Turkey: Cosmopolitanism & Global Problems

Question for Thesis
To what extent can cosmopolitanism bring solutions to the problems faced by Turkey?
To what extent can cosmopolitanism deal with the issued faced by Turkey with regard human security, human rights, and illegal immigration in the era of globalization
Under what conditions can cosmopolitanism bring solutions to nation-states and the challenges they face in the era of globalization?

Challenges:

• human security

Can we say that Turkey can best face the challenges of the 21st century in its form as nation-state?

According to David Held and Anthony Mc Grew, the nation-state system is still the best way to fight global problems, because it is only if states collaborate together that such problems be tackled. (The Global Transformations Reader"To what extent is the nation-state still the best administrative entity to provide human security for its citizens and face the challenges of the 21st century?

Ulrich Beck, in turn, says in his article entitled "Democracy Beyond the Nation-State" that "there is a new dialectic of the global and the local that is not easy to accommodate in national politics. It can be adequately presented and resolved only in a transnational context.For just that purpose the new political subject is necessary: cosmopolitan parties that represent transnational matters transnationally, but do so within the political arenas of nation-states." http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=1523 199.

1. David Held -- National Democracies need international cosmopolitical democracy. Reconfiguration of political power
2. Ulrich Beck -- International law is based on cosmopolitan principles/tolerance. Nation-state is over, cosmopolitan state system is the solution
3. Governance & Transnational Studies -- Methodoligical Nationalism: Nation-state is key order for studying major social, political processes. Nation-State does not capture transnational linkages. Unable to capture multi-dimensional processes of change Methodological Cosmopolitanism:

Will Kymlicka, in his article Liberal Nationalism and Cosmopolitan Justice, assesses Sheila Benhabib's 'democratic iteration' concept promoting liberal nation-states as opposed to a cosmopolitan order. Noting that nation-states find themselves within a transition period with their multicultural and multinational composition, Kymlicka acknowledged that the "pursuit of liberal nationhood" has been responsible for some of the gravest injustices in the world and observes the 'taming liberal nationhood' approach to preserve the benefits of a liberal nation-state while reducing its risks. Explaining that this same process is described as 'transcending liberal nationhood' by those trying to build new forms of 'postnational' or 'cosmopolitan' citizenship, Kymlicka writes that even the developments in Europe and the EU can be better understood with his approach.

Cosmopolitanism, Nation-State, & Global Problems

Question for Thesis

• To what extent can cosmopolitanism bring solutions to the problems faced by nation-states?
• To what extent can cosmopolitanism deal with the issued faced by nation-states with regard human security, human rights, and illegal immigration in the era of globalization
• Under what conditions can cosmopolitanism bring solutions to nation-states and the challenges they face in the era of globalization?

challenges:

1. human security
2. pandemics
3. environmental

Can we say that the nation-state is still the best administrative entity to face the challenges of the 21st century?

According to David Held and Anthony Mc Grew, the nation-state system is still the best way to fight global problems, because it is only if states collaborate together that such problems be tackled. (The Global Transformations Reader"To what extent is the nation-state still the best administrative entity to provide human security for its citizens and face the challenges of the 21st century?

Ulrich Beck, in turn, says in his article entitled "Democracy Beyond the Nation-State" that "there is a new dialectic of the global and the local that is not easy to accommodate in national politics. It can be adequately presented and resolved only in a transnational context.For just that purpose the new political subject is necessary: cosmopolitan parties that represent transnational matters transnationally, but do so within the political arenas of nation-states." http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=1523 1999

Once An Immigrant, Always An Immigrant?

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of my arrival in Israel. I immigrated on 30 September 1969 and arrived to a hot and humid Tel-Aviv in the early afternoon hours. It has been 40 years since....

Reflections on Writing

Joske (Prof. Agassi) tells me that I should write, write, and write without thinking. Put thoughts on paper and not look back. Now that I have my M.A. in Democracy Studies and the Open University framework has ended, what to do? Continue with a thesis so that I may enroll in a Ph.D. studies, or just write articles and try to have them published. In this age of cyberspace, though, I do not even need a peer-reviewed journal to publish what i wrote. I can just publish them myself, or send them to a more sophisticated and academic blog. The important thing seems to write, however.

What interests me?

Globalization -- mostly the endless movement of people and the changing loyalties of these people when it comes to culture, nation, and language. Do we have to belong to one country? Do we have to identify ourselves? To what extent can we identify ourselves by country and nation? I am not a world citizen as I do know what that means. How can I be a world citizen when I do not even know what goes on in Zimbabwe? Perhaps we should first try to find out about the place we live before we can branch out to larger avenues. That was my goal when I first started studying at the Open University. Try to explore and find out more about Israel, its past, and the different views guiding its people.

Question for Thesis

To what extent can cosmopolitanism bring solutions to the problems faced by nation-states?

To what extent can cosmopolitanism deal with the issued faced by nation-states with regard human security, human rights, and illegal immigration in the era of globalization?

Under what conditions can cosmopolitanism bring solutions to nation-states and the challenges they face in the era of globalization?

challenges:

human security
pandemics
environmental

Can we say that the nation-state is still the best administrative entity to face the challenges of the 21st century?

According to David Held and Anthony Mc Grew, the nation-state system is still the best way to fight global problems, because it is only if states collaborate together that such problems be tackled. (The Global Transformations Reader"

To what extent is the nation-state still the best administrative entity to provide human security for its citizens and face the challenges of the 21st century?

HumanSecurity by Mary Kaldor

Remarks of Professor Mary Kaldor
Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance,
London School of Economics and Political Science at Finlandia Hall,
Helsinki, 1 August 2005, 30th Anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act

Click here to view article in .pdf

The EU and Its Challenge 'To Act Like One'

ABSTRACT

"Zollverein' ce n'est pas un patrie"

The EU is working toward social unity and cohesion. Her efforts are bound to become more challenging with new members from east Europe and perhaps Muslim Turkey. The EU claims, in the Lisbon Treaty, that the only way Europe can meet the challenges of globalization, demographic shifts, climate change, the need for sustainable energy sources and new security threats in the 21st century is by "acting as one." That is, by acting like a nation in solidarity, unity, and accord. The question is to what extent can the EU member states act like a nation? In other words, the question is to what extent can we talk about the formation of an EU nation?

This study explores three answers to the question of the extent that we can talk about the formation of an EU nation: The first one is that we can talk of the formation of an EU nation to a great extent because it has a lingua franca, a flag, a monetary unit, and decision-making institutions. We can say that the EU is like India, which incorporates a multitude of nations, religions, and languages under one roof.

The second answer is that we cannot really talk about the formation of an EU nation in its classical meaning since the EU community of peoples will never feel like they belong to a nation because of their heterogeneous character, undefined borders, and diverse cultures. Moreover, the different peoples making up the EU will never act in unison and solidarity expected of a nation.

The third answer is that we can talk about the formation of an EU nation to some extent if we consider that the EU may be laying the grounds of a new form of political formation in the era of globalization. This answer integrates the ambivalence prevailing in the "nation-state" outlook on society and politics and the possibility of another alternative. I describe here a nation as a modern democratic nation-state with relatively developed market economies. I opt for the third answer.

The plan of the work is as follows: The study is in three parts and the first part consists of an overview of the European Union and the Lisbon Treaty and different approaches to what makes a nation. The second part explores the various answers to the question of the extent that we can talk about the formation of an EU nation, and the third part is the conclusion, where the answer deemed most suitable is explained.

Esther Tina Pesah
2009