The Challenge of Globalization
Globalization may seem to be a new term in the world of politics, economics and international relations, but let us examine about its correctness.To define the identity of globalization exactly is daunting task because it involves different aspects of its emergence including political, economic, social as well as cultural elements and their implication in a more rapidly emerging new world order. It now seems like globalization is unstoppable and the reason is its relationship to causality and it’s the same when you try to deny the law of gravity. But why is globalization so badly misunderstood? It’s because it oftentimes suggests that the wealthy and powerful countries would pursue to empower themselves at the cost of the third world countries by exploiting their own resources and man power as they did in the period of colonization. However, globalization is more complex because it involves a large variety of components.
In the course of history there have been visionary statesmen and leaders who envisioned a unified world transcending political, cultural and religious boundaries and creating a peaceful and prosperous world community without any sense of domination imposed on peoples. This term was coined by Theodore Levitt, a former Harvard Business School professor, who invented and popularized it bringing it into the domain of business and entrepreneurship around the middle of 1980s. However, I would like to mention Alexander the Great as maybe the first conscious globalizer who intended to blend the advanced Greek culture with the Persian culture and the other cultures of the ancient world of the Middle East including the Egyptian culture. Some may argue that he was just a conqueror but there are some valuable facts which testify that he envisioned a unified peaceful world. Alexander could implement his ideal of a unified culture bringing together the three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa.
He initiated mixed marriages between his Greek soldiers and Persian women accepting their habits with appreciation and open mindedness. Tools like international marriages, a common language, communication and religious acceptance expressed through tolerance and respect were means of his prototype of a globalized culture in a groundbreaking and unprecedented way. "His career led to the moving of the great centers of civilization eastward and initiated the new age of the Greek territorial monarchies; it spread Hellenism in a vast colonizing wave throughout the Middle East and created, if not politically at least economically and culturally, a single world stretching from Gibraltar to the Punjab, open to trade and social intercourse and with a considerable overlay of common civilization and the Greek koinē as a lingua franca. It is not untrue to say that the Roman Empire, the spread of Christianity as a world religion, and the long centuries of Byzantium were all in some degree the fruits of Alexander’s achievement.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)
But it is evident that important personalities have affected the emergence of globalization even though their motives were territorial expansion and conquest. This portrays another famous conqueror Genghis Khan who ruled Mongolia and achieved to expand its territory to create the largest empire in history to include China, Korea, southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and eastern Europe and most part of Russia. He made a great contribution to globalization through the Silk Road which he would turn into a more secure route organizing flourishing trade throughout his vast empire. The history of globalization is enhanced by commerce, technology, education, tourism, means of transportation, international cooperation, sports, the internet, today’s social media and last but not least immigration. Furthermore, religions have made a great contribution in terms of bringing together peoples of different nations and cultures through spreading the Holy Bible, The Holy Scriptures of Talmud, Quran, The Buddhist Dharma etc. Out of those religious beliefs and teachings grew the different churches and the world mission movement with charities and missionary work around the world. “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” — Ernest Hemingway
There emerged political, religious and military figures who influenced the trend of a global integration. A few of them need to be mentioned but there were plenty of anonymous contributors in this endeavor. Julius Caesar was a military genius comparable to Alexander the Great who created a vast empire and contributed to expanding the Roman empire. Much later Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, the king of Franks, was a unifying symbol of Europe and succeeded in uniting the most parts of western and central Europe. A similar personality emerged almost thousand years later and that was Bonaparte who created an empire and who united much of western Europe. And there were also the Spanish conquistadors in the person of Francisco Pizarro who conquered the Empire of the Incas in South America and Hernán Cortés who occupied the Aztec Empire in Mexico. “No conquest can ever become permanent which does not show itself beneficial to the conquered as well as to the conquerors.” - Thomas Carlyle
Furthermore, we cannot ignore the contribution of some significant and adventurous navigators, explorers and crusaders who took up the task to discover new continents and lands travel through unchartered waters crossing the globe from east to west, north and south. Those were Christofer Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Marco Polo, Vasco da Gama, Amerigo Vespucci, Franscisco Pizzaro, Hernan Cortes, Sir Francis Drake and James Cook. The countries where they came from became colonial powers like Portugal, Spain, Italy, Great Britain etc. Even though those charismatic leaders and personalities contributed in uniting the world, their motives were no other than power and territorial gains for the sake of their countries. “ I find the lure of the unknown irresistible.” - Sylvia Earle Nowadays, the challenge is to work together in constructive ways all countries of the world to create a unified culture and guarantee prosperity and growth for all. It’s up to us to usher in a new age and millennium with hope and determination in order to secure a peaceful future for our planet Earth, our home.
However, it was as early as the 19th century when the first signs of global integration were manifested. Colonization was meant to help countries in their development and not to exploit them and their resources. Humankind has to make clear that globalization is inevitable but there should be rules of the game to be applied in respect to human rights, international relations and above all an understanding that we all are sailing in the same boat. We may rise or fall according to our decisions and choices. “Our own land and our own flag cannot be replaced by any other land or any other flag. But you can join with other nations, under a joint flag, to accomplish something good for the world that you cannot accomplish alone.”- Eleanor Roosevelt
The main driving force of a global integration is undoubtedly the force of economy whatsoever. Its power in fostering cooperation between countries and governments is enormous. Some of the pivotal factors of global economy nowadays are: the G7 Meetings as well as the G20 summits. The World Bank is one of the institutions with enhanced impact. The International Monetary Fund contributes in finding solutions related to financial affairs for many countries with developing economies. The World Trade Organization, the Economic Forum in Davos, the Paris Club and the EU Summit are all institutions that can resolve problems and coordinate future developments and bring effective solutions where economies are facing problems. Thomas I.Friedman divides the history of globalization into three periods: Globalization 1.0 (1492–1800), Globalization 2.0 (1800–2000) and Globalization 3.0 (2000–present). He states that Globalization 1.0 involved the globalization of countries, Globalization 2.0 involved the globalization of companies and Globalization 3.0 involves the globalization of individuals.
There comes a serious warning which is obvious to all and has to do with the climate change and other threats like global pandemics etc. and their side effects. We have seen that humankind cannot face those daunting challenges without systematic and concerted efforts and international cooperation. What we are doing instead? Arms race and war. Peace has lost its meaning and madness has conquered the world. But instead of being pessimist let us think for a minute who we are and where we are heading to? Let us think of our Creator, God who granted us ownership of this amazing planet Earth, our Home. We destroy our home and show signs of self-destructiveness. This is sheer madness and outrage. The worst form of globalization is to destroy our planet, our home. For God’s sake we have no right to do it!
