Discuss the roots of international system.

Why is Internationalism considered a very crucial aspect of

globalization?

People imagine a system of heightened interaction between various sovereign states,

specifically the desire for greater cooperation and unity among states and people – called
Internationalism.
It all started when Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, argued that international
system would be chaotic without a form of world government. Therefore, for him, states must
give up some freedoms and “establish a continuously growing state consisting of various nations
which will ultimately include the nations of the world.” Then Guiseppe Mazzini, proposed a
system of free nations that cooperates with each other to create an international system. With
this, he believes that a free and independent states would be the basis of an equally, free and
independent international system.
Woodrow Wilson, then forwarded the principle of self-determination – the belief that
world’s nation had a right to a free and sovereign government. With this, Wilson created League
of Nations, wherein he pushed this League to become a venue for conciliation and arbitration to
prevent another war, but then its goal was defeated when they are helpless to prevent the
World War II.
Karl Marx, a critic of Mazzini, believed that any true form of internationalism should
deliberately reject nationalism. With this, Marx divided the world into classes – capitalist class
and proletariat class. When Marx died, his followers make his vision come true by establishing
an international organization – the Socialist International (SI), wherein it lived short and
collapsed during World War I. When it collapsed, a new state emerged, called the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR).
Vladimir Lenin then established the Communist International (Comintern), which served
as the central body for directing communist parties all over the world. This international was
also less democratic because it followed closely the governance of Bolsheviks. Joseph Stalin,
Lenin’s successor, dissolved Comintern and re-established it as the Communist Information
Bureau (Cominform) , where it helped directly the various communist parties that had taken the
power of Eastern Europe. And when Soviet Union collapsed, communist internationalism,
including Cominform also disappeared.
Internationalism is a crucial aspect of globalization because global interactions are
heightened by the increased interdependence of states. This increased interdependence
manifests itself not just through state-to-state relations. Lastly, it’s because internationalism
promotes global peace and well-being through the development and application of international
structures.

1. Differentiate the following.

a. Nation and State

Nation State
- is an “imagined community”
- it allows one to feel a connection with a
community of people even if s/he will
never meet all of them in his/her lifetime.
- is limited because it does not go beyond a
given “official boundary”
- Rights and responsibilities are mainly the
privilege and concern of the citizens of
that nation.
- can be defined as a population who shares
a similar culture and ideals
- formed as a result of a common race,
religion, language, territory, history,
culture or political aspirations.
b. Liberal Internationalism and Socialist Internationalism
Liberal Internationalism
- The first major thinker of this form was the
late 18th century German philosopher,
Immanuel Kant.
- According to Giuseppe Mazzini, free and
independent states would be the basis of
an equally free, cooperative international
system.
- Woodrow Wilson, creates the League of
Nations – the concretization of the
concepts of liberal internationalism
- For Kant, it emphasized the need to form
common international principles.
- For Mazzini, it enshrined the principles of
cooperation
- For Wilson, it called democracy and self-
determination
- Despite of the failure of League of Nations,
it still created some of the task-specific
international organizations that are still
existing up until today – the World Health
Organization (WHO) and International
Labour Organization. (ILO)
- According to Britannica, Liberal
- Refers to a country and its government
- Has four attributes:
1. It exercises authority over a specific
population, called citizens.
2. It governs a specific territory.
3. Has a structure of government that
crafts various rules that people
follows.
4. The state has sovereignty over its
territory.
- comprised of four elements: government,
territory, population, and sovereignty.
Socialist Internationalism
- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels believed
that in a socialist revolution seeking to
overthrow the state and alter the
economy, the proletariat “had no nation”.
- Marx’s followers established their own
international organization, the Socialist
Internationalist (SI), which is made with
the use of Marx’s vision.
- Socialist International – a union of
European socialist and labor parties
established in Paris in 1998
- SI’s achievements include the declaration
of May 1 as Labor Day and the creation of
International Women’s Day and the most
important, is the successful campaign for
an 8-hour workday.
- Socialist internationalism allows ‘left to
internationalism, derived from the belief
that international progress is possible,
where progress is defined as movement
toward increasing levels of harmonious
cooperation between
political communities.
speak unto left’ upon a shared mindset. As
a practical illustration, the Party of
European Socialists sit together in the
European Parliament and form an
associated organisation within the Socialist
International. ‘The Internationale’ is
another pertinent illustration of this blend
of socialism and internationalism.