Globalization refers to all aspects that seek to increase not only the connectivity but also the interdependence of the world’s markets. The main factor that has led to the increase in globalization is the technological advancement that allows people to freely move communicate and trade internationally. It is the interconnectedness of production, communication and technologies all over the world.
One of the major factors that affect globalization is the barriers associated with immigration. Some countries have imposed trade-impairing policies besides taking strict measures to curb immigration (Abdi, & Shultz, 2008, p. 66). Such an approach will work for a while, but the financial support will fail after a while. The world culture theory also called the Homogenism theory acts in unison with these findings concerning globalization being there no matter what happens (Ibid). The theory marks differences in cultural homogenization and sees globalization broadly being the increasing uniformity of cultures all over the world, instead of just viewing it from an economical perspective (Gaventa, & Tandon, 2010, p. 90). Transformational theory is handled in these findings as well. The theory focuses on the global forces that increase the powers of the nation-state. It maintains thinking globally as people or nations act locally, as well as maintaining diversity in the face of economic forces that encourage uniformity.
The technological advance especially in the field of information technology has enabled the development of a new global environment. Internet connectivity is a key boost in the advancement of the great relationships among the people in the world. Social sites, like MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, have enabled communication to be cheaper and accessible even in the most of the remote areas one can ever think of (Gaventa, & Tandon, 2010, p. 88). People from North islands can relate with people from Africa. E-bay also allows people to transact irrespective of their geographical locations. Their international activities could be bolstered regardless the current economic crisis (Abdi, & Shultz, 2008, p. 70). As witnessed all over the world, the global charities might bring people together in one way or another. This is so because many countries are in need and none seems to be isolated to live on its own without ever mingling with the others. Amazingly enough, the ability of a national government to protect its economy and society from outside influences has no strong roots recently (Gaventa, & Tandon, 2010, p. 95). The current wave of globalization has proven to have unprecedented impacts, and this explains the reason why it is hard to tame and curb external influences. The internet allows Vietnam to trade their handicrafts in Europe without travelling there. The cultural, political, social, economic as well as military components have been quantified, so it is a matter of time before a qualitative change takes place.
International trade has been at the centre of globalization. Many countries have outstretched to their limits in an attempt to adapt to globalization but ended up being exhausted especially in cases of financially driven globalization (Gaventa, & Tandon, 2010, p.99). These mainly are the developing countries whose financial status fails to handle their capital city’s economy and operations. Technical advances are the sole drivers for the upswing that causes many of the institutions to foster ways to adjust with some ending up being poorer than before. Protectionism became a key consequence in many of the countries. This is why the G-20 summit of November 2008 in Washington produced some reverberating denunciations of countries and nations being protective of their possessions (Gaventa, & Tandon, 2010, p. 102). This did not last long before measures regarding protectionism were implemented in many of the countries like China. This at some point brought about a misconception of the end of globalization because globalization is not just about international trade and investment, which the countries were shielding. It is true that trade has plunged and financial flows drastically fallen and to some extent may not recover any time soon unless the main economic pillars are reignited. Although international trade plays a pivotal role in globalization, there other factors that are essential in enhancing the full realization of the process in developing an affluent global economy.
It is impossible to separate the effects of these trends from one another in their impact. Globalization has multiplied the number of problems facing nations and the problems are interconnected. These problems include issues such as financial problems, climate changes and terrorism that are facing many nations in the world. For instance, international trade is one of the causes of the sale of terrorist arms while immigration enables the movement of terrorists from one place to another. Both of these aspects are enhanced by the interactions within the global environment.
References
Abdi, A. A.& Shultz, L. (2008). Educating for Human Rights Global Citizenship. Ithaca, NY:
Gaventa, J., & Tandon, R. (2010). Engaging Citizens: New Dynamics of Inclusion and
Exclusion. London: Zed Books.
