All You Need To Know About Globalization

The most important feature of the world community development in the second half of the 20th century is the globalization of many processes and phenomena in the area of international relations, strengthening of linkages and interdependence among modern states. 

Globalization is the process of the worldwide economic, political, social and cultural integration and unification. The main consequence of this process is the international division of labor, migration of capital, human and industrial resources on a global scale, standardization of law, economic and technological processes as well as the convergence of cultures of different countries. This is a systematic process that covers all aspects of society. 

The degree of economic, scientific, technical, legal and informational interdependence of national economies has reached such level that three fundamentally new phenomena became inevitable.

First of all, the global economic community is transforming into an integrated economic system where national (regional) societies play the role of building blocks of a single worldwide economic organism.  

 Secondly, national and global economic relations are starting to change roles. In the course of formation of supranational financial markets and processing and value structures, global economic relations overtake the leading, defining role whilst in-country relations, even in the most advanced and powerful states, not to mention the others, are forced to adapt to the realities of the global economy. 

Thirdly, globalization eventually leads to erosion and weakening of the regulatory functions of the national state, which is no longer able to effectively protect national interests from unwanted external influences. Moreover, states are unable to regulate economic, social and cultural processes that have overflown national borders, obtained independence and gradually become unmanageable. 

 In the second half of the 20th century, the mankind got an unprecedented challenge which is to find new mechanisms of regulation of the global economy, politics, culture, environment and other areas of human life. The painful process of transformation of global society that existed throughout millenniums into a new form has begun. 

The concept of globalization 

Globalization is a complex and controversial process. There is a vast number of definitions of globalization. Authors of such definitions put an emphasis on its most important features. The selection of such features depends on the position and interests of the researchers. 

Some of them perceive globalization as the process of the constantly increasing impact of various international factors of the social reality in certain countries. Others view it as the formation of the single – pole world – the new global empire. The third party is paying regard for the unification of culture and values (the triumph of liberal and democratic values).   

Nevertheless, the absolute majority of researchers admit the fact that economy plays the leading role in the process of globalization and offers the corresponding definitions, the shortest of which designate globalization as the emergence of the unitary worldwide economic system. 

Globalization is the process of combining economic, technological, social, cultural and political powers. The central idea that forms the basis of the process of globalization resides in the fact that certain problems can not be adequately evaluated and studied at the level of the national state, in other words, in a single country with the regard to its international relations with other countries. 

An important constituent of the globalization is the emergence of the new international production represented by the transnational corporations – “global players” that became the most important driving force of the progress. The undisputed leader of globalization is the financial sphere which is guided by the sole “global player” – IMF. 

Globalization means the development of modern transportation, communication, and informational technologies. The usage of these technologies “constricts” space and time and enhances the transparency of state borders. 

The history of globalization 

Most researchers reckon that the process of globalization had begun in the 16th - 17th century, in times when steady economic growth combined with seafaring innovations and geographical discoveries. In the 19th century, the rapid industrialization has led to a growth of trade volume and investments among European states, their colonies and the USA. Before the First World War, the size of the world has decreased for the “large” to the “medium”. 

 In 1982 the Internet has emerged and in 1991 the European physics laboratory CERN has created protocol www – World Wide Web. Computer science began to rule the world. Nowadays, huge amounts of information can be transferred to almost any part of the world in a matter of seconds and it revolutionized the process of globalization.  In 1992 the European Union has become the common economic space after signing of the Maastricht Treaty. The similar integration is going on in the Northern American free-trade zone: the USA, Canada, and Mexico. These processes will only gain momentum in the near future. 

Globalization in politics 

Globalization in politics mainly results in the weakening of the national states. A competition for the political power has created such phenomena as the “global governance”. It means the development of specialized international organizations i.e. League of Nations, the UN, World Trade Organization etc. Modern states delegate more and more authority to these organizations. 

This trend might lead to a formation of the united worldwide state. A lot of transnational corporations and non-governmental structures have an influence on the political life of countries. The internal sovereignty of the state is weakening and globalization restricts the possibility of isolated solving of problems that concern national territory. Therefore, political globalization requires some acceptable form of overcoming the principle of non-intervention and introduction of new principles of peacekeeping i.e. military operations and sanctions. 

Globalization in economy

The basis of economic globalization is international manufacture that is realized by the transnational corporations and experiences a rapid development over the last decades. In the modern world, there are around two thousand corporations and they have the positive influence on the developing countries by hiring workers or building branch offices in these countries. The non-intrusion of government into private entrepreneurship within society, lowering of taxes on the imported goods and profits of companies has led to the development of free trade, rapid release of capital and its free circulation all over the world.    

 Enormous concentrations of capital travel from one corner of the planet to another. Establishment and progressive growth of financial markets (currency, fund and credit ones) had a great impact on the manufacturing sphere and trade in the world economy. Hedge funds and so-called “financial instruments” play an important role in the modern economy due to the rapid spreading of financial information through the world via the Internet that creates the tendency for the larger exposure of the enterprises. 

 Globalization in culture 

 The cultural globalization is characterized by the rapprochement of business and consumer cultures among various countries of the world and increase of international socialization. It has positive as well as negative effects. Internet plays a great role in globalization as it allows people to communicate freely, get to know each other better. Moreover, the adoption of western values, for example, rationalism, individualism, equality, striving for the effectiveness of labor has a positive effect on modern society. On the other hand, an excessive spreading of similar cultural samples throughout the world, exposure of borders for cultural influence may lead to the loss of the cultural identity.   

Globalization is largely associated with the USA as it has increased its influence all over the world in the last century. Nowadays, English is the language of international communication, most of the movies are released in Hollywood and a large number of transnational corporations originated in America. Although, other countries also step up to the plate – one of the symbols of globalization, the company IKEA was established in Sweden and the Skype – in Estonia. 

The process of globalization will play the major role in the nearby future. The incremental development of globalization, regardless of its negative aspects, is predetermined by the more important and objective benefits of this internalization stage of the economy. In the first two decades of the current century, the globalization process will affect the industrial manufacturing, especially the recycling spheres and high-tech industries. The problem of poverty will remain the most relevant even in future. In two decades the society will transform into the unitary global system in which the transnational enterprises the integrated part of the controversial international body. 

Globalization is the inevitable process as is the course of history. Everyone would have to adapt to its positive and negative aspects. But in order for this adaptation to go smoothly, the consensual and mutual efforts are necessary from the whole global community.