Monday, April 18, 2005

Ecuador and Globalization: War or Peace?

In a recent article in the New York Times, it was reported that Lucio Guittierrez will not resign despite rampant political criticisms. Guittierrez claims that his opponents are trying to remove him “because of his struggle to create what he called an independent, corruption-free judiciary.” However, international constitutional experts call Guittierrez’s actions an illegal take over of the Supreme Court. Many, from students to housewives are asking for his removal, which in Ecuador wouldn’t be a surprise. In both 1997 and 2000 the leader was forcibly removed from office.

What I found unique about this article was that the attention and criticism the global community was giving to Ecuador’s political crisis shows the extent to which information on the internal state of a country’s affairs in broadcasted globally. With the effective dissemination of information on internal affairs, it seems natural that sovereignty is more likely to be infringed upon. This is contradictory to theorists such as Thomas Friedman (the “golden arches” theory) who seem to see globalization as a means of preventing conflict and war. I would be interested to know other people’s thoughts on the effects of globalization on state relations.

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