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Globalization is not simply the product of technological developments and the growth of transnational capitalist networks; it is also linked to political change. One key shift was the collapse of communism in a series of dramatic revolutions in Eastern Europe from 1989, culminating in the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself in 1991. This marked the effective end of the so-called Cold War. Since then, countries in the former Soviet bloc – including Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Baltic states, the states of the Caucasus and Central Asia, and elsewhere – have moved towards Western-style political and economic systems. The collapse of communism was hastened by, but also furthered, the process of globalization, as the centrally planned economies and communist parties’ ideological and cultural control were ultimately unable to survive in the emerging era of global media and a more electronically integrated world economy.

A second political development has been the growth of international and regional mechanisms of government, bringing nation-states together and pushing international relations in the direction of new forms of global governance. For example, McGrew (2020: 22) notes that ‘Today there are over 260 permanent intergovernmental organizations constituting a system of global governance, with the United Nations at its institutional core.’ The United Nations and the European Union are perhaps the most prominent examples of nation-states being brought together in common political forums. The UN achieves this through the association of individual nation-states, while the EU has pioneered forms of transnational governance in which a degree of national sovereignty is relinquished by states in order to gain the benefits of membership. Governments of EU states are bound by directives, regulations and court judgements from common EU bodies, but they also reap the economic, social and political benefits from participation in the EU single market.

International governmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) are also important forms of an increasingly global politics. IGOs are bodies established by participating governments and given responsibility for regulating or overseeing a particular domain of activity that is transnational in scope. The International Telegraph Union, founded in 1865, was the first, but since then a large number of similar bodies have been created, regulating issues from civil aviation to broadcasting and the disposal of hazardous waste. They include the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

INGOs differ from IGOs in that they are not affiliated with government institutions. They are independent and work alongside governmental bodies in making policy decisions and addressing international issues. Some of the best known – such as Greenpeace, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), the Red Cross/Red Crescent and Amnesty International – are involved in environmental protection, healthcare and the monitoring of human rights. But the activities of thousands of lesser-known groups also link countries and local communities together.

What has emerged from the increasing range of transnational political bodies is essentially a form of political globalization, where the central issues are not related purely to national self-interest but take in international and global issues and problems. Modelski and Devezas (2007) see this as essentially the evolution of a global politics, the shape of which has yet to be determined.