RETHINKING EMPIRE AFTER 9/11: TOWARDS A NEW ONTOLOGICAL IMAGE OF WORLD ORDER

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze significant trends which collectively have enough potential to transform the image of world order shaped through the globalization debates of 90s, by using Hardt and Negri’s work Hardt and Negri, 2000 as a base point. The main trends under review in this article are: the change in the perceptions of time through reconstruction of the past, the reterritorialization of political space, the reemergence of the classical practices of imperialism with its inside/outside duality,the erosion in the powers and effectiveness of international organizations, the restructuring of the international political economy, economic nationalism, a global wave of armament and spread of nuclear capabilities, and the new politics of identity that intends to foster national/civilizational subjectivities. Throughout the article, I compare those trends with Hardt and Negri’s ontological map. My conclusion is that the direction of change in the world order is toward a different way from the one depicted in the Hardt and Negri’s Empire. I call the principal actors of the newly emerging ontological picture of the world order “nation-empires”. The term nation-empire implies the reregionalization of power either around a great nation state like U.S., China and Russia, or multistate regionalization efforts as they are seen in Europe, Latin America and South East Asia. This new regionalism is not only limited to socio-economic realm, but also includes the rising sovereignty claims of the regional power centers over the functions of multilateral institutions and other cultural, ideological, political and military spheres