B) Comment on the influence of globalization on the nation state

Anti-globalism activists often depict the McDonald's, Disney, and Coca-Cola corporations as agents of globalism or cultural imperialism—a new form of economical/economic (1) and political domination. Critics of globalism argue that any business enterprise capable to manipulate/of manipulate/of manipulating (2) personal tastes will thrive, whereas state authorities/authority (3) everywhere will lose control over the distribution of goods and services. According to this view of world power, military force is perceived as/of as (4) hopelessly out-of-the way/out of step/out of the firing line (5) or even powerless; the control of culture (and its production) is seen as far/by far (6) more important than the control of political and geographic limits/borders/frontiers (7). Certainly, it is true that national boundaries are increasingly permeable and any effort by nations to exclude global pop culture usually makes the banned/barred/illegal (8) objects all irresistible/all the most irresistible/all the more irresistible (9).

Arguments regarding the overrosion/corrosion/erosion (10) of state sovereignty are particularly unsettling for nations that have become consumers not/then/rather then/than/rather than (11) producers of digital technology. the/a/x (12) Post-Soviet Russia, the/a/x (13) post-Mao China, and the/a/x (14) post-Gaullist France are but three examples of Cold War giants facing uncertain futures in the emerging global system. French intellectuals and politicos/politicians (15) have seized upon anti-globalism as an organizing/organized (16) ideology in the absence of other unifying/unified (17) themes. In Les cartes de la France à l'heure de la mondialisation (2000; “ France's Assets in the Era of Globalization ”), French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine announced/denounced/renounced (18) the United States as a “hyperpower” that promotes “uniformity” and “unilateralism.” Speaking for the French intelligentsia, he argued that France should take the plunge/take the lead/take the veil (19) in building a “multipolar world.” Ordinary/Regular/The rank and file (20) French citizens also were concerned about/with (21) losing their national identity, particularly as the regulatory power of the European Union began to have an effect/affect/sway (22) everyday life. Sixty percent of respondents in a 1999 L'Expansion poll agreed that globalization represented the greatest threat/risk/jeopardy (23) to the French way of life.

Ex. 31. ** Fill in the gaps with any suitable word.

When public diplomacy issues are discussed, __________ (1) tends to be on major powers that are particularly active in this field – China, Israel, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and a few others. But Romania has now announced that it wants to __________ (2) the big guys' club, and it is taking __________ (3) steps toward doing so.

A new public diplomacy program has been __________ (4) within the office of Romania's president, Traian Basescu, who has put his personal __________ (5) behind its efforts. At a conference in Bucharest last week marking the beginning of the new public diplomacy venture, Basescu said, "Romania is proud of itself," and he criticized the common __________ (6) of Romania as the source of other countries' crime problems. This __________ (7) is at least in part a product of racism directed toward Romania's Roma, or Gypsy, population, members of which are actively __________ (8) against throughout much of Europe.

Former foreign minister Cristian Diaconescu, along with his colleague Dan Dima, is directing the public diplomacy __________ (9), which he defines as "the management of external perception... that aims to offer to the international realm the necessary arguments for a solid structuring of our credibility and reputation abroad." For those tempted to think Romania just needs a new "brand" identity, Diaconescu said that __________ (10) of Romania "cannot be magically created out of imaginative promotion, but must be built on policy."

All this is encouraging, but Basescu's team is in the __________ (11) of domestic political battling that is far nastier than anything seen in other countries. The president and the current foreign minister belong to different political parties and are so at __________ (12) that the foreign ministry chose to send no representative to the kick-off conference. This needs to be __________ (13). In any country, successful public diplomacy requires a long-term commitment that transcends __________ (14).

Romania's new __________ (15) on reaching out to foreign publics – not just other governments – should be considered a useful step forward in a __________ (16) of ways. It is likely to benefit Romania's regional __________ (17) and it will widen the circle of public diplomacy practitioners. In Europe, the collective political blood pressure tends to reach __________ (18) peaks. Public diplomacy may prove a helpful __________ (19).

Поиск по сайту: