This chapter focuses on the relation between economic instruments of statecraft and broader foreign policy goals and strategies of states. In general, it is difficult for economic sanctions to achieve major foreign policy objectives, despite their popularity as a foreign policy strategy. The end of the Cold War led to an increase in the use of sanctions, but not necessarily in their relative effectiveness. However, even if sanctions do not always succeed, governments still find them useful as part of a broader foreign policy strategy to signal their intentions, send important messages, and complement military action or diplomacy. The chapter also argues that the positive use of economic incentives has considerable promise as an instrument of statecraft and deserves more systematic attention in the study of foreign policy. It concludes with the enduring question of whether economic interdependence leads to harmony, as liberals expect, or conflict among states, as realists expect, and finds that it depends on the future expectations of policy makers, the nature of the military balance, and the form that economic interdependence takes.
Chapter
11. Economic statecraft
Michael Mastanduno
Chapter
12. Policy Outcomes in Europe
This chapter explores policy outcomes by looking at a number of European countries. It considers some salient policy areas, including those that are decided primarily at the national level, for example health, and policies that are determined at the more macro, European Union (EU) level, for example trade. It also looks at policy areas that involve shared decision-making across different levels of government, examples here include immigration and the environment. The chapter also focuses on the role of position-taking by political parties and other groups, such as interest groups and social groups or movements. It considers how these explain variations in policy outcomes.
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9. Trade and Development
Dirk De Bièvre
This chapter examines trade and development in line with European trade politics. It explains that the European Union holds full sway over external trade policy, a truly supranational competency equivalent to the powers of a federal state. Most European political economy scholars have engaged with the substantive area with an Open European Economy Politics approach, privileging society-centred instead of a state-centred analysis. The chapter covers the advantages of a more generic, socio-economic actor preference approach distinguishing different types of trade. It looks into how new global challenges have occasioned the EU to engage in a declared policy of strategic autonomy.
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28. Brazil as a Global Player?
Leslie Elliott Armijo
This chapter examines Brazil’s emergence as a global power, with a particular focus on how the country has striven to play a bigger role on the international scene. It first provides a brief historical background on Brazil before discussing contemporary Brazilian foreign policy — especially its leaders’ vision of the country as a consequential global player in an increasingly multipolar world. This is seen through the active campaigning for continental integration in which Brazil has played an important role by means of several initiatives. The chapter explores Brazilian foreign policy initiatives in four global issue arenas: trade, climate, financial governance, and nuclear proliferation. It concludes with the suggestion that in terms of material power resources and influence, Brazil was not a global power in the twentieth century, even as it notes the country’s aspiration to become a major international player in the early twenty-first century.
Chapter
7. Global Production and Unfree Labour
Gore Ellie
The presence of extremely exploitative labour conditions in the supply chains of key commodities is now widely recognized. Yet there is relatively little agreement over what causes severe labour exploitation, commonly referred to as ‘forced’ or ‘unfree labour’, in global production and how to address it. This work explores these debates by examining the patterns, prevalence, and drivers of severe labour exploitation in global production. The debate is framed through an analysis of key frameworks and concepts, focusing on the divide between proponents of the ‘modern slavery’ paradigm and their critics who prefer the conceptual framing of ‘unfree labour’. The structural drivers of labour exploitation and key factors making individual workers vulnerable to this labour exploitation are examined, followed by an evaluation of the effectiveness of current public and private initiatives to address unfree and forced labour in global production.
Chapter
3. The rise of modern international order
George Lawson
This chapter examines the rise of modern international order. It begins with a discussion of international orders before the modern period, focusing on how trade and transport helped to link diverse parts of the world. It then considers debates about the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, along with nineteenth-century developments such as industrialization and imperialism. It also explores the main ideas that underpinned modern international order, the ‘shrinking of the planet’ that arose from the advent of new technologies, the emergence of intergovernmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations, and the advent of a radically unequal international order. The chapter concludes with case studies on the dual character of international law and imperialism in China.
