'Globalisation could not have occurred without a degree of global political harmony'. Discuss.
This paper discusses the statement 'Globalisation could not have occurred without a degree of global political harmony'. The focus of this paper is on a critical examination of the topic statement with supplemental support from the readings by Giddens and Cameron. Before launching into a discussion about the topic statement, it would be worthwhile to examine the processes of globalization as they have evolved over the decades. To start with, globalization is a process that involves the free movement of goods, services, and people across the world. This process has been helped along by a set of supportive factors like opening up of hitherto closed economies, greater political support for globalization, and the accession by the countries of the world into world trade organizations like the WTO and the Doha Round of Talks aimed at increasing the pace of globalization. The key aspect here is that globalization has been encouraged and supported by the powers that be in all countries and the transnational corporate class who invested in the economies of the world.
As mentioned earlier, the greater political support for globalization meant that countries all over the world embraced global capital and global commerce. This political support was of two kinds. The first one involved the political class being agreeable, open to discussions with other political actors in various countries with a view to coordinate, and direct the processes of globalization. This support often involved inviting the companies from each other’s countries to expand in each other’s countries and hence, the political support given to globalization meant that the process accelerated to the point where the global economy now is totally integrated and interconnected (Cameron, 2008, 17).
This political support also translated into greater harmony between nations as the mutual conversations between the political leaders of various countries meant that these countries were peaceable and agreeable to each other’s companies. The vehicle of globalization runs on a fuel that is provided by all stakeholders and the well-oiled wheels can only accelerate when they are greased by the countries of the world cooperating with each other. This is provided by the greater harmony between the political leaders of the countries and hence, globalization could not have occurred without a degree of global political harmony (Giddens, 2009, 126).
The other reason why global political harmony is needed for globalization is that in the absence of harmony between the leaders of the countries, accession to the WTO and the furthering of the Doha round of trade talks is not possible. In other words, unless the politicians from all countries agree with each other, mutually beneficial agreements related to trade and commerce cannot be actualized. This means that greater global political harmony is needed for globalization to be made possible (Cameron, 2008, 138).
As an example, one can see the current factitious bickering among the member countries of the European Union who are unable to agree on almost everything. This lack of political harmony is affecting the processes of globalization in the EU which means that this is a warning sign and a lesson for the other countries of the world to get their politicians to agree with other political leaders and the leaders from the other countries so that the processes of globalization do not suffer a setback.
The other aspect of the processes of globalization is that greater global political harmony leads to peace and tranquility among the countries of the world, which is very essential for globalization. The key aspect here is that globalization can only go forward when there is peace and stability in the world and this is where greater global political harmony is needed. As an example, one can see the drop in investments in India where the political class is divided on the benefits of globalization and this political gridlock is affecting the flow of foreign direct investment into the country (Giddens, 2009, 129).
The clear implications for the political class from these examples are that unless there is greater global political harmony, globalization will suffer. This is the reason why globalization picked up pace in the last decade when there was a consensus among the political leaders of the world that globalization was good for their economies. This is also the reason why globalization accelerated during the 1990s because the global political harmony was actualized in the third world countries that opened up their economies for investment and trade (Cameron, 2008, 142).
Before concluding the paper, it would be worthwhile to note that as the politicians make the policy decisions, there is a need for them to be consensual about the decisions that they are taking. This entails a process wherein the political class needs to actualize harmony with each other so that vital policy decisions related to domestic and international policies have the support of all the stakeholders. This is the key lesson from the readings by Giddens and Cameron, which are the basis for this paper. In conclusion, globalization could not have occurred without greater global political harmony and this is the clear conclusion that one arrives at after examining all the viewpoints.
References
Cameron, J. 2008. Sociology. London: Nelson Thornes Ltd.
Giddens, A. 2009. Sociology. 6th Ed. New York: Polity Press.
