New world disorder? Ruth C. Lawson Professor of International Politics Vincent Ferraro (left) and Tony Lake, Five College professor of international relations and former national security adviser, discussed "Globalization and Its Challenges to World Politics" at last weekend's symposium. Photo by Jim Gipe.
Saturday's symposium on "Globalization and Its Challenges to World Politics" brought together Anthony Lake, Five College professor of international relations and former national security adviser, and Vincent Ferraro, Ruth C. Lawson Professor of International Politics.
Lake described the effect of the current global economic crisis on national security, sharing what he termed grim good news. "The bad news is that the crisis is inflicting terrible human damage. The good news is that you could see it as the global economy going through the process that America and Latin America went through ten to fifteen years ago: weeding out the inefficiencies," he argued. "It could be that the global economy will be stronger when it comes out of [the current crisis.]" He is also optimistic about the American economy's ability to weather the current "storm."
However, "there needs to be a greater sense of urgency in Washington about the global economic crisis." He talked about the danger of "loose nukes" in Russia, and predicted the collapse of the North Korean government, which could lead to "a kind of Albania writ large" in Korea. Lake suggested that the U.S. help both countries. He also warned of the "nexus of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and international crime and drugs that are coming together in dangerous ways" as globalism increases.
Why doesn't Washington have a sense of urgency abut the new threats to national security? Because of lingering Cold-War-era thinking, because overconcern with national sovereignty makes international efforts less likely, and because the American economy is still in good shape, Lake suggested. But "the point of politics is policy. The point of our politics today is politics, and that breeds cynicism." However the self-declared optimist concluded, "I predict we'll muddle through."
Ferraro paid tribute to Lake as someone who's "worked all his life, tirelessly, for the public good ... in the snake pit of Washington without developing cynicism. This is a model of what public service ought to be." In his own remarks, Ferraro noted that nation-states have developed patterns of autonomy that are circumscribed by globalization. However, "It is ludicrous to think that any nation-state can stand alone against this process [globalization.] We have to think like architects how to construct a new, single house for the people of the world.
Globalization inevitably brings clashes of values, such as the relative importance of self-determination and human rights. "The task for all of us," Ferraro said, "is to articulate what values we want Tony Lake to defend and what we're willing to do to defend them," noting that Mount Holyoke has taken a stand to teach students to articulate their values.
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