The emergence of a new global economy has led many observers to argue that a new world order is also emerging in international relations. Nations relate to each other in a different fashion, it is often argued. Opponents of this view argue that while economic and political changes clearly are evident, these changes do not mark a significant break from historical trends in which nations cling to their own self interests. The world is no more stable today, skeptics argue, than it was yesteryear.
The "new world order" in international relations is the product of the emerging global economy (Moore, 1998, p. 193). As the world's largest exporter of goods and services, the United States has an interest in global economic growth. Moreover, increasing global prosperity can help alleviate the popular discontent that, in turn, helps fuel regional instability, conflict, and tension. Economic growth and prosperity abroad creates markets for U.S. exports and reduces regional instability or conflicts that can threaten U.S. access to markets, raw materials, and trade routes.
Economic freedom is the foundation of individual prosperity and the economic development of nations. Without it, countries will remain poor, no matter how much money they receive in foreign aid. Thus, in order for countries to grow economically, the overseas economic development policies of the United States must be based on the principles of individual liberty and economic freedom that unleash the entrepreneurial, wealth-creating potential of nations.
The global economy and economic freedom have produced a new way in which nations relate to each other. Nations have increasingly opened their borders to international trade and have grown inter-dependent upon the health and well-being of all other nations. As this inter-dependence has become more evident, nations have steadily moved toward ensuring global stability and a new world order. Nationalism is no longer the domin...