When referring to the term Globalization, it infers on the worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration. Globalization implies the opening of local and nationalistic perspectives to a broader outlook of an interconnected and interdependent world with free transfer of capital, goods, and services across national frontiers. However, it does not include unhindered movement of labor and, as suggested by some economists, may hurt smaller or fragile economies if applied indiscriminately. Globalization has changed the role of the state politically because of strengthened interstate relationships and dependence on one another.
States were established to be sovereign but now, due to globalization, often give their sovereignty away to pooling’ (Shaw, 2000: 185) in conventions, contracting, coercion and imposition (Krasner, 1995/6). This yielded increasingly similar jurisdictions across states and to power being perceived as economic rather than political progress (Shaw, 2000: 186-187) because states now make political progression and regression together, causing states to become more developmental (Heywood, 2007: 100). Both as a process and an ideology, it is of the inevitable that globalization has become the dominant economical, cultural, and political force in the 21st century.
While there is debate about the extent to which globalization is occurring and influencing international relations, there is no doubt that countries are becoming more integrated. Simple integration, or “exchange across borders,” however, is not the same as globalization, which involves the “breaking down barriers.”Technology has been the other principal catalyst of globalization. Advances in information technology, in particular, have drastically transformed economic life. Information technologies have given all sorts of individual economic actors, consumers, investors, businesses, valuable new tools for identifying and pursuing economic opportunities, including faster and more informed analyses of economic trends around the world, easy transfers of assets, and collaboration with far-flung partners.
However, globalization is deeply controversial. Proponents of globalization debate that it affords poor countries and their citizens the opportunity to develop economically and raise their standards of living, while opponents of globalization claim that the creation of an unfettered international free market has benefited multinational corporations in the Western world at the expense of local enterprises, local cultures, and common people. Resistance to globalization has thus taken shape both at a popular and at a governmental level as people and governments try to manage the flow of capital, labor, goods, and ideas that constitute the status quo of globalization.
To secure the right balance between benefits and costs associated with globalization, citizens of all nations need to understand how globalization functions and the policy choices facing them and their societies. Therefore, this essay will examine factors such as Terrorism, Xenophobia, as well as Environmental issues to prove that the state of the 21st century is in decline under the pressures of Globalization.
Socially, globalization has had a problematic effect, making people and states more at risk and causing the state’s role to change to encompass solving these issues and becoming a protector rather than a controller. The key example of globalization’s negative state impact is the formation of terrorism. Our world’s old wars’ of armies and battles are being replaced by new wars’ where nuclear weapons and terrorism rule (Kaldor, 1999). Terrorism is a new controlling power with its own network system, showing a decrease in the role of the state socially, as people are creating their own authorities to control their people and take over the role of the state. The new terrorist threat has caused the state to work in areas that were previously unnecessary, controlling the threat’s impact. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US believed that states should turn sovereign as a result of the increasing terrorist threats to our society (US National Security Strategy, 2002).
Ever since the Treaty of Westphalia, state sovereignty has decreased greatly, but now terrorism is possibly having a reverse effect, making our states more like they were originally rather than differing them further. This is a debatable move, as faced with an increasingly powerful network, would we not be stronger if forces were united rather than states separating and standing alone? This idea is supported in the European Security Strategy (2003: 1) released after 9/11, which says that no single country is able to tackle today’s complex problems on its own’, illustrating how globalization problems have decreased state power and effectiveness.
Terrorism cannot be defined accurately, but to many people it is perceived as a threat of violence in the activity of religious, political, and social objectives which aim to propel a sense of fear in a specific population. It can be committed by individuals whom are from the outside of that particular country or state, and it can be done by undercover personnel serving on behalf of their government. When this violence is being committed, it does not only affect immediate targets, it affects that particular society at large resulting into innocent lives being taken away by a crime that they were not even aware of.Political tension, unemployment and the growth of religious fundamentalism are the major factors of social consequences. A large population is some countries regard globalisation as imposed from the hegemonic (leadership) capitalist countries and international financial institution. Thus indirectly creates an environment that accommodates violent behaviour and acts of terrorism. Moreover, the subsequent terrorism war attacks in the United States on September the 11th in 2011, some of the debates focused the causes of terrorism and the response strategies that can be implemented to stop these terrorist attacks. Part of this debate discusses globalisation and whether incentives are provided and they facilitate international terrorism.
