Populo - Volume 1, Issue 1

increase in terroristic activity, and for the maritime industry, their response to

this meant the establishment of the International Ship and Port Facility Security

(ISPS) Code (Malcolm, 2016). As previously mentioned, borders are perhaps the

most significant tenet of state sovereignty, and the securitisation of international

shipping has extended the mandate of states to enforce border security (Cowen,

2014), and therefore their overall jurisdiction, strengthening the role of state

entities. The shipping procedures of the United States perfectly exemplify this

securitisation and expanded jurisdiction. Alongside international codes such as

ISPS, shipping containers bound for the US in particular undergo a multi-stage

process of checks, known as the Container Security Initiative (CSI), that

demonstrate the expanded role of the state in regard to the flow of goods and

borders. Beginning with incentives for security enhancement for importers, U.S

officials at foreign ports to screen imports, and Coast Guard risk assessments

before arrival. As of 2014, at least 50 ports around the world have stationed US

Customs officers, screening containers before their departure for their journey

to the United States (Container Security Initiative, 2014). This power projection

by the United States is not entirely one-sided, the increase in mandate of states

is reciprocal, with both Canada and Japan having their own customs officers in

US ports (Romero, 2003). The perceived threat that globalisation provides to

nation-states; through the shrinking of geographic and social space and time;

allow the institutions to increase their mandate beyond what has traditionally

been seen as the domain of nation-states, their own territory, to areas across

the globe, with the claim of security necessities.

To conclude, globalisation has impacted the nation-state in a multitude of

non-uniform ways. The existence of supra-national organisations has been used

by some states to strengthen their autonomy and sovereignty, and ensure the

protection of their interests, often at the cost of less economically developed

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