Skeptics (as stated in the reading) would reject the possibility of "economic integration of a group of nations automatically trigger[s] political unity" however I believe this rejection to be one that is not very well thought out. I do believe there is a bit of weakness surrounding the question or claim that is posed by Haas and Schmitter, however we can see how it can be applied to current world relations.
The weaknesses that i believe the Hass and Schmitter claim to have are that economic integration automatically triggers political unity. While this may be true in some cases i think the claim has more value when it is not so specific.
Instead I think that economic integration promotes favorable political interactions. For example Saudi Arabia and the US and their relationship based on oil. There are many other factors that go into the US Saudi relationship and there are many other actors when it comes to oil consumption and production. However if we keep the example simple we can see that US and Saudi values as well political views are considerably different. However both benefit from that which the other supplies. For the Saudis it is US Demand and for the US Saudi supply.
The relationship even goes a step further when Saudi Arabia meets with the rest of the members of OPEC. Saudi officials believe that oil producing countries benefit most from economic growth globally. Although they do not have the authority to make decisions on behalf of OPEC their arguments have been compelling enough to sway members to a more globally friendly decision.
The US and Saudi Arabia do not share similar political views or social and cultural values. A few things which normally create a divide between nations. Instead they have a stable relationship and common understanding which i think has stemmed from the economic intergration between them.
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I agree with your post. Only really in the European Union have we seen that economic intergration has spurred some sort of unity. I feel that saying that economis integration leads to unity is disproved so much throughout the international system. I feel that economic integration is more likely to lead to unity if the states are within the same region (such as the European Union) but then again this point can be disproved by just giving the example of the United States and Mexico. I feel like this weeks readings just left a lot of room for counter arguements and no real solid theory.
I think the Saudi-US relationship is a better example of cooperation for economic benefit rather than economic integration. The interesting part about this relationship is that politics have been fairly well pushed aside in favor of large profits. The US can't even try to control Saudi Arabias actions, as they attempt to do with most other countries, because of their huge economic ties with the country. This isn't to say, however, that their politics or society are becoming integrated as an effect of their economic dependencies.
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