communities in a territory as it is in Rwanda in Africa where there is Hutu and Tutsis communities. In relation to this, Saul relates the nation state to an “Oligarchic giant that squeezes out the less competent or wealthy countries from having an equal role on the world stage” (2005, Chap. 26). Some countries have “different religious groups with different beliefs and practices” (Chatfield, 1989, p.314).

According to Hepburn and McLoughlin, religious or ethno-national cleavage in Northern Ireland that has resulted in violent inter- ethnic conflicts (2011, p.384). Since such groups usually have different number of people, there are minority and majority groups. Majority groups often marginalise the minority culture groups, a situation known as internal friction that Saul addresses as ‘squeezing’.

This can cause conflicts among the people, which can result into internal war. A good example is the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1991 leaving over half million people dead. According to the UN reports, the genocide in Rwanda happened when the Hutu started slaughtering the minority Tutsis leaving about 800,000 people dead.

Difficult in migration

In the nation state, the issue of globalism, as Saul says, “…has indeed failed thereby failing people as well” (2005, Chap.26). People in these states do not bother to follow them. Saul addresses this as lack of democracy in the nation state. He says this has “Weakened the nation-state through the idea of inevitable international forces” (Saul, 2005, Cha. 27). This in turn raises the number of illegal migrations, which in turn increases crimes like robbery, rape and drug abuse.

According to the article by Lomsky-Feder, global orientation is a process aiming at reducing migration costs and removing barriers among the states of the world (Lomsky, 2011, p. 593). He further argues that this can only be achieved through international unity. In other countries, to acquire migration documents is very expensive and many people in such countries cannot afford. Migration is discouraged barring “people from moving freely from one country to another” (Chatfield, 1989, p.314).

Conflicts with the opposing groups

Nation states tend to get opposing challenges from the supranational organisations. Not all countries may have all the resources required by a state to live independently. Saul comes with the subject of “Public good” (2005, Cha. 25) as a key goal that the nation state do not uphold. Others need advice and other financial materials. Hence, they have to collaborate with other countries. This forces this state to join international organisations in order to do business and trade with other countries.

Lomsky asserts that ‘global citizen’ competes with more traditional prototype of the ‘national citizen’, which is primarily identified with the nation state system, but the ‘global citizen’ is winning (Lomsky, 2011, p.593). All the nation states are currently getting opposing conflicts from supranational organisations, and it may cause their distinction soon. Nationalism is currently being replaced by supranational organisations!

Soon and soon, each country will have to join the other countries in globalisation. Finally, the whole world will be like one small village maybe with one president. This, as Saul predicts, is the “Free-trade paradise where the inhabitant of London could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth” (2005, Chap.28).

Vilification of globalism

Those for the idea of globalism have declared nation states as “heading toward irrelevance: that economics, not politics or arms, would determine the course of human events; that growth in international trade would foster prosperous markets that would, in turn abolish poverty and change dictatorships into democracies” (Saul, 2005, Chap. 29).

The world is currently changing. Every person living today will have no choice but to change with it. When one goes to Rome, he/she should behave like Romans. Currently new scientific methods and machines are being invented. Human beings have to adopt those methods for better living conditions. Burgess argues in his journal that European countries are currently accepting changes from nationalism to supranational organisational systems.

This has resulted to the creation of European Union (Burgess, 2011, p.9). He also argues that people “must therefore abandon the forms of the past and enter the path of transformation, both by creating common basic economic conditions and by setting up new authorities accepted by the sovereign nations” (Burgess, 2011, p.14).

Concurring with Saul, he argues that Europe should rediscover the leading role she used to play in the world, which she lost due to division of its states. Globalism and change go together. Globalism is like a policy that places the interests of the entire world above those of individual nations. Nationalism, Saul says, tends to vilify globalism hence making it infamous (2005, Chap. 25). It tends to malign the idea of globalisation.

