Global federalism: A solution for the global economic crisis?

Abstract

Nowadays, all the states of the world are facing a new reality that they are not capable to cope with or even to understand properly: globalization. The concept of nation-state that was first configured during the Peace of Westphalia in the seventeenth century no longer has answers to the globalized problems such as environmental or economic problems. For instance, the high degree of degradation of the global environment cannot be solved by any nation-state or even by a great group of them. It is necessary that all of them, or at least the majority, work on the same direction in order to reduce the global pollution levels. Globalization is an ongoing process where there is no turning back. That means that there is no real possibility of a deglobalization process. Globalization demands a new way of thinking that could overcome the limitations of the nation-state. The global economic crisis is a perfect example of global problems that we must face. No nation-state, not even the superpower that is USA, is capable of dealing with the consequences of this global crisis. Moreover, the European Union, a nation-states association of political integration, shows its debilities to face the global economic problems, and the G-formations are even unable to find out global solutions. The crisis shows clearly that there are some global powers, like the markets, that had overflowed the power of the nation-state and the continental associations of nation-states, like the EU, within the framework of a new global capitalism. This paper analyses the global federalism as a possible theoretical solution for the global economic crisis and other global problems. If federalism has made possible along the history to resolve some problems that could not be solved by the lower levels of political organization, maybe it could also be a formula that helps the nation-state to control the global powers and the global capitalism that are even menacing the viability of the nation-state. The nation-states of the world would need to work together to establish a new global federal organization system, following the constitutionalism theory, that could be capable of dealing with global matters, regulating the global economy and, more importantly, keeping the world peace.