January 14, 2005

ALEX SINGLETON at the ASI blog brings attention to a new book by Philippe Legrain, Open World : The Truth about Globalisation. Booklist says, "This book offers what might be called the sweetness-and-light view of globalization, written by a former correspondent for The Economist .. Nevertheless, a well-argued book that should serve as balance to current negative accounts."

You might have noticed that this blog supports a liberal world order -- democracy, free markets, the rule of law. That is, globalization. But it does not support open borders, nor does it support unsecured borders. There is no contradiction here. A liberal world order assumes nation states and national sovereignty within states. It also assumes the notion of citizenship within a nation -- and the defense of the citizens and their rights under the rule of law by the institutions of the nation.

Now, I am well aware that many on the left ("multiculturalists") are hostile to the whole idea of the American nation and the U.S.A. as a unique social compact with a precious tradition of its own. And it also isn't lost on me that many "libertarians" are in reality anarchists who advance policy objectives based on the assumptions of a fictional realm where national sovereignty does not exist. But as you might have gathered, I'm neither a leftist nor a libertarian -- I'm a classical liberal (in the Adam Smith sense). And I find the fantasies of the anarchist libertarians and the multicultural left to be anything but helpful when thinking about how to make the world we live in a better place. Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack