GLOBALIZATION AND THE DECLINE OF THE UNITED STATES ECONOMIC INSTRUMENT OF POWER
Abstract
In the post-Cold War era, the economic instrument of power has been one of the primary means the US uses to influence international actors. This study seeks to determine if globalization has had an impact on the US's ability to leverage economic power in international relations, and whether that impact has been positive or negative. While the US uses a variety of economic tools to influence international actors, this study looked at the two most common, sanctions programs and trade policy. The main argument of this thesis is that globalization, especially in the post-Cold War era, has had a negative effect on the US's ability to leverage its economic power in international relations. First, while globalization has facilitated the growth of an international financial system that the US can leverage to gather financial intelligence and implement targeted, as opposed to broad, sanctions programs, it also provides nefarious actors with a growing number of alternative avenues to circumvent sanctions. In addition, the recent success of US sanction programs against terrorist networks and Iran prompted developing countries, like China and Russia, to develop tools to undermine US influence. Second, with respect to trade policy, while the US continues to wield heavy influence in international institutions like the World Trade Organization, the WTO has failed to reach agreements on new globalized trade policy, prompting states to engage in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, further reducing US economic influence in global economic relations. Both of these factors are leading to a relative decline in US economic statecraft.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1047281
Entities
People
- Josh Watkins
Organizations
- School of Advanced Air and Space Studies