Global Policy Studies and the Nation-state

Abstract

The title of this volume uses the terms ‘global’ as opposed to ‘international’ policy studies. The distinction is significant. Internationalism assumes a cluster of nation-states, each with its own interests, and examines how they relate to each other. A global perspective begins with the globe as a socio-technological system. It focuses on the variety of linkages throughout the system, many of them policy issues that spill across national boundaries. It studies how these linkages create problems for the global system and explores what mechanisms can be created to deal more adequately with the problems, and what further linkages can be crafted.¹ Global policy studies as a body of theory and research cannot avoid dealing with the role of the nation-state, however. Policy problems are often created by the actions of national governments and nation-states can potentially help deal with the problems. The field of global policy studies, therefore, needs to consider whether the nation-state is an obstacle to be overcome, a potentially valuable resource, or increasingly irrelevant.