Although there isn’t must proof nor evidence from studies that globalisation is behind the causes of terrorism. Some of the writings implied that there are certain aspects of the circumstances which may create incentives for terrorism and this also suggests that in a globalised world is very easy to organise, finance and to substantiate terrorist attacks and activities. Over the past two decades, globalisation has been an exceptionally debated phenomenon.
As defined by the Oxford dictionary, Xenophobia is a strong feeling of dislike or fear of people from other countries’. Just like homophobia, sexism, and racism, xenophobia has its roots in not accepting the distinctions in human beings that can be defined by nationalities, race, sex or culture.
Recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa have are beginning to once again expose the growing division, which is brewing resentment between host populations and immigrants in many countries. The phenomenon that is globalization has changed the world by integrating national societies and economies to form what is usually termed as the international community’. Inter-migration has soared in the last decades on all the continents and with the revolution in communication technologies, some countries of the world have transformed into multicultural societies. However, recent social upheavals in the world show that despite the advantages that are realized from globalization, host countries are seemingly resenting immigrants for settling in their countries.Globalization has allowed for the free movement of capital and goods between countries which has resulted into the integration of national economies into one global economy.
Through such changes, migrants have travelled to richer countries to seek better opportunities which are scarcely available in their own countries. However, as they settle in other countries, host populations become disillusioned with the large influx of migrants who are considered as a drain on public resources. In over time, the observations and outcries by host populations turn into frustrations, where they begin to resent people from other countries. Arguably, globalization has enhanced the porosity of national borders, which has in turn encouraged the poor to migrate to rich countries. It then can be argued that globalization changes have a positive correlation with migration, which has in turn increased the cases of xenophobia in the world. Europe, political parties who want to crackdown on immigration are on the rise in countries such as Britain, France and Austria. These political parties are championing policies which aspire to see their countries limit the influx of immigrants crossing their borders.
As immigrants keep crossing borders, host populations are becoming disillusioned with the numbers of foreigners in their countries. It is through this disillusionment that the host populations begin to construct the image of foreigners as being different from their national identities.It is imperative to face the reality, that due to insecurity; humanity lived just above starvation and under intense scarcity. Xenophobia becomes a reality because when a territory produces the fixed amount of food to sustain it and another tribe decides to move in, it is found difficult and is a struggle to sustain food for the other tribe because the food that was produced was enough just for the one tribe. Insecurity empowers an authoritarian xenophobic reaction which enables individuals to stand behind strong leaders with in group support.
Apart from playing an important role in bringing people of different cultures together, Globalization has established a new era in the economic prosperity and has opened up vast channels of development. However, it has also created some areas of concern, and prominent among these is the impact that it has had on the environment. Globalization has featured greatly in the debates regarding environmentalism, and green activists have highlighted its far-reaching effects. Due to globalization and industrialization, various chemicals have been thrown into the soils which have resulted into the growth of many noxious weeds and plants. This toxic waste has caused a lot of damage to plants by interfering in their genetic makeup. It has put pressure on the available land resources. In various parts of the world, mountains are being cut to make way for a passing tunnel or a highway. Barren vast lands have been encroached upon to pave way for new buildings. Whilst man may rejoice on the glimmer with these innovations, these can have long-term effects on the environment. Various studies over the years, have found that plastic is one of the major toxic pollutants, as it is a non-biodegradable product. However, plastic is of immense use when it comes to packaging and preserving goods that are to be exported. This has led to increased use of plastic, causing widespread environmental pollution.
It has made so many changes in our lives that reversing it is not possible at all. The solution is deeply rooted in developing effective mechanisms that can access the extent to which it can impact the environment. Researchers are of the perception that the answer to this problem lies in the problem itself, that is, globalization itself can afford support to establishing a better structure which is economically feasible and environment-friendly. Globalization is about competition, and if certain privately-owned companies can take the lead in being environment friendly, then it will encourage others to follow suit.The need of the hour is to have effective policies in place, and implementation of those policies. The people that we have chosen to represent us have the responsibility of ensuring that the extent of damage on environment is curtailed, if not totally prevented.
Globalization is a continual process, a never-ending condition. It has arguably just started, against the grand tapestry of history. It has grown from a purely economic or technological concept and now implies evolutionary change on a cultural dimension as well. Information communicated through modern print and electronic media is not just affecting commerce, but shaping world-views, relations inside families, and attitudes of citizens to the state. However, the process has still not significantly touched an extraordinary proportion of humanity and hence, it has not yet truly earned its title, globalization. This essay has successfully examined the pressures of globalization on the decline of the state in the 21st century, both negative and positive, by accessing by-products of globalization such as Terrorism, Xenophobia, as well as environmental issues.
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