| This dissertation examines the growing power of non-state actors, particularly multinational corporations, and its implications for global power relations. While nation-state power has long been the dominating source of international power, the rise of non-state actors in recent years has led to a shift in global power dynamics. With their vast wealth, big data, social influence, and algorithmic manipulation, non-state actors such as Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) are becoming substantial forces in shaping the world's political and economic landscape. However, current measurements of world power are lacking in terms of comparing nation-state power with non-state actors’ power. Traditional measurements primarily focus on military and economics, leaving out newer types of power such as data and technology, which can be misleading when assessing non-state actors’ power.
This dissertation aims to examine non-state actors’ power by using a traditional global power measurement tool, the Asia Power Index, to analyze the power of a multinational corporation, Meta Platforms. The research questions focus on the ways in which non-state actors are transforming traditional notions of power and challenging the dominance of nation-states, as well as how to develop a power index that can measure both non-state actor and nation-state power. The ultimate goal is to open a discourse on measuring non-state actors as top world power-holders and to suggest how current measurement systems can better include non-state actor’s power. As the world becomes more interconnected, it is essential to reassess our understanding of world power and develop new tools to measure and comprehend the evolving nature of power relations. |