グローバル・システムの三層構造論の批判的検討 -二層構造の可能性-

グローバル・システムの変容

抄録

The main feature of the three layered structure model of the global system is the recognition that sovereign states are challenged from below and above, leading to the system which consists of international level, state level and local level. In this paper, I argue against the thesis that local entities have emerged as new actors in the global system.
Some scholars emphasize the decentralization trend in the developed countries and others point out the emergence of autonomous regions that are free from the restraint of traditional political boundaries.
As for first point, decentralization itself does not create a substantial change of the global system. There are many federal states in the world and local authorities in each country have enjoyed considerable autonomy. Furthermore, central governments have their own interest in advancing decentralization. It is necessary for them to avolid overloading itself with such functions as social, health, education and welfare programs.
As for the second point, I maintain that local entities are not autonomous enough to form transnational frameworks that directly interfere with national sovereignty. In addition, in the case of transnational economic areas, central governments often take the role of promoting such areas as a part of their development strategy.
I support the argument that there are two trends in the global system structure, integration and fragmentation. My point is that radical regionalists are anxious to obtain prestige of having the status as sovereign states. They do not appear to be satisfied with mere increae in their jurisdiction. With the increase of sovereign states after the Second World War, the tendency for regionalists to seek sovereignty has become stronger.
The thesis of this paper is that the appropriate model of the global system has a two, not three, layered structue. In this model, the formation of regional economic blocks and the rise of independence movements go hand in hand. On the one hand, for example, the development of European integration has brought about Scotland and Wales' strategy of “Independence in Europe”. In addition, the framework of Canada-U. S. Free Trade Agreement accelerated the independence movement in Quebec. On the other hand Ukraine and Beralus want closer economic relationships with Russia even though the two countries played a prominent role in the breakup of the Soviet Union. These cases show that the two trends are not contradictory with each other, but complementary.