Interdependence in 21st century

• Published date: 02 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

MADRID ? Of all the lessons that can be drawn from the year that has passed since Russia invaded Ukraine, one stands out: global interdependence does not guarantee peace, and must be adapted to the realities exposed by recent events.

According to Harvard's Joseph S. Nye, Jr., and Princeton's Robert O. Keohane, interdependence refers to the relationship of mutual dependence that develops between states as a result of their interactions, especially economic and trade ties. Given the intertwined nature of markets and politics (including geopolitics), states end up needing one another to bolster their security (including energy security) and achieve economic growth and development.

In recent decades, interdependence has held a privileged position in Western political thought. While a revision of the concept is inevitable, to ignore the positive contribution that interdependence has made to promoting global stability and security in Europe since the end of World War II would be dishonest and unproductive.

The success of the European project is due in large part to the virtues of interdependence. The development of trade and commercial ties facilitated the establishment of common interests between European countries, bringing decades of peace to a continent previously ravaged by war ? an achievement worth celebrating.

Interdependence was also the bedrock on which German Chancellor Willy Brandt built Ostpolitik, launched in 1969. Brandt took a chance on the idea ? risky at the time ? that deeper diplomatic and economic relations between the Soviet Union and the West would reduce the likelihood that the Cold War would turn hot. It turned out to be a diplomatic masterstroke: the policy helped to ease tensions between the two sides.

By the beginning of this century, globalization was advancing rapidly. Economic interdependence was widely viewed in the West as synonymous with global stability ? a belief that endured even when events like the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in the United States highlighted the risks that globalization entailed. In fact, China was welcomed into the World Trade Organization just three months after 9/11, demonstrating the West's continuing faith in the potential of interdependence for rapprochement.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown how leaders can leverage interdependence to pursue coercive tactics. Ukraine has always been central to Putin's imperial ambitions. In the last decade, Ukraine has been the subject of debate not...