The Pretext to Suprastates
Considering historical lessons for redesigning our governments
In considering mesoeconomics, we have set the stage for purpose-driven businesses. In revisiting them and their thorough definition, we have established that such an economy built upon relational connections allows for defining diffuse borders. In essence, it presents the opportunity for a data-driven framework of designing interstate exchanges. We start by stating historic examples of isolationism.
Let us start by recalling that the model of self-sufficient country has proven to be ill-fated. 鎖国, meaning closed country, was phased out of imperial Japan, where the term is read as “Sakoku”, in the 19th century. Even though its end has been criticized as the result of gunboat diplomacy, Japan has never been completely isolated, as it maintained some ties with China during its period of isolation.
In China, where 鎖国 is read as Suoguo — mind your tones — the “locked country” has been subject to 改革开放, Gaige kaifang, or reform and opening of the economy. The transition to a market economy followed the death of the centralized economy’s mastermind, Mao Tse-tung. The reforms which were orchestrated by Deng Xiaoping have come to reverse large swaths of policy implemented during the Great Leap Forward, which shifted the Chinese economy from agrarian to communist.
The Great Leap Forward has caused the Great Chinese Famine, the largest in history, during which between 18 and 55 million lives were lost. Five years down the road, the policies of the Leap needed to be upheld with the Cultural Revolution, which saw the ousting of Deng Xiaoping and others as a sprouting “bourgeoise”, and the death of anywhere between a few hundred thousands to a 20 million others.
As mentioned earlier, Deng Xiaoping finally got his leeway, invalidated the Cultural Revolution, and implemented the market reforms. The follows from the failure of more historical isolationist policies, including the 海禁, Haijin, or sea ban, which came in place around the time as Japan’s Sakoku and were not significantly enforced despite otherwise proclamations.
While the prominence of the Chinese Communist Party had come after World War II, the two world wars saw the demise of another form of self-isolation. Germany, which continues to import nearly $3.5 billion of steel products from France, complimented the availability of local coal for its heavy industries by French steel. The two industries are so tightly intertwined that France occupied the Rhur region after World War I to control Germany’s major steel production, on the basis of the latter state defaulting on its debt.
On the other hand, Nazi Germany’s expansionist ambitions were largely influenced by Hitler’s “Drang nach Osten” — Head East. After all, the fertile lands in Poland, Ukraine and other states to the east are necessary for Germany to overcome its then chronic food shortages. The eastward colonization, part of the Generalplan Ost, Masterplan for the East, which was put in place and ratified following the invasion of Poland, fell under the Lebensraum, living space.
The Lebensraum, the Nazi implementation of settler colonialism, ultimately failed. Nevertheless, it had shaken Europe awake to observe the perils of its prior ventures, ending the era of colonialism with a boom. We have been taught that colonialism has been the result of technological advancement which took the form of industrialization, and the search for ever-expanding markets that demand the mass-produced supplies.
However, what is missing from the picture is that seeking markets, and to an extent colonialism, is based on denying the value one acknowledges. The African cocoa, the Puerto Rican sugar, the Libyan oil all remind us of the land grabs by the Spanish in Mexico, the gold they carried back home, and the trillions of dollars worth of minerals the US extracted from Afghanistan. If you were colonizing countries to find new markets, you know that the countries you eye have something of value to you.
We can now see that isolationist policies inflict damage, either internally starving a population, or externally slaying neighbors. We are better off building states that reflect our human nature, and our intrinsic tendency to connect. On the other side, hyperconnected states, such as Lebanon, Singapore and Panama in today’s world, could only practice their political will within the space allotted to them in the global order. All three have populations of around 5 million, and could only thrive as they realize their natural strategic role in global trade.
In brief, before considering our governance structures, we must consider our values. We must also discretize our ambitions to a manageable level. This helps avoid the asymptotic limits of hyperconnected or isolated states. Most importantly, it helps you shape the world around you, most effectively, through the network you tap, as discussed under seismic shifts. This is the pretext to highlighting how suprastates are well-suited for the coming decades. Above all, this is a reminder that history is rich with warning signs that should help us steer our course.
This pretext is meant help shape our understanding of modern suprastates — entities greater than any one state (in its reach or organization), so that we may build better.
