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The world is not like 50 years ago, when a nation could close its doors to outside interference and conduct its business at home. Even if Venezuela cut off all interaction with the United States and its Western allies, how could it stop doing business with other countries? Those countries it considers "friendly" are not isolated from the global economy -- their commodities, their currencies, their credit policies and their labor are all interlinked with other countries. The United States is always at the top of the list. What's more, these countries have relationships with the IMF and the World Bank. The global economy, however you look at it, is an integrated block.
Venezuela says it plans to establish an economic block with a few "friendly" countries -- Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Haiti and even North Korea. That might be possible to some extent: these few states may be able to enjoy the "comparative advantage" outlined by 19th century economist David Ricardo, whereby each state exports items it can produce cheaply in exchange for cheap goods from the other states. Yet how can they sustain these relative advantages in isolation from the modern world? We are not living in the 19th century. States are more vulnerable and sensitive to their neighbors than before, easily catching cold when exposed to a virus from other countries.
It is true one cannot deny the sacredness of sovereignty even in this interdependent world. Sovereignty cannot be subjugated to the global society; nations have the right to independently govern their territory and their people. Governments are responsible for keeping their economies healthy so their people can enjoy a better life.
Conflicts also are unavoidable among states. States, like people, can display their temper, annoyance or disappointment. States sometimes take measures to demonstrate their dignity. Venezuela can adopt certain policies to be uncooperative: investment can be restrained, currency protected, tariffs raised, and labor and information controlled.
However, a nation cannot get very far by emphasizing sovereignty and a foreign policy of independence, and by cutting all relationships with international organizations. What's more, such cuts may lack legitimacy if the state remains a member of the United Nations, which will impact it economically and politically. Furthermore, in the event of a natural disaster, the country might require help from the international community.
Therefore it is not wise for Venezuela to make such a declaration of independence.
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(Zhang Quanyi is an associate professor at the Zhejiang Wanli University in Ningbo, China, and a PhD candidate at Shanghai International Studies University, studying policy making and collective identity. He is currently a research fellow at the School of International Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, under a grant by the Korea Foundation. He can be reached at qyzhangupi@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Zhang Quanyi.)
