What is a Transnational Issue?
The Perspective of Interdependence Theory Interdependence theorists note the decline in relevance of the concept of “sovereignty” and the difficulty in employing it meaningfully. They note that the nation-state has never been the sole actor in world politics: throughout history a variety of other actors, including multinational empires, multilateral organizations, banks, clans, economic cartels, trading companies, tribes, religious groups, ideological movements and mercenaries, were generally recognized as constituent parts of the global system and its numerous subsystems. While such actors lack sovereignty, many are autonomous and influential. The notion of “sovereignty” and the subordinate concept of “territoriality” served to seal off politics within states from politics between them, and to demarcate the state from its international environment. This led to a neglect of the processes of interpenetration, overlap and societal interaction across frontiers, and of the role of non-stat
