Globalisation has made the world a better place

Globalisation is the emergence of a complex web of interconnectedness that means that our lives are increasingly shaped by events that occur in countries made further away from us. This process has increased significantly since the birth of the UN with 193 out of 196 states participating which have led to better communication between nation states. This has led to a more liberal view of the world as liberals also believe that nation states should be interconnected and helping each other while realists have a more Machiavellian view of nation states which is that all nations act out of self-interest and greed. One form of globalisation is cultural globalisation which is the process whereby information, commodities and images that have been produced in one part of world enter a different part of the world. This is via the theory of time-space compression where the world is “shrinking” and is the world is getting closer together.

An example of this is branding as brands such as McDonalds and Nike have become world renowned with people all over the world knowing the name and logo this has led to a share of culture as the world has become more multicultural which allows for greater diversity and innovation of products. This has benefited the world as now everyone can get cheap food from McDonalds or a new phone from Apple. Secondly economic globalisation is the growth of interlocking global economies this is because of TNCs spreading their franchises to multiple corners of the world. TNCs have helped improve employment in countries where citizens and the country as a whole is facing poverty this has led to the growth of emerging nations such as the BRIC nations. This in turn means that there is an increase in the standard of living of the citizens of these nations. Because of the movement of employment to other countries this means that consumers can get the product they want at a cheaper rate.

This makes the world a better place because countries can escape from poverty and consumers can get product cheaper than what they could have. Thirdly, political globalisation is the rise in importance of international organisations from such as the UN as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Greenpeace. This is because of supranationalism as organisations can now work across international borders and affect the laws within different countries for example the human rights act has meant that people around the world have the same quality of human rights regardless of nationality or race. This means in nations states with a low level of human rights will have to abide by these laws as the UN have a higher level of sovereignty. This has led to the increase in democracy around the world within the last decade which has meant that there is less war as everyone shares the same ideology.

This improves the world as there is less war and states begin to lose their sovereignty meaning that countries can begin to work together under a more liberal view. On the other hand, cultural globalisation has led to the homogenisation of products and cultures which means that there is a lack of diversity. This lack of diversity has led to cultures being wiped out and the growth of Americanisation this has meant that branding and consumerism is one of the biggest things in our lives. This has led to consumers having a “commodity fetishism” where commodities have a symbolic and social significance which have affected human beings as they see brands and marketing and have a monopoly over markets meaning that local economies. This is a bad thing for the world as few brands can have control over the entire planet instead of have many different options available to consumers.

Economic globalisation has meant that firms have been able to exploit workers in poor countries by setting up workshops where workers are paid next to nothing and are forced to work in poor conditions or in certain countries they can be forced into slavery such as Qatar have been rumoured to be doing in preparation for the 2022 World Cup. This affects the human rights of citizens living in the country as they are beginning to lose their rights which means that they are living in poorer conditions than regulated by the UN however they continue to live in these conditions as the UN are unable to do anything about the situation apart from potentially fining them which for emerging countries such as China is nothing. This is bad for the world as countries begin to question the strength of the UN and begin to disobey them knowing that they will get away with it.

Finally, many realists believe that political globalisation is a need must situation as a result of the global crisis countries have become more interconnected as they rely on each other to get out of the crisis however as soon as the country recovers realists believe they will act out of self-interest and leave the other countries to their own devices. Another negative is that it threatens the sovereignty of the nation states for example the Factortame case where the supremacy of EU law over UK law was showcased for the first time. This is a problem as it questioned the authority that the UK has over its citizens and it meant that they no longer have power over their country. This is a problem for the democratic world as the people they elect may not have the authority of the intergovernmental powers to withhold their mandate therefore the party may not be able to fulfil the needs of the citizens.

Overall, I believe that globalisation has improved the world for the better as you now have the ability to talk and go places quicker than the generation previous this has led to better innovation as ideas made in America can be made in china and then sold to the entire world. This is proven by the increase in the amount of people using the internet and social network where which has created a thinner society and low social capital which is a positive as this creates more networks for people who share a common interest.