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12. International Drivers of Democracy
This chapter explores the international forces that shape democratic development. International dynamics influence the balance of power among domestic actors, which can shape a country's prospects for the onset and deepening of democracy. In fact, a large and growing body of research underscores that factors taking place outside a country's borders have played a significant and under-examined role in regime change and democratic development. These external factors include diffusion, foreign intervention, linkages (like trade and cross-cultural contacts), and foreign aid. One of the key takeaways of is that geopolitics matter. When the international system is led by a single democratic power, the democratic super-power and its partners can use trade, aid, and other linkages to encourage the onset and consolidation of democracy. Once competing authoritarian regimes emerge, however, these dictatorships can use the same tools in ways that dilute democratic leverage.
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14. The Political Economy of the Environment
Peter Dauvergne
This chapter assesses the global political economy of the environment. The growth of the world economy is transforming the Earth's environment. Nothing is particularly controversial about this statement. Yet, sharp disagreements arise over the nature of this transformation. Is the globalization of capitalism a force of progress and environmental solutions? Or is it a cause of the current global environmental crisis? The chapter addresses these questions by examining the debates around some of the most contentious issues at the core of economic globalization and the environment: economic growth, production, and consumption; trade; and transnational investment. It begins with a glance at the general arguments about how the global political economy affects the global environment. The chapter then traces the history of global environmentalism — in particular, the emergence of international environmental institutions with the norm of sustainable development. It also evaluates the effectiveness of North–South environmental financing and international environmental regimes.
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10. The Logics of Economic Globalization
Anthony McGrew
This chapter provides a systematic account of the causes of economic globalization. Within the global political economy (GPE) literature, economic globalization tends to be more precisely specified as ‘the emergence and operation of a single, worldwide economy’. This assists its measurement by reference to the intensity, extensity, and velocity of worldwide economic flows and interconnectedness, from trade, through production and finance, migration to information and data. Understood as a historical process, the concept of economic globalization also infers an evolving transformation or evolution in the organization and operation of the world economy. The chapter then reviews the principal theories of economic globalization, drawing upon the GPE literature. It develops a multi-theoretic account of economic globalization which captures its structural, conjunctural, and contingent causal factors. The chapter also demonstrates how this multi-theoretic framework is relevant to understanding the current crisis of economic globalization. It considers whether, in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, this crisis is the precursor to a period of accelerating deglobalization.
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13. The Political Economy of Global Inequality
Erin Lockwood
The GPE is characterized by tremendous disparities in wealth and income both within and between countries. Patterns of inequality have their origins in both historical institutions, like colonial extraction, as well as contemporary institutions, like the liberal trading order and financial capitalism. Although typically measured in economic terms, this work shows that the consequences of global inequality go beyond wealth and income to affect political institutions, labor conditions, and migration pressures and restrictions. However, not everyone agrees that global inequality is inherently a bad thing: some approaches to global justice emphasize absolute measures of economic well-being, such as GDP growth or declines in the number of people living in poverty, over relative concepts like levels of inequality. Nonetheless, many scholars and practitioners would prefer to reduce the level of global inequality in practice, and this work concludes with an overview of some policies that have been proposed as partial solutions.
Book
Christopher Hill, Michael Smith, and Sophie Vanhoonacker-Kormoss
International Relations and the European Union takes a unique approach by incorporating the study of the EU’s world role into the wider field of international relations. The text explains the EU’s role in the contemporary world. Beginning with an examination of theoretical frameworks and approaches, the text goes on to address the institutions and processes that surround the EU’s international relations. Key policy areas, such as security and trade, are outlined in detail, alongside the EU’s relations with specific countries, including the United States, China, India, and Russia. Updates for the fourth edition include chapters on the EU’s relationship with Africa and Asia, coverage of the implementation of the EU’s foreign policy, and exploration of how the EU’s international relations relate historically to the European integration process, and the contemporary issue of migration.
