Symposium
The Effects of Globalization on Small States
October 19, 2000
This all-day event addressed both the challenges and the opportunities posed for countries with 250,000 to four million people by the economic, social, and legal phenomena of globalization. Countries with small populations are among the greatest beneficiaries of globalization, but are at the same time among its most vulnerable participants. On the one hand, integrated markets, security alliances, and the availability of foreign capital are critical to the survival of small states. On the other hand, they are consequently highly vulnerable to the hazards of globalization, including volatile financial markets, a growing transnational mass culture, challenges for sustainable development policies, and an increasing foreign influence over domestic affairs.
While the size of a country’s population does not mandate the value of its economy, it does strongly affect the structure of that economy. While small states’ economies range from the least developed to oil-rich, they overwhelmingly derive a significant portion of their GDP, and the majority of their export revenues, from only one or two industries. Often, their economies rely on only a handful of significant trading partners, and on post-colonial preferential trade arrangements. Frequently, basics such as food and fuel must be imported, and small states receive the highest per capita amounts of international aid.
This combination increases significantly small states’ vulnerability to changes in external markets and trade rules. In an effort to fortify themselves through diversification, small states have become more rather than less integrated into the global economy, pursuing open economic policies to attract foreign investment.
This Symposium will be a platform for leading academics, practitioners, representatives of inter-governmental organizations, and diplomats from small states themselves to address in an inter-disciplinary manner these issues and the ways in which they affect small states in particular. It is hoped that this Symposium will raise awareness among those in a position to influence globalization policies of their effects on small states. To further this mission, the Journal will publish articles and essays from the Symposium in an upcoming issue.
Founded in 1968 with the support of a Ford Foundation grant and a generous gift from Belle S. Meller, the Journal of International Law and Politics features articles on diverse topics in both public and private international law by leading scholars and practitioners, as well as student notes, case comments, and book annotations. In 1996, the Library of Congress chose JILP to collaborate on the development and publication of the International Citation Manual. The ICM will serve as the international version of the Bluebook, detailing the citation styles of international organizations and countries throughout the world.