Increased corruption cases

In the countries, which practice the nation state systems, there is a large number of corruption cases. In fact, Saul criticises the nation states based on their rampant cases of corruption involving money. “You can always tell you’re in deep trouble when people start thinking money’s real” (Saul, 2005, Chap. 23: Bekus, 2010, p.389).

This is the trouble faced by nation states. Having in mind that supranational organisations help to fight corruption, these countries lack pressures from such organisation as the United Nations, which help their members to fight corruption. Wilding argues that, presently, there is increased sense of the global nature of many problems, which can only be dealt by interacting with other states (2009, p.736). He also says that these problems cannot be solved by one nation.

Rather, they require action at higher, transnational or even global level. Problems as increased corruption cases have a negative impact on the lives of their citizens. The minorities live in very poor living conditions while government officials live like kings. Alexander asserts that leaders in nation states have raised the corruption rates while seeking for national dependency (2010, p.868).

Why supranational organisations are Important

Economic Importance

Czinkota et al, the authors of ‘International Marketing: Asia Pacific Edition, second Edition’ come in handy in favor of supranational organisations: the stance of the paper. Nations, which have joined hands with other nations to form supranational organisations, get economic benefits. These benefits include trade conducted by the member countries that Czinkota et al (2011, p.23) refers to as ‘international marketing’.

Supranational organisations are international organisations formed by a conjunction of several states. The member countries form intergovernmental organisations, which set rules and regulations by which the trade within these countries should be carried. The cost of the importation of goods is reduced and this in turn boosts the trade between these countries. The international trade has reduced poverty in the member states.

Economic growth is the only result, as Czinkota et al points out based on the increase in the amount of goods and services which are produced by a country, a state, a nation or any economy (2011, p.28). The free trade pact policy in supranational organisations such the UN, the EU and the AU has boosted trade in its members.

Development of member states

Supranational organisations enhance international relations between their member states. In fact, Czinkota et al “focuses on Australian and New Zealand firms looking outwards, principally but not exclusively towards the Asia–Pacific region, as this is the major focus of their international business activities” (2011, p.45). Development can be in many forms. It can be inform of international relations or the physical developments.

Development is a significant event or occurrence that causes change, growth or advancement. It is evolution, progress or expansion in a country or the whole world. Physical development includes urban settings, infrastructure and technology while international relations include intergovernmental friendships or any other relations between two or more states (Hill, 2003, p.56). They also advance common interests of the member countries as well as the common good for the humanity.

They provide financial, technical and humanitarian assistance to the member countries (Czinkota et al, 2011, p.65). This in turn increases the rate of development in such countries. Countries borrow ideas from each other. Ideas of urban planning are passed from one country to another. This is why most urban cities in the world are identical.

These organisations cause development of infrastructure in their member countries. Infrastructure “helps determine the success of manufacturing and agricultural activities. Investments in water, sanitation, energy, housing and transport” (Jan, 2003, p.26), which are parts of infrastructure also improve lives and help to reduce poverty. Information and communication technology that is highly employed in supranational organisations, promote growth; improve delivery of health and other services.

In line with this claim, “European institutions, networks and lobbying organisations have provided an ‘opportunity structure’ for sub-state actors, and European integration has opened up new possibilities to pursue territorial interests that were once ‘closed’ by the expansion of the nation state” (Hepburn, & McLoughlin, 2011, p.385). They also expand the reach of education and support social and cultural advances.

Interaction and intermarriages

Supranational organisations make interaction possible among the people of their member states. This in turn causes intermarriages across the states.

Hence, people live in harmony. Intermarriages improve unity and togetherness of these people and probability of war and conflict eruption is reduced to a very low level (Culcasi, 2011, p.302). Intermarriages also make the chances of war and chaos among the people minimal. This also improves trade among the people thus favoring the continuity of supranational organisations, as opposed to the nation state.

