ABSTRACT
In the contemporary world of capitalization and globalization, most countries find themselves losing their formerly semi-autonomous power relationship with capital, contributing to both regional fragmentation and conflict as well as to social integration and technological cooperation. The capitalist economic system and international economic organizations have certainly spread throughout the globe, as evidenced by the unprecedented role of multinational corporations in generating foreign direct investment, trade, technology, and crime. As the geopolitical economic relations unfold globally, nation-states are internationally sharing authority with MNCs and international organizations and institutions; domestically, central, or national governments are sharing authority with NGOs and regional and local authorities. Critics of global capitalism have also been arguing that political, social, and economic policy-making as well as the "rule of law" and its control or regulation are increasingly being transferred from the once democratically more responsive governments to MNCs, international banks, and allied economic organizations.
