Scholarly Contributions | International Relations Theory

COOPERATIVE GLOBAL POLITICS

Professor Said was a visionary who drew on his analysis of the current state of international politics to articulate a better path for global affairs, one that remains critically relevant today. In defining a new world order – a globalist perspective that embraces our interconnectedness – he also identified a new, cooperative way of doing politics. Said defined a clear agenda for international consensus building and sustainable cooperation through reciprocity and mutual benefit, in contrast to the dominant model based on power politics and competition.

Said refined his ideas on cooperative global politics beginning in the late 1980s and continuing throughout the 1990s. The fourth edition of his textbook, published in 1995 with the new title, Concepts of International Politics in Global Perspective with Charles Lerche, Jr. and Charles Lerche III, included a new section on cooperative global politics that articulated core principles for navigating the changing post-Cold War climate. As the “ideological fog”¹ of the times lifted, the real forces that had been reshaping the international scene for some time emerged, particularly “the stumbling blocks of nationalism, ethnocentrism, and sovereignty.”² Certain assumptions were also being challenged, such as the notion that increased consumption leads to greater economic growth and development,³ or that Western knowledge and quantifiable science are superior to other forms of knowing (other cultures must become Westernized and economically focused “if they want to play the game”).⁴ Said argued it is no longer realistic to assume that a stable, peaceful world order will be achieved by the global poor reaching “the ever-ascending material standard of living of the industrialized countries” – nor can our planet’s resources handle such a goal.⁵ Rather, the world’s “first truly global civilization” is taking shape and requires an interdependence political strategy.⁶ Said observes, “we have moved from a humanity that lived its collective life as fragments of the whole into a new context of humanity as a whole.”⁷

From such a perspective, security for one nation requires improved security for all. If common security is a common priority, it thus assumes common interests. The only workable solution, Said argues, is the development of a broad consensus of peoples and governments. Consensus is already a distinctive political tool among nation states. The absence of the ability to force a verdict by war, however, is a fundamental shift from the old world order, but will “leave room for vigor, imagination, and skill in framing and executing national policy.”⁸ When consensus is pursued, it introduces a cooperative model of world politics that results in mutual benefits. Such a model is necessary for obtaining public goods and addressing issues that no single country can solve, such as climate change, mass hunger, energy shortages, and arms transfers. Indeed, the zero-sum competitive power-politics model cannot account for the voluntary cooperation necessary to provide public goods and address these shared global challenges.⁹

Said points out that voluntary cooperation requires some minimal ethical assumption and norm of fairness. Cooperation based on fairness requires, first, the identification of shared objectives that can only be achieved through cooperative efforts. Second, each actor must have an expectation of personal benefit from this cooperation. Fairness does not require “unilateral self-sacrifice;” rather, “fair individuals are obligated to contribute to a cooperative effort only if they can expect to receive benefits from the like contributions of others.”¹⁰ In other words, there is an underlying assumption of reciprocity in a cooperative model of global politics, an obligation to “return the favor” or at least not take advantage of others who have done you a favor. This mutual expectation of cooperation requires mutual trust in the other, which can involve some risk. Thus, Said advises it is helpful to build a basis for trust by starting with cooperative ventures that are low-loss and low-risk before moving to bigger, higher-risk but higher-payoff enterprises.¹¹ Finally, the benefits and costs of cooperation must be fairly distributed among actors; indeed, “questions of international social justice cannot be avoided.”¹²

Specifically, cooperative global politics “encourages and reinforces respect for four key pillars of human existence: 1) maintaining balance with nature, (2) recognizing that human dignity is sacred, (3) pursuing political pluralism and coexistence as the alternative to mutual destruction, and (4) seeking tolerance and the synergistic power of cultural diversity as the alternative to the doomed loneliness of intolerance and isolationist thinking.”¹³ These pillars represent an important shift in our perspectives, “from the nation-state to one-world … from national interest to human interest … from materialism to human progress through spiritual evolution … from an environment to be exploited to an environment that has rights of its own; and from coercion and war to collaboration and non-violence”¹⁴ (see also Spirituality and Global Politics).

Yet shared objectives are not enough to ensure cooperation. Said also addressed the importance of leadership in establishing the mechanisms for cooperative global politics, including for the fair allocation of benefits and burdens and in identifying the roles and responsibilities of different actors.¹⁵ He discussed the specific role required of US leadership “to promote solidarity without which the underlying norm of fair reciprocity cannot be effective,”¹⁶ particularly within the Middle East and Africa. He also addressed the role of international institutions. In a keynote address at the United Nations on the UN in a changing global environment, Said proclaims, the “vision of a world community requires a new system of diplomacy,” one that “is more concerned with social change than with preserving the international order as it exists.”¹⁷ Today we need “more problem-solvers than philosophers” who have “a surer sense of values, rather than adhering to a game plan.”¹⁸ Said’s call for cooperative global politics is as relevant today as it was when he first articulated the concept, and provides rich guidance for current students, scholars, and practitioners.

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