ABSTRACT
Wehavenowarrivedatwhatwereadilyconcedetobethemost problematicpartofourdiscussion.Ourconcernhereistoquerythe relationshipbetweenthemedia,securityandidentityinTaiwanwhich arisesfromthe(academicallyfashionable)processknownasglobalisation. Giddens(1990)definesglobalisationas'theintensificationofworld-wide socialrelationswhichlinkdifferentlocalitiesinsuchawaythatlocal happeningsareshapedbyeventsoccurringmanymilesawayandvice versa'.TheproblemsderivefromitsmythicalassociationthatMohammadi referstointheabovequotation.Itseemstoresonatewithamysticismthat cloudsanyrationaljudgementofisappealorapplication.Formanyitisa convenientcatch-alltermthatlacksscientificbasis.1Theconventional approach,favourableamongjournalistsandotherswhohavenothadthe opportunitytosubjectsuchconceptstotherigorousexaminationthey deserve,istoseeglobalisationassomethingofautopia-apost-ColdWar systemwherethe'endofideology'andcommunicationstechnologiescreate amoreinterdependentandculturallyawareworld.InManuelCastells' (1997)lucidprose,globalisationissupposedtohavesubjectednationalism toa'tripledeath'- theinternationalisationofeconomics,auniversalculture dissipatedthroughaglobalmedia,andan'assaultontheveryconceptof nations'.Globalisationimpliesthedecline,ifnottheeventualdestruction, ofthenation-state,andcompromisesfourofits'criticalaspects',namely 'itscompetence;itsform;itsautonomy;andultimatelyitsauthorityor legitimacy'(McGrew,1992).Optimistsareconfidentthatbymakingthe internationalstatesysteminterdependent,globalisationhaslockedactors intoamutuallybeneficial,andinevitablysecureframework.Inshort,the demiseoftheColdWarframeworkofinternationalrelationsandthedawn ofthemuchcelebratedNewWorldOrdercreatedanatmosphereofhopeful expectationthatglobalisationwillfacilitateinternationaldialogue,
We should also be mindful that the nation-state survives (recall we stated in the Introduction that the nation-state remains an important means of political and social organisation):
It survives administratively, at the level of iconicity, identity, defence, policing, education, and diplomacy, even if it must now compete with and is in part constituted by what may be a more prolific range of super-national and sub-national claims on national identity ... (Barrett, 1997).
