Adam Harmes and Global Government

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes Adam Harmes' text, "The Return of the State: Protectors, Power-Brokers, and the New Global Compromise". The paper explains that while Harmes' thesis is a thoughtful treatise on how the historical pendulum has swung back and forth between unrestrained capitalism and tight, welfare-state regulation, his work offers a solution to the ills of global capitalism that may ultimately prove more unlikely than practical. The paper looks at the likely reasons why both powerful and impoverished nations will find objections to global governance. The paper also points out that Harmes' book becomes a laudable exposition of the usually-antagonistic relationship between the state and the marketplace - and a good example of how something that sounds wonderful in theory may not work in the real world. The writer concludes that Harmes' text has many fine points, but it seems his over-eagerness to press his case causes him to forget that the world may not be as ready for the "international state" as he evidently is.

From the Paper:

"Unfortunately for Harmes, there are complications that get in the way of the practical fulfillment of his political globalization. For one thing, Adam Harmes blithely assumes - or at least confidently assumes - that nations great and small will embrace the kind of political globalization of which he speaks. For one thing, all nation-states - whether America or a tiny, backwater country in Southeast Asia - have socio-cultural, anthropological and political forces that bind together their citizens and shape their world view; in short, people in France (to give just one example), because of a collective national historical narrative reaching back many centuries, tend to see themselves as "French" before they see themselves as anything else."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Buira, Ariel. "The Governance of the International Monetary Fund." International Development Research Center. N.d. Government of Canada. 16 Jul. 2007 <http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-55684-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html>
• Harmes, Adam. The Return of the State: Protectors, Power-Brokers, and the New Global Compromise. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 2004.

More papers on Adam Harmes and Global Government:

• Book Review # 134272 : "Harmes' "The Return of the State"
• Term Paper # 138418 : "Civil Society and Global Protest"
• Essay # 66416 : "Electronic Commerce and the Government"

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