Dear cj, As promised, here's the summary and outline for the book project. Your comments are welcome - and if you don't want them published please mark your message "PRIVATE". The next piece in this series will be "cj#728.2> Brief review of globalization and world systems", and so on for the rest of the outline. ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~-~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Globalization and the New World Order -- democracy at a crossroads Copyright 1997 by Richard K. Moore ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~-~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~ SUMMARY ^^^^^^^ The thesis of this book is that globalization is a political transformation of profound signficance, replacing the nation-state system with an elite-dominated globalist regime - and scuttling in the process two centuries of democratic traditions. Far more than an economic agenda, globalization brings a comprehensive revolution, with new paradigms of international order, commercial enterprise, national sovereignty, and social control. But while rapid and far-reaching, this revolution has been largely a stealth affair - a kind of spread-spectrum blitzkrieg attack, run under cover of official obfuscation. To put the globalist revolution in perspective, the history of the past two centuries is revisited; the modern nation state is interpreted as a partnership-of-mutual-interest between the people (in its democratic aspects) and the elite (in its capitalist aspects). The strained partnership has resulted in a cyclical see-saw struggle for power between elite and popular interests - resulting in a kind of rough-justice approximation of democracy. Since the 1980's, the elite have increasingly enjoyed a high position on the see-saw, as laissez-faire governments have come into power worldwide - particularly in the West. Globalization is the "locking in" of this temporary ascendency - the imposition of a New World Order in which economic, political, and military power are officially and permanently assigned to elite-dominated supra-national institutions. The global elite, to put it broadly, are abandoning the nation-state partnership and the see-saw compromise: they want it all. On this broad canvas, the book examines Western imperialism, the "Free World" era, the growth of transnational corporations, neoliberal policies, corruption of the democratic process, modern interventionism, the threat of police states and the Third-World precedent, elite planning, covert operations, the mass media, propaganda, divide-and-conquer populism, and more. The book closes with an examination of democracy, economics, the nation state, and the prospects for popular political activism. With the nation state having been abandoned by capitalism, the people are being disempowered and disenfranchised; they have a vanshing window of opportunity to make use of the democratic process and rebalance the see-saw. There will be one revolution or the other - but no standing still. ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~-~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= OUTLINE ^^^^^^^ I. Introduction A. Brief review of globalization and world systems B. Introduction of threads to be developed in book C. Positioning of this material in context of other available works and perspectives D. Statement of scope II. The USA - prototype of the republican nation state A. Monarchial origins and competing elites B. The colonial experience: autonomy and commerce C. Independence: dual motivation and dual benefit D. A strained partnership: the see-saw of democracy; elite vs people E. The expansion imperative and the ever-growing pie III. The evolution of the nation-state system and the birth of globalism A. The nation-state system up to WW II B. Uncle Sam as King of the Hill: postwar collective imperialism C. The "Free World" system and the rise of TNC's: redefining "national interests" D. The USA: microcosm and champion of globalization IV. World order under globalism A. The end-of-Cold-War crisis B. The special role of the U.S. in globalism C. The US/NATO police force; the Desert Storm precedent D. "Kulturkampf" and regional proxies: toy geopolitics E. Rounding up the stragglers: the China question F. The role of covert operations: what you don't know won't hurt you V. The neoliberal revolution and the globalist regime A. The neoliberal revolution: the elite abandon the nation state B. Who are "they"?: the reality of elite consciousness C. The globalist regime: a stealth coup d'etat D. Devolution, the EU, and "peacekeeping": a trojan cavalry E. The institutionalization of domination: systematic disempowerment F. Earth, Incorporated: the logic of capital concentration VI. Democracy and the media A. Propaganda and democracy: the poison in the soup B. Conspiracies and cover-ups: it's turtles all the way down C. Privatization and monopoly cliques: cloning the U.S. model D. The modern mass-media industry and scientific mind control E. Globalization, neoliberalism, and cyberspace: case studies in propaganda thought control F. Divide-and-conquer populism: cults and social control G. Cyberspace: the ultimate Orwellian medium VII. National decay and the police state A. Social decline and unrest: predictable consequences of globalism B. The Third-World police-state precedent C. Crossing the Rubicon: First-World police-state apparatus D. Smuggling camels: the "war" on drugs, crime and terrorism E. Corporate-feudalism: governments as "royal governors" F. Cyberspace: global surveillance and centralized control VIII. One revolution or the other A. The center cannot hold: nation-state partnership cancelled B. It can't happen here?... the boiling-frog scenario C. Democracy: realities and deceptions D. Economics: sense and nonsense E. The nation state: precious bastion of popular power F. Political activism: the means are the ends G. The journey of a thousand miles... ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~-~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Share: