EMBEDDING THE GLOBAL IN THE NATIONAL - IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ROLE OF THE STATE

The discussion of economic globalization usually assumes a fundamental loss of the significance of the nation state. This assumption partial ly is the consequence of a false dualist conception of the global and the national on the one hand. On the other hand there is an insufficie nt differentiation between a national territory (geographic dimension) and national territoriality (institutional dimension) which are invol ved and affected by the process of globalization in different extent. The paper argues however that the nation-state remains the central ins titution to guarantee the prevailing condition of economic globalizati on. Although the state's sovereignty is transformed in this process th ere is no loss of its significance. The example of financial globaliza tion shows that the achievement of a global economy is based on the ne cessary institutional and cultural conditions the nation-state puts at disposal.