Murdock: Nations Will Be Redefined
 |
James Joyner | Tuesday, February 24, 2009 |
Matt Drudge has the banner headline “MURDOCH WARNS NATIONS WILL BE REDEFINED” above a story that begins:
Media baron Rupert Murdoch issued an urgent internal communication late Monday, warning his staff: “We are in the midst of a phase of history in which nations will be redefined and their futures fundamentally altered.”
There’s not much more detail, so I don’t know whether Murdoch is making a value judgment or is simply making a forecast around which to align his business strategy.
It immediately struck me upon reading the headline, however, that Murdoch said something similar last April when he was the recipient of the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Business Leader Award for 2008. He closed his provocative acceptance speech with these words:
I was born in Australia … I received my university education in Britain … and I have made my home in America. Over a long and I hope productive life, I have learned that shared values are more important than shared borders.
If we continue to define “the West” or “the Alliance” as a strictly geographical concept, the Alliance will continue to erode. But if we define the West as a community of values, institutions, and a willingness to act jointly, we will revive an important bastion of freedom – and make it as pivotal in our own century as it was in the last.
Murdoch’s experience will continue to be atypical in more ways than one. But he could be the archetype of a more globalized citizenry, at least at the upper levels.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- Murdock: Nations Will Be Redefined
- Murdoch: NATO Faces ‘Crisis of Confidence’
- Lt. Choi Refuses to (Continue) Lie
- University Administrators Outnumber Faculty
- Debate: Human-Cylon Alliance
- Living to 100
- Petraeus at Atlantic Council
- Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson Win Nobel Prize
- Wall Street Journal to Go Free Online
- Southeastern University Loses Accreditation, Closing
- Nathalie Blanchard Facebook Smile Leaves Her Depressed
- Glenn Beck, Community Organizer
- OTB Latenight – Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
- Hacked Climate Scientists Emails Reveal Truth
- Obama, the Recession, and Polls
- Giuliani Running for Senate, Not Governor
- OTB Latenight – The Jesus & Mary Chain
- Fox Fake Crowd Videos
- Congress to Investigate Fake Districts
- Douthat Blogging Again
But he could be the archetype of a more globalized citizenry, at least at the upper levels.
Dude, this is postmodern as well! The whole idea of the erosion of the nation-state was a central part of the po-mo turn in IR theory during the 90s.
“MURDOCH WARNS NATIONS WILL BE REDEFINED”
This is news? Think of the changes in "nations" that have happened in your lifetime
The whole idea of the erosion of the nation-state was a central part of the po-mo turn in IR theory during the 90s.
I'm not sure what's postmodern about it. It's irrefutable that multinational corporations, terrorist groups, IGOs, NGOs, and others operate under something other than the complete sovereignty of state actors.
As I understood the pomo debate in IR, it was the argument that one could never objectively study IR because there was no non-objective view and no lasting measurement that applies across time and space. See here, for example.
Nations have already been redefined, instead of the USA, the UK and PRC we have Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and ING. (if you look at the top ten list 5 of them are energy companies ...).
What is amazing is that you have people like Verdon pissed off to no end because they are all taxed too much. Man they have him snowed but good :)
Interesting times.
