Below are the Summary and Outline for a book I'm currently developing (in
collaboratin with Carolyn Ballard) - a book which seeks to put
globalization in its appropriate historical perspective as a coherent and
profound tranformation of the global political system - so profound as to
force comparison with the Enlightenment-inspired revolutions, the Treaty of
Westphalia, and even the fall of Rome.
Some of the book's themes have been debated on this list - indeed members
of the list have contributed (partly via their objections) to the
development of the ideas and their presentation. I'd welcome comments
regarding the thesis and organization of the book - references, criticisms,
encouragements, potential publishers, etc. Who knows - someone may even
want to contribute some material as a co-author.
As I mentioned a day or two ago, I'll be publishing an abbreviated first
draft of the book as a series of essays - following the outline topics
point by point, one essay per point. This series will be posted to the
cyberjournal list, which anyone is invited to join. I'd be happy to
publish the series here as well if there were a groundswell of interest
expressed. (:>)
Regards,
rkm
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Globalization and the New World Order
-- democracy at a crossroads
Copyright 1997 by Richard K. Moore
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SUMMARY
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The thesis of this book is that globalization is a political transformation
of profound signficance, replacing the nation-state system with an
elite-dominated globalist regime - and scuttling in the process two
centuries of democratic traditions. Far more than an economic agenda,
globalization brings a comprehensive revolution, with new paradigms of
international order, commercial enterprise, national sovereignty, and
social control. But while rapid and far-reaching, this revolution has been
largely a stealth affair - a kind of spread-spectrum blitzkrieg attack, run
under cover of official obfuscation.
To put the globalist revolution in perspective, the history of the past two
centuries is revisited; the modern nation state is interpreted as a
partnership-of-mutual-interest between the people (in its democratic
aspects) and the elite (in its capitalist aspects). The strained
partnership has resulted in a cyclical see-saw struggle for power between
elite and popular interests - resulting in a kind of rough-justice
approximation of democracy.
Since the 1980's, the elite have increasingly enjoyed a high position on
the see-saw, as laissez-faire governments have come into power worldwide -
particularly in the West. Globalization is the "locking in" of this
temporary ascendency - the imposition of a New World Order in which
economic, political, and military power are officially and permanently
assigned to elite-dominated supra-national institutions. The global elite,
to put it broadly, are abandoning the nation-state partnership and the
see-saw compromise: they want it all.
On this broad canvas, the book examines Western imperialism, the "Free
World" era, the growth of transnational corporations, neoliberal policies,
corruption of the democratic process, modern interventionism, the threat of
police states and the Third-World precedent, elite planning, covert
operations, the mass media, propaganda, divide-and-conquer populism, and
more.
The book closes with an examination of democracy, economics, the nation
state, and the prospects for popular political activism. With the nation
state having been abandoned by capitalism, the people are being
disempowered and disenfranchised; they have a vanshing window of
opportunity to make use of the democratic process and rebalance the
see-saw. There will be one revolution or the other - but no standing
still.
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OUTLINE
^^^^^^^
I. Introduction
A. Brief review of globalization and world systems
B. Introduction of threads to be developed in book
C. Positioning of this material in context of other available works
and perspectives
D. Statement of scope
II. The USA - prototype of the republican nation state
A. Monarchial origins and competing elites
B. The colonial experience: autonomy and commerce
C. Independence: dual motivation and dual benefit
D. A strained partnership: the see-saw of democracy; elite vs people
E. The expansion imperative and the ever-growing pie
III. The evolution of the nation-state system and the birth of globalism
A. The nation-state system up to WW II
B. Uncle Sam as King of the Hill: postwar collective imperialism
C. The "Free World" system and the rise of TNC's: redefining "national
interests"
D. The USA: microcosm and champion of globalization
IV. World order under globalism
A. The end-of-Cold-War crisis
B. The special role of the U.S. in globalism
C. The US/NATO police force; the Desert Storm precedent
D. "Kulturkampf" and regional proxies: toy geopolitics
E. Rounding up the stragglers: the China question
F. The role of covert operations: what you don't know won't hurt you
V. The neoliberal revolution and the globalist regime
A. The neoliberal revolution: the elite abandon the nation state
B. Who are "they"?: the reality of elite consciousness
C. The globalist regime: a stealth coup d'etat
D. Devolution, the EU, and "peacekeeping": a trojan cavalry
E. The institutionalization of domination: systematic disempowerment
F. Earth, Incorporated: the logic of capital concentration
VI. Democracy and the media
A. Propaganda and democracy: the poison in the soup
B. Conspiracies and cover-ups: it's turtles all the way down
C. Privatization and monopoly cliques: cloning the U.S. model
D. The modern mass-media industry and scientific mind control
E. Globalization, neoliberalism, and cyberspace: case studies in
propaganda thought control
F. Divide-and-conquer populism: cults and social control
G. Cyberspace: the ultimate Orwellian medium
VII. National decay and the police state
A. Social decline and unrest: predictable consequences of globalism
B. The Third-World police-state precedent
C. Crossing the Rubicon: First-World police-state apparatus
D. Smuggling camels: the "war" on drugs, crime and terrorism
E. Corporate-feudalism: governments as "royal governors"
F. Cyberspace: global surveillance and centralized control
VIII. One revolution or the other
A. The center cannot hold: nation-state partnership cancelled
B. It can't happen here?... the boiling-frog scenario
C. Democracy: realities and deceptions
D. Economics: sense and nonsense
E. The nation state: precious bastion of popular power
F. Political activism: the means are the ends
G. The journey of a thousand miles...
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Posted by Richard K. Moore - rkmoore@iol.ie - PO Box 26, Wexford, Ireland
www.iol.ie/~rkmoore/cyberjournal (USA Citizen)
* Non-commercial republication encouraged - Please include this sig *
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