The majority of historians argue that a new era began in the early 1990's resulting from the end of the Cold War era as well as the Gulf crises. In actual fact, "it was this new era of globalization, of a world being tied together by flows of investment, of trade, of ideas, of culture, of people travelling all the time" (Yergin, "Commanding Heights: The New Rules of the Game"). There is no exaggeration to say that "we are living through a revolution. The 1990's saw the creation of a new king of global economy - a single market, in which everyone has a stake, but no one has control" (Barker, "Commanding Heights: The New Rules of the Game"). But what does this new era of globalization brings about? What challenges and hazards should we expect?
The first decade of the 21st century was marked by a number of dreadful events which raised so many questions as to the dangers of the new world economy and the possibility of global peace and security. Taking into consideration the ever-growing nature of globalization processes all over the world, all states become more and more interconnected and interdependent with every passing day.
Besides numerous advantages associated with globalization, including free access to new markets and products, improvement in living standards on the global scale, more employment opportunities and inflow of foreign capital, there is also "the dark sides of globalization" (Barker, "Commanding Heights: The New Rules of the Game"). One of the most striking but yet horrible examples of the dark side of the irreversible globalization processes is the terrorist attack, which chocked the entire world on September 11, 2001. Another event that came as shock to the global economy and people all over the world was the stock market crash of 2008, which in its turn "caused a cascade of other failures" (Kirk, "Inside the Meltdown"). The above-mentioned events clearly prove that at the present time globalization does not provide for prosperity to everyone. In the meantime, it should be taken into consideration that globalization processes are unavoidable. Therefore, the question of paramount importance that needs to be answered is "What do we need to do and what measures do we need to take in order to make sure we can achieve a global society that benefits most people?"
In the first place, governments should re-think the rules of the game and adjust their internal regulations in order to make our world a safer place to live and promote prosperity across the globe. In the first place, to create a global society that would benefit the majority of people, the governments of all countries should encourage free trade and open markets by means of legislation. Numerous economic researches and studies prove that free trade benefits all the countries engaged in it due to the comparative advantages of different economies.
Secondly, governments should maintain a focus on education. The fundamental reason behind this measure is that education not only reduces poverty and promotes economic growth, but also fosters peace, promotes gender equality, and even helps combat the most serious infections and diseases, including HIV and AIDS. There is no doubt that all of these factors are crucial for creating a global society beneficial for most people. Therefore, governments of all states should exert every effort to promote education for its citizens, regardless of social status, race, gender, or any other factors.
Taking into consideration that the globalization processes provide for the free flow of capital and investments, it is of paramount importance for the developing nations, including India, countries of Eastern Europe and Latin America, to adjust their internal legislation to attract foreign direct investments from the developed market economies. By establishing and maintaining a relative balance between the developing and developed nations in the context of economic opportunities, we can secure the establishment of a global society that benefits most people.
Another important aspect of creating a global society that would benefit the majority of people is the promotion of the unrestricted global workforce flow, so that individuals from different countries could realize their potential in other regions of the world, where their skills and qualifications are more valuable and highly sought. In the meantime, it is crucial to seek to remove the considerable imbalances in wages between the developing countries and developed nations for the purpose of preventing illegal migration to the latter.
The last but not the least aspect of creating a global society that would benefit most people relates to the issue of security of people. Governments of all countries all over the world should change and strengthen their internal laws and regulations related to the matters of peace and security. It is an ascertained fact that no society benefits from the breach of peace and good order.
All in all, the process of creating a global society that benefits most people is a very complicated process that can be achieved only be means of effective collaboration between all nations.
Works Cited
Commanding Heights: The New Rules of the Game. Dir. Greg Barker. Perf. David Ogden Stiers. YouTube. KOFAECONOMICS, 31 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYf6gn_x-Zk>.
Inside the Meltdown. Dir. Michael Kirk. PBS Frontier, 10 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7SOnxUZGwM>.
