Conclusion: State Adaptation to a New Global Environment

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Why is it important?

This final chapter summarizes the conclusions reached in this study and considers why many of the globalization school's predictions have fallen far from the mark. In this regard, it compares the globalization and security approach with past state-in-demise arguments linked to other social, economic, or technological changes, such as the rise of the trading state, the invention of dynamite, and the development of thermonuclear weapons. It contends that the state as a security-providing institution was not swept away by these changes, principally because, as complex adaptative systems, states both adapted to and controlled these changes. Similarly, it is argued that, at least in the security realm, states have to this point been able to adapt to the pressures of globalization, and the great powers — particularly the United States — have been able to exert some control over it. Thus, although not completely absent, globalization's effect on the security practices of states has been muted, particularly among great powers and those states that face considerable regional security dilemmas.