January 28th 2015

Supranationalism

This week we talked about Suprantionalism, or the idea of having governmental bodies that operate above the authority of individual countries to protect the rights and people of several different governments at once. Supranationalism  transcends nattional boundaries, authority or interests for a greater cause, a collective good is the greater cause. Supranationalism began with NATO and Warsaw Pact. Examples of Supranationalism include NATO, NAFTA, ASEAN, UN,EU, and ANZUS

Some would question why states would give up individual rights in order to form a supranationalist governing body.  In my opinion, supranationalism can be a very good thing, because it protects people across international borders and countries can work together to do something that one country alone couldn't do. The UN is a good example of this. The UN created the rules governing acts of war and protects people from inhuman torture. The UN also works to keep the world economy flowing properly. All of these goals are good for the world as a whole, and in these cases, supranationalism achieves its goal.

Supranationalism can also be a bad thing. In the abstract, if a group of countries formed a supranationalist body, they could use their combined resources to overpower another country. They could start a war and win it unfairly, or use their economic power to destabilize another country's economy. In a practical sense, within the UN countries with more might have more power and are able to influence the UN's decisions toward their preferences. This means that there isn't equality or fairness within the organization, which is a major failing of this supranational group.

          Overall, I give supranationalism mixed reviews. When used properly, it can do amazing things, but I also think it can be abused like any strong power. I think it should probably have more checks to that power, similar to the way the US government has a system of checks and balances to keep one group from gaining too much influence. Perhaps all supranational groups should have to submit a plan to create a similar system before they can form, though of course that would require a supranational organization to review that submission and that might be a little more complicated than is necessary.