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18. International Development
A Distinct and Challenged Policy Domain
Jan Orbie
The European Union (EU) is widely recognized to be a major actor in international development cooperation. First, this chapter discusses key issues and debates in EU development policy. These relate to the importance of the EU in this field, the different objectives that it pursues, the aid budgets at its disposal, and the legal competences vis-à-vis the member states. Secondly, the uniqueness of this policy domain, compared to other EU policies in this volume, is addressed. Specifically, it highlights three distinctive features: the availability of budgetary power outside the EU, the long historical legacy dating back to member states’ colonial past, and the key role of trade as the preferred tool for development. Thirdly, the chapter elaborates two main policy-making domains: the EU as a donor itself and as a coordinator of member states’ policies. Overall, the EU follows the regulatory and distributional modes in its role as a donor, and when it seeks to coordinate member-state policy, the policy coordination mode is to the fore. Moreover, intensive transgovernmentalist features appear in both domains. The conclusion summarizes the main trends and future challenges including the implications of Brexit, the rise of China, and the increasing politicization of aid.
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29. China and the Developing World
Deborah Bräutigam and Yunnan Chen
This chapter examines China’s South–South relations and how it has been shaped by the nature of the Chinese state: a highly capable, developmental state that uses an array of instruments to promote its interests. In particular, it considers how, by means of foreign aid, economic cooperation, soft power, and trade, China aspires to be seen as a responsible global power. The chapter first looks at the history behind China’s engagement with countries of the Global South and the instruments that it has employed in this regard such as foreign investment, commercial loans, and soft power tools. It shows that Chinese ties with the developing world are shaped by long-standing foreign policy principles, including non-interference in the internal affairs of others, equality, and mutual benefit, along with its embrace of globalization and the growth of its multinational corporations. The chapter concludes with an assessment of concerns regarding China’s international engagement.
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4. The Developing World in the Global Economy
Robert Ahearne
This chapter examines the role of developing countries in the contemporary global economy. It first provides an overview of trends in the global economy, taking into account the implications of globalization for the developing world and the question of free trade vs protectionism. It then considers three key features of an increasingly globalized economy and their significance for the developing world: trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and financial flows. It also discusses the role(s) of developing countries in global trade, the advantages and disadvantages of FDI, and two major components of the global economy that can cause serious economic disruptions: the buying and selling of currencies and stocks and shares in local economies, and the rapid movement of capital across borders. The chapter concludes with an assessment of factors that can reduce the economic well-being of countries in the developing world.
Chapter
8. The EU as a Global Actor
Niklas Helwig
The EU’s ambitions to be a global power are a surprising by-product of European integration. Students of European foreign policy mostly focus on EU trade, aid, and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). But the national foreign policy activities of its member states cannot be neglected. On most economic issues, the EU is able to speak with a single voice. It has more difficulty showing solidarity on aid policy but is powerful when it does. The Union’s external policy aspirations now extend to traditional foreign and security policy. But distinct national policies persist, and the EU suffers from fragmented leadership. The chapter begins by considering the development of EU foreign policy and then considers how a national system of foreign policies exists alongside EU policies in the area of trade and international development. It then examines the EU’s CFSP and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
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4. Liberalization, Convertibility, and the Common Market
Wendy Asbeek Brusse
This chapter examines how the European Payments Union resolved the problem of currency convertibility and unlocked the potential of trade liberalization, thereby paving the way for the European Economic Community (EEC), which in turn spurred further intra-European trade. It first provides an overview of trade and payments before and immediately after World War II and goes on to discuss postwar approaches to convertibility and liberalization. It then considers the degree, speed, and commitment with which countries opened up their domestic markets to each other's exports under the Trade Liberalization Programme. It concludes with an assessment of Britain's efforts to join a wider free trade area with the members of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation.
Book
Erin Hannah and John Ravenhill
What constitutes Global Political Economy? In whose interest is GPE constructed, and by whom? How can inequalities in GPE best be redressed? These are some of the key questions addressed in the 7th edition of this title.
As an ever-evolving field, subject to constant changes and developments, Global Political Economy provides a comprehensive introduction to GPE written by leading experts in the field. Under the direction of new editor Prof. Erin Hannah, the 7th edition surveys major contemporary issues and debates in GPE while being attuned to silences, marginalizations, and exclusions that predominate the field. By integrating a wide range of theoretical approaches, rich empirical material, non-western viewpoints and diversity of contributors, the 7th edition provides enhanced coverage of the central axes of inequality in GPE and centers topics such as colonialism, race, gender, North-South divides and everyday life throughout chapters on GPE theory, global trade and production, global money and finance, the resurgence of the state, development and inequality, the environment, and digital technologies.
