Interdependence and Domestic Political Regimes: The Case of the Newly Industrializing Countries

In: Alternatives: global, local, political, Band 13, Heft 2, S. 253-270

Abstract

An examination of whether newly industrializing countries (NICs) of East Asia & Latin America could develop a relationship of complex interdependence with advanced industrial market economy countries of Western Europe, Japan, & North America similar to the relationship that exists between such advanced industrial nations. The concept of complex interdependence, as developed by US international relations theorists, is critically analyzed to show its lacunae -- eg, it ignores the role of domestic political institutions in forging complex ties of cooperative interdependence among liberal democracies. A majority of NICs have achieved a high level of industrialization by pursuing an external economic orientation, under a new authoritarianism that differs from traditional forms. It is argued that these corporate states cannot form links of complex interdependence with Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development countries, because this would require a greater play of nonstate actors & normative devaluation in the use of force. The problems that newly established NIC democracies face are briefly discussed. Modified AA