Free movement across the states

Supranational organisations usually encourage the movement of people from one country to another. Migration becomes possible. A person is authorised to carry business in any country if it is a member of a certain organisation. Somek asserts that free movement within the EU states is likely to enhance trade thus increasing the living conditions of Europeans (2010, p.322). He also argues that the World can achieve homogeneity by joining one supranational organisation (p.329).

The cost of acquiring documents such as visas or passports is lowered encouraging migration and trade. In organisations like the EU, all people in these states have the right to travel, work, study, and live in any member countries of the organisation. People have the opportunity to vote in the member state where they live and stand as candidates in both local and international elections.

Employment opportunities

Job opportunities have been one of the greatest challenges faced by the whole world today. Supranational organisations usually play a great role in the creation of job opportunities. The presence of these organisations should be encouraged to counterfeit these challenges.

How do they create job opportunities? This is a question, which many people have repeatedly asked themselves. Free trade pacts between these countries increase the trade conducted within the organisations (Czinkota et al, 2011, p.65). This creates many job opportunities. Workers are needed to deal with transportation of goods from one place to another, from one market to another. People are needed to administer services to customers.

Due to developments in infrastructure, job opportunities are created, as a people are needed in construction of roads and rails Wilding, 2009, p.59). These supranational organisations also need workers for them to function properly. They need clerks, secretaries, financial advisers, directors, and administrators for them to be efficient.

Large markets

Supranational organisations are usually international organisations. The presence of many states in these organisations provides a very large market to trade of their goods and services (Czinkota et al, 2011, p.75). These markets in turn increase trade in the member states increasing the economy of the respective country.

The price in the international market is common as multi-national political communities decide it. World Trade Organisation has helped to reduce tariffs on manufactured goods, elimination of non-tariff barriers to international trade besides acting as arbitrator in case of trade disputes between member states.

Enhancement of safety and peace

International organisations have played a great role in ensuring safety in most parts of this world. For example, the EU countries have worked together to make the world a safer place by handling such common problems such as safety of nuclear energy, long-term employment, development of rural areas and integration of young people into working life (Lomsky-Feder, 2011, p.56).

The United Nations has played a major role in enhancing world’s safety by; one, stopping the Iran and Iraq’s war in 1988, secondly by stopping the India and Pakistan’s conflicts and also by providing humanitarian assistance in member countries when in need. The United Nations also ended the civil wars in Mozambique, Namibia, Cambodia, and Haiti.

Financial support

International organisations have always provided financial support to their member states. Organisations like Red Cross, World Bank, WHO, and the UN have been giving loans to their members especially the developing countries (Johansson, & Glow, 2009, p.38). For example, the World Bank gave 8.1 billion US dollars to developing African countries to help in their development of their infrastructure.

World Bank has also helped the third world countries to build infrastructures, educational institutions, provision of water, electricity services, protection of environment, and fight corruption and deadly diseases like HIV Aids (Czinkota et al, 2011, p.84). Farmers of these countries get support to make structural changes in agricultural and food industries hence coping with competitive pressures in international markets.

The World Bank has helped many developing countries in the purchase of agricultural machineries and chemicals especially in Africa. This increases agricultural production and thus increased living conditions. It has also helped in the purchase of mining machineries, which are very expensive.

This gives the poor countries the opportunity to explore their potentials and hence industrial development (Surzhko, 2010, p.79). Supranational organisations have a crucial role to play when it comes to ensuring smooth functioning of global monetary systems, as well as putting in place mechanisms for peaceful dispute resolution. They harmonise industrial standards in different countries

Conclusion

Migration experienced in supranational organisations can result to surplus unskilled labor in these countries due to heightened immigration, which in turn results to a push down of wages and an increase of crime rates.

The demerits posed by nation states to its citizens, as revealed by Czinkota et al and Saul prove that it should be discouraged. On the other hand, supranational organisations are more advantageous as compared to nation states and thus more important. They should be encouraged and every country should join for the best of their citizens.

Reference List

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