Supranationalism and Its Role in International Politics

Supranationalism and the rise of supranational organizations have played a key part in international politics for the latter half of the 20^th century. The creation of organizations, such as the UN and the European Union have resulted in states being brought together; these supranational organizations have been gradually replacing national ones, resulting in the shift of sovereignty from national states to these supranational institutions. It is the ultimate expression of international relations, with politics transcending across individual states in the realms of trade, governing, and law. Organizations such as the World Trade Organization and the World Court are prime examples.

Even though it is assumed that each nation is autonomous and will protect it's sovereignty at any cost, international integration continues to occur on an increasingly larger level. Since World War II it has allowed for things such as collective security and a fair trade system, as well as a way for a system of international law to be established. Yet I believe there will be a halt to international integration, and perhaps even a reversal, in the 21^st century due to several limitations and problems in international politics today. The first and most obvious problem to international integration is the issue it creates for individual states' interests. Although globalization is a positive thing, each nation will always have domestic interests. As the realist school of thought posits, each nation will protect it's own sovereignty and it's own interests even if it is at the expense of other nations. This has been extremely clear in history, and was especially clear in the issues occurring in Darfur: China was protecting it's own economic interests by refusing to admit to the UN (a supranational entity with it's own problems and failures) that what was occurring in that region was indeed a genocide, simply because it was not fiscally positive for them to do so. The American government, in turn, refused to pressure China in order to protect their own economic interests and trade relationships. Although international integration is a great concept, the full realization of it globally will always be idealistic and nearly impossible, simply because each state will always look out for itself.

The idea of nationalism is also a huge hurdle for international integration; many countries are against this concept of cultural imperialism in which one culture is dominant, and several nations are rebelling in order to keep their own national identities. There will always be conflicts of ideas as long as there are different cultures, and international integration on the full scale level stands no chance as long as there are the possibilities of ideological wars.

The final problem international integration is facing, and possibly the most current and relevant, is the failure of the current global economy. The economic model of the American free-trade market was championed by many as being the best option to embrace, and lately it's failures - along with the consequential failures of other nations' economies that were so tied to the U.S. - has shown that perhaps international integration is not a good idea. With every nation tied to each other, economically, politically, and governmentally, should one nation fail in one aspect a type of domino effect could occur.

Each of these problems could certainly contribute to a halt to the expansion of international integration, but these three ideas - state interests, nationalism, and the failures of our current global economy - could truly result in a reversal of integration given enough time. States are becoming worried about their own interests, and could consider pulling away from international integration to focus on the establishment and productivity of their own systems of trade, government and economy. In my opinion, international integration is something essential to the success of our nation and our world, and even essential to peace; yet it truly is up to each individual nation to accept or condemn supranationalism, and only time will tell whether or not international integration will be successful in the 21^st century.