Theories of the World System

However appealing the radical pluralist vision of a small-scale, decentralized political system, today large-scale institutions in the world system make the crucial decisions that affect human lives. Protesters can no longer just think globally and act locally but must also consider the impact of transnational institutions on people everywhere. The major powers, along with minor regional powers, now possess nuclear weapons that can destroy millions in a catastrophic war. Investment decisions of multinational corporations determine employment opportunities and economic growth all over the world. Various intergovernmental agencies, such as the United Nations, its specialized agencies, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC), enact policies that shape nearly everyone’s health, education, and economic well-being. Transnational social movements — for example, Amnesty International, Greenpeace International, the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Disabled People’s International, and Service for Peace and Justice in Latin America — play key roles on the world stage. As these movements interact with individual citizens, national government officials, and heads of international institutions, they struggle to prevent war, settle conflicts peacefully, and lessen the destructive consequences of rapid economic growth

Economics · Multinational corporation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law

• Varieties of Realism

  Steven Forde•The Journal of Politics•1992

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