Globalization and its impacts

1
Globalization and its impacts

• Nuclear Issue
• Terrorism
• Religious Fundamentalism

2
What is globalization? How has this affected the
global politics, nuclear proliferation, and the
world economy?

• Globalization is a building trend where all parts
  of the world in greater political, economic, and
  cultural integration and interaction.
• In the Post Cold War era, nation states have a
  great deal of freedom however, there is a need
  for the international community to protect small
  or weak states from aggression without completely
  violating state autonomy.
• The efforts of major powers to police the world
  become complex while still respecting national
  autonomy. Intervention occurred through
  negotiation through the United Nations as well as
  military intervention.
• An example of this was NATOs intervention in the
  Balkans in 1991 where warring states and
  separatism led to ethnic cleansing and other
  atrocities.
• Free trade in the Post Cold War era of
  globalization brought problems as well as
  economic growth.
• Cycles of boom and bust are endemic to free
  market capitalism carries.
• The economic expansion of the 1990s led to the
  global recession after 2000.
• Many countries joined with their neighbors to
  create regional trade associations such as
  European Union to promote free trade and reduce
  tariffs.
• NAFTA, Mercosur, and the World Trade Organization
  are other such examples.
• Countries such as China, India, and Pakistan all
  tested nuclear weapons and North Korea continued
  to develop them as well.
• It is feared that Israel and Iran have nuclear
  programs as well.

3
What were the basis for and the contents of the
Declaration of Human Rights of December 1948?
Could all nations agree to it?

• The basis for the United Nations Resolution
  called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  lay in American and European history.
• Religious tolerance emerged from Europes
  experience with religious wars of the sixteenth
  and seventeenth centuries.
• The concept of inalienable rights came from the
  United States Constitution and the French
  Revolution.
• Slavery, womens suffrage, and racial tolerance
  were concepts the West had been wrestling with
  for years.
• The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human
  Rights in December 1948 included thirty articles
  and called for an end to slavery, torture, and
  exile and demanded freedom of movement and
  thought, as well as the rights to life, liberty,
  and security of person. However, being a product
  of Western ideology, the Universal Declaration of
  Human Rights ignores many of the worlds
  non-Western cultures and religions.
• For example, did the assertion of total equality
  mean that traditional Hindu social distinctions
  were unacceptable?

4
What is the theory behind terrorism? Who is Usama
bin Laden? Has it worked?

• Terrorism is a method of deploying violence to
  achieve a political end.
• The success of violent terrorