What Is Globalisation and How Does It Challenge World Politics - Essay Example

WHAT IS GLOBALISATION AND HOW DOES IT CHALLENGE WORLD POLITICS? and What Is Globalisation and How Does It Challenge World Politics? Abstract Under the current global setting, globalization is perhaps one of the central components in the modern society that has revolutionized how people across the world interact. However, the concept of globalization is so wide in both theory and practice that there is no single definition of globalization. Despite the significance of globalization today, there are split opinions regarding whether globalization is a useful concept. One thing that remains clear is that globalization has affected how people connect with each other leading to social-cultural and economic changes. Most of the definitions of globalisation revolve around the concept of a global flow whereby people in different parts of the world are more connected either socially, technologically, politically and economically. This definition brings across the concept of ‘one world’ where the issues to do with territorial definitions leads to little or no difference regarding how people interact. Over the years, the world has changed significantly. A lot of changes are often experienced in the modern world particularly on issues to do with technological advances. Despite the fact that globalization is seen to affect the world on daily bass, it is important to note that the process of globalization has taken a lot of years and the slow advances are not without consequences and challenges. Introduction The debate surrounding whether globalization is actually a positive concept is one of those discussions that have elicited mixed reactions and split the world population across the middle. For proponents, the concept of globalization enhances peace, economic freedom and social interactions between nations therefore opening the prospects of a bigger and brighter world. Opponents of this concept however see globalization as the source of global conflicts and confrontations between countries and individuals. According to Wilhem, (2010, p.34) the September 11 attack on the U.S. has been cited as the greatest example of just how globalization can cause conflict leading to the loss of innocent lives. Depending on how one approaches the globalisation concept, this concept has had its fair share of controversy. However, there are major changes that have been experienced across many parts of the world that indicate that globalisation is indeed useful to the current global setting and the new age world. This essay will analyse the various issues surrounding globalisation and how this concept affects the balance of power politics in the world today. The Concept of Globalization The concept of globalization is seen as a wide concept that has no definitive definition. However, most of the definitions and explanations surrounding globalization revolve around the issues of new civilisation without border, race, colour, religion or cultural differences. As seen in the modern day world context, the world is slowly heading towards globalization. However, there are very many questions that remain unanswered. How does globalisation affect the social and political balance in the world? How will globalisation transform the world economy in the future? And is globalisation just part of a neo-colonialism strategy aimed at controlling future lifestyle of the people in the world. It is amidst such concern that the concept of globalisation has come under sharp scrutiny attracting both apprehension and condemnation on equal measures. “The rise of Germany and China as economic powerhouses in the early 1960s led to most scholars assuming that globalisation was merely an aspect of economic changes across the world” (Friedman & Kaplan, 2002, p. 132). However, globalisation has taken a different turn and is seen as having political roots characterised by conflict of interest by dominant nations as well as international bodies and corporations. It was only after the Cold War that globalization started being seen as less of an economic phenomena but something that occurs as a result of mixed factors that affect the modern day world. The concept of globalization today is thus seen from the following three different respective; Interdependence between countries across the world Technological revolution that continue to shape human development in the modern world A human principle that is aimed at promoting human rights and democracy Instruments of Globalization There are two major instruments that have seen the concept of globalization being implemented across the world. Multinational Corporations: According to Wilhelm, corporations are the main instruments in which globalisation is enhanced (2010, p. 65). This is because, multinational corporations do not only safeguard their interest but also those of the sponsoring nation in other regions. Globalisation from a multinational corporation’s perspective is also enhanced when such corporations utilize natural resources in countries that do not have the capability to do so. In many parts of the world, leading multinational corporations have invested heavily in developing countries and employs local labour to utilize the natural resources found in developing countries. This affects the economic balance in these countries where factors of production such as unemployment and demand are addressed. It is therefore not an issue that these corporations use cheap labour to lower the production cost and maximise on profit. New Technology: new technology is the other major instrument of globalisation. Under the current global settings, “globalisation has led to advances in information and technology with significant changes being made particularly changing how people communicate” (Fukuyama, 2011, p. 42). The use of the Internet and social media has change how people interact across the world whereby people in areas never thought of interacting with the rest of the world can access the rest of the world. Technology has also changed the productivity and the output of people and processes where the use of technology in production has eased the pressure on human labour in production. However, there are various concerns raised when it comes to using technology as an instrument of globalisation whereby wealthy nations continue to hold a great stake of technological advances. Such nations have been accused of controlling technology for information hegemony. Economic Globalisation Mittleman states that economic globalisation is seen and interpreted as more of the interdependence between nations in terms of trade and economic activities (2010, p. 77). In previous years, most nations across the world were keen on retaining their natural and man-made resources to the extent that there were laws regulating international trade. This meant that trading activities on the global front were only allowed at some level thus encouraging domestic consumption. In the modern world, however, a reversal of this situation has taken place. The amount of trading and economic activities between various countries and regions in the world has reached unprecedented levels. The global economic patterns indicate that the economic situation in the world can no longer be defined with reference to a single nation but rather, the global economy. However, there are people across the world with a contrary opinion of how globalisation has affected the economic freedom in the world. Under this approach, it is assumed that economic activities in many regions across the world are still retained by a few wealthy nations who dominate the world financial ability. It’s further assumed that the wealthy nations formulate policies intended for selfish interest only aimed at safeguarding the economic interest of the dominant countries while the rest of the world continue to experience tough regulations related to international trade. The economic implications of globalization are predetermined by the market forces in a free market. While some people see globalisation as supporting the international market and supporting a free and democratic economic balance, globalisation has been accused in some quarters of promoting market inequalities where the wealthy nations continue to grow wealthy while poor nations become poorer. However, there is no effective answers regarding the actual economic implications of globalisation as the outcome from an economic perspective depend on independent micro and macro-economic factors. The Politics of Globalization As the words advances towards the 22nd century, some nations are increasingly becoming unease regarding the effects of globalization. Nations in East Asia, Africa and even in Eastern Europe are unwilling to reverse the gains made by globalization. From a positive perspective, globalization and the global front lead to the reduction of prices of basic commodities through subsidies, trade discounts and bilateral agreements between nations. However, globalization is further seen to fuel market competition of products such as energy and oil leading to frequent economic conflicts that threaten the stability of the global world. Lewis, (2002, p 342) is of the view that the politics regarding globalization are therefore due to economic concerns between trading partners amid unpredictable trade patterns. In most cases, what is seen as a threat often turns out to be an opportunity for another country. It is under such unprecedented conditions that the global world finds itself walking a tight rope on whether to allow globalization gains to be realized or introduce some form of control to reduce the growing unease. In cases where countries have bilateral agreements, such agreements often end up being violated either intentionally or unintentionally. In such a situation, the narrative of free trade would not be applicable as the aggrieved parties often end up retaliating either through economic or political means. As the world progresses, the growing unease fuelled by both political and economic disagreements have seen major countries across the world adopt measures that protect their interest. Held and Hirst state that China for example has introduced additional rules defined as serving ‘national security’ a situation that has increased economic uncertainty in China in terms of foreign investments(2012,p.7). Countries like Russia on the other hand have developed what is referred to as sovereign wealth fund that is aimed at safeguarding the inward equity investments in Russia thereby encouraging internal economic activities. Australia introduced laws restricting takeover, a move that was seen as trying to block some nations from buying Australia’s natural resources. Conclusion It remains to be seen whether globalization will have an overall positive impact on the global setting. This is because, there is still a general feeling that globalization brings along selfish interest among those in control. This explains why international trade bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), international justice institutions and arbitration courts such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the international community bodies such as the UN and EU have never been unilaterally embraced. The main idea behind the formation of these institutions may have been positive but, such institutions might be manipulated leading to further widening of the power gap that may eventually lead to a full blown confrontation between different nations across the world. Reference Barney, D 2006, Prometheus Wired: The Hope for Democracy in the Age of Network Technology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Friedman, T & Kaplan, R 2002, States of Discord: A Globalization Debate. Foreign Policy. March/April. pp. 64-70. Fukuyama, F 2011, Their Target: The Modern World. Newsweek. 138(25) (Dec 17): 42-48. Held, D & Hirst, P 2012, Globalisation after 11 September: The Argument of Our Time. Open Democracy Dialogue. Lewis, B 2002, What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, Oxford University Press, New York. Mittelman, JH 2010, The Globalization Syndrome: Transformations and Resistance, Princeton University Press, Princeton. Wilhelm, A. G. 2010. Democracy in the Digital Age: Challenges to Political Life in Cyberspace, Routledge, New York. Wilhelm, A. G. 2010. Democracy in the Digital Age: Challenges to Political Life in Cyberspace, Routledge, New York. Read More