Global California, Rising to the Cosmopolitan Challenge

There are two initial virtues in this book, neither of which is precisely related to the discussion of its topic. It is very clearly organized and pleasantly written, and the second is that it contains a great deal of information which Californians will certainly, and others should, find very convenient to have set out between the covers of a single book.

The author has a clear purpose: he wants to show that California has distinct and very important connections with the outside world, and these connections are of growing significance in line with the advancing processes of globalization. He then wants to arrive at a realistic assessment of how much Californians and their government can and should seek to advance these interests on their own; finally, he gives an estimation of what would need to be done to make such policies effective. In the context of a discussion about how to promote California’s international interests, there comes a very succinct statement of the problem Professor Abraham Lowenthal intends to solve:

“As a single state in the US federal union, California has no clear foreign policy mandate, however, nor does it have a dedicated international policymaking apparatus. It lacks, therefore, an accepted means for identifying its international interests or those of its citizens and for fashioning strategies and mobilizing resources to advance them. Although Californians have important international policy interests, we do not have systematic ways to identify, rank and pursue them.” p. 81

The first part of the book demonstrates the virtue alluded to above. It is a very full account of the ways and circumstances in which California, more than any other part of the United States, is linked to the global cultural, economic, and transportation systems. Having laid these out and provided some historical context - chiefly to point out that California is no stranger to having vital international connections, even that some of them were stronger in the past than they are now - Professor Lowenthal goes on to describe how these connections are arranged across the state. Los Angeles is the most globally linked area, followed by San Francisco, and then comes San Diego- an area which arguably represents the greatest challenge to finding acceptable routes to an expansion of California’s international role. The problem there lies in a local paradox: San Diego is physically the closest city to another country and, were it not for the thus far insoluble problems associated with Mexican immigration, ought to be able to be the leader of a cross border area of shared economic expansion. The San Diego district is obviously not helped by the border problem nor by having less effective transportation routes than either Los Angeles or San Francisco, both of whose ports and airports are greatly superior. San Diego’s harbor is dominated by the Navy and the airport is too small. The paradox represented by San Diego reappears throughout this study in the form of a kind of leitmotiv, indicating that the question of whether immigration can or should be brought to a stop or whether attention should be concentrated on getting the best out of those who have arrived and those who will come later, is crucial for California. The role of California and other states is likely to increase in importance as attempted Federal Government solutions have failed thus far.

Although very important, and certainly international in its origins and consequences, the problems surrounding immigration are, in a sense, local. Professor Lowenthal very appropriately also provides a useful checklist of the other important international issues facing California. They include expanding the gains and addressing the costs to Californians of participating in the global economy. This breaks down, as it does all over the world, to encouraging investment, increasing international exports, and controlling the quantity and quality of imports- particularly those that might be distributed from California to the advantage of others but have adverse consequences locally. Also, California has already demonstrated its commitment to controlling its use of energy, guarding its supplies and its concern about climate change: this will continue to be a primary concern for the state. Next, California has a particular interest in global communications and culture. Lastly, building educational and cultural links and protecting international property rights have to be policies of significance for the state.

Finally, there is a discussion about how California might equip itself to perform more strongly and with more knowledge on the global stage. Professor Lowenthal’s recommendations include: using local and state means to try to resolve the immigration problem; mobilizing, as has signally not happened before, the state’s congressional representation so as to bridge the gap between what California needs and what constitutionally it can expect to receive; and concentrating the efforts of specially created commissions to build “enhanced capacity to help our citizens, firms, unions and other non-governmental organizations better understand and pursue their own interests” (p.126). “Above all,” he concludes, “we need to change our mindset from living in a parochial place with the dimensions of a country to participating in a truly cosmopolitan center, ready to provide important leadership in the twenty-first century.” (p,138)

It would be difficult to quarrel with either the material, the argument or the conclusions of this thoroughly well organized book. It would be possible, however, to add something. California is highly individual but not unique in having demographic and economic power on a scale greater than many countries, but not possessing the political institutions or sovereign power to match. There are other examples of similar situations – Bavaria and Catalonia in Europe, British Columbia in Canada, the Chinese coastal economic zones. In general, regional powers have tended to become extended, devolutions occur and this contributes to a general sense that the familiar lines of hierarchy and power in the international system are dissolving into something much more fluid. Then there are the institutions of global governance available at the other end of the power spectrum - chiefly the UN system - which were set up by states and also demonstrate the consequences of the dilution in the authority of the old nation state. In this, the United States is almost alone in the world in not feeling its effect very strongly and that may be why Professor Lowenthal sees the strength of the contemporary global system very clearly, yet describes California’s position in it without much reference to the global political consequences occurring elsewhere, occurring in fact more or less everywhere else. If California takes the medicine here prescribed, she will not find herself without company.

Global California, Rising to the Cosmopolitan Challenge
pp. 207, Stanford University Press, 2009

About the reviewer:
Richard Langhorne is Full Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University. He was Director of the Cambridge Centre of International Studies, 1987 – 1993 and Fellow of St. John’s College, Director of Wilton Park, British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1993-1996 and founding Director of the Division of Global Affairs at Rutgers University, 1996 – 2008. He has written extensively on diplomacy and global politics.