6.6.4.2 The External Role of National Politicians and Nationalism

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The power of national politicians in relation to the rest of the world has been changing. They are increasingly affected by the forces of economic globalisation and international security threats which they cannot control; for these issues their job is to represent their countries in collective decision-making:

· They participate in global macroeconomic management, in bodies such as the G20 (3.4.4).

· They negotiate changes to the global regulation of trade (3.5.4.5) and finance (3.5.5).

· They negotiate coordinated responses to global economic challenges (3.5.7), particularly on climate change, which are assuming increasing importance.

· They negotiate national economic contributions to developing countries, unilaterally and via the UN (3.5.8).

· They cooperate in responding to international terrorism and other forms of crime (5.3.4).

· They may have a role in multinational bodies such as the EU (6.6.5).

· They represent their countries at the UN (6.6.6.1) and other political groupings (6.6.6.3).

Despite the increasing importance of these external responsibilities, national politicians’ need for domestic political popularity sometimes conflicts with their duty to act in the best long-term interests of their countries and of the world as a whole:

· Politicians who are elected for domestic political reasons have no electoral mandate for policies on multinational and global issues.

· Elected politicians try to defend short-term national interests, which are likely to help them to be re-elected, rather than make the case for national concessions to reach agreements which would be of benefit to all countries – often including their own, in the long term.

· Authoritarian governments need some support from their populations, so their motivation is similarly inward-focused.

· The public might prefer its government to appear powerful and assert superiority over other countries, to increase national pride.

Competitive nationalism can seem to offer a useful distraction from domestic problems, but it is a force which can inhibit countries from co-operating even when it would benefit them to do so.