Date of Completion

5-10-2016

Degree Type

Honors Thesis - Campus Access

Discipline

International Business (INBA)

First Advisor

David French

Abstract

The globalizing economy is changing the way nations relate to each other, but not nearly as quickly or as smoothly as has been predicated by many scholars and the business community. The root of the roadblocks lie in the relationship between political and economic integration. Functionalist interpretations of global economic integration dictate that strengthening economic ties between states will lead to inevitable political integration. Such economic globalization has been accelerated not only by new technology, but also by politically facilitated free trade agreements. However, even though globalization and free trade have led to net economic growth in both developing and developed nations, opposition to the resulting political integration has grown among local electorates. As a result, a pattern of government leaders resisting global economic integration for domestic political reasons has emerged. To illustrate this paradox, my research examines two case studies, Indonesia and France. Using theories of regional economic integration, the parallel between the two cases – one developing nation and one developed – illustrates how domestic politics provides hurdles to the supposedly inevitable political integration that comes with the globalized economy.

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