4 ms·

Not particularly thought-provoking or insightful. Though it would be nice if IR/geopolitical thinkers finally incorporated (pun intended) corporations into the

Not particularly thought-provoking or insightful. Though it would be nice if IR/geopolitical thinkers finally incorporated (pun intended) corporations into their lenses. The nation state fell into decline around the time the corporate trading companies came into being. Digital technologies have simply side-stepped states "getting their fill" via tariffs, taxes, and such. Supra-national organizations/NGOs "solve" international problems only in name. They're mostly there for the power-hungry to fill the power-vacuum in a new domain. My disjointed thoughts.

jdthedisciple 5y ago
"The nation state fell into decline around the time the corporate trading companies came into being." Mind elaborating a bit? Not quite sure what you mean.
andylynch 5y ago
Not sure I agree - no company has surpassed the scale or power of the early modern ones like VOC. The FAANGs might be getting closer by some measures, but thankfully still lacking in military strength.
rwmj 5y ago
> Supra-national organizations/NGOs "solve" international problems only in name. The EU for its many faults has solved a lot of international problems - taking a fairly hard line on the environment, workers' rights, privacy and monopolies.
- hardlianotion 5y ago
  That remains to be seen, particularly on the environment.
tomrod 5y ago
I tend to think of the following as "states-in-waiting" -- centrally organized groups that can fill political vacuums. - Several large religions (Catholics, Mormons, certain Baptist conventions) - Mexican drug cartels - Several multinational corporations (though internal bureaucracies of many in F500 are stagnate and wouldn't respond quickly to a power vacuum) - Certain sub-divisions of governments (in the US: states, large municipalities, military bases, land managers) - Certain volunteer organizations, like Civilian Air Patrol, Girl/Boy Scouts These organizations have strong hierarchy, clear incentive constructs to align to their mission, and can typically respond quickly to external opportunities. Books like Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling walk through sort of an uber-case of this kind of scenario from a scifi/fantasy perspective. And that another organization fills a void is not crazy -- we've seen it in history (Catholic -> Roman empire, post-American revolution, KKK and fraternal orders like Masons/Elks post-US civil war, several places in the Philippines, France, and others in response and following WWII occupation, and so forth). Power is slippery. There is no divine right to it. People do well when it is held stably and respected for what it is. People do poorly when it is mismanaged, and will tend to support the strongest claim when there is a vacuum.

jdthedisciple 5y ago

"The nation state fell into decline around the time the corporate trading companies came into being." Mind elaborating a bit? Not quite sure what you mean.

andylynch 5y ago

Not sure I agree - no company has surpassed the scale or power of the early modern ones like VOC. The FAANGs might be getting closer by some measures, but thankfully still lacking in military strength.

rwmj 5y ago

> Supra-national organizations/NGOs "solve" international problems only in name. The EU for its many faults has solved a lot of international problems - taking a fairly hard line on the environment, workers' rights, privacy and monopolies.

hardlianotion 5y ago
That remains to be seen, particularly on the environment.

tomrod 5y ago

I tend to think of the following as "states-in-waiting" -- centrally organized groups that can fill political vacuums. - Several large religions (Catholics, Mormons, certain Baptist conventions) - Mexican drug cartels - Several multinational corporations (though internal bureaucracies of many in F500 are stagnate and wouldn't respond quickly to a power vacuum) - Certain sub-divisions of governments (in the US: states, large municipalities, military bases, land managers) - Certain volunteer organizations, like Civilian Air Patrol, Girl/Boy Scouts These organizations have strong hierarchy, clear incentive constructs to align to their mission, and can typically respond quickly to external opportunities. Books like Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling walk through sort of an uber-case of this kind of scenario from a scifi/fantasy perspective. And that another organization fills a void is not crazy -- we've seen it in history (Catholic -> Roman empire, post-American revolution, KKK and fraternal orders like Masons/Elks post-US civil war, several places in the Philippines, France, and others in response and following WWII occupation, and so forth). Power is slippery. There is no divine right to it. People do well when it is held stably and respected for what it is. People do poorly when it is mismanaged, and will tend to support the strongest claim when there is a vacuum.