ABSTRACT
The term ‘globalisation’ is also variously conceptualised, but refers in general to the latest phase of capitalist expansion, involving the shift from international to transnational networks of trade, investment and finance, so that the movement of economic resources is increasingly outside the control of any state. The fact that capital has outgrown the nation-state shell within which it reached maturity, does not of itself signify that the nation-state can no longer be functional for capital. The ‘culturalist’ approach sees the nation-state as essentially a cultural community. A weakening of the nation-state, from this perspective, would derive from the failure of state elites to manage their societies ideologically so as to maintain the faith in their own capacities as providers of development and social justice. The consequent globalisation of Singapore's economy has been rapid and extensive. The globalisation strategy has engendered rapid and sustained economic development which has resulted in rising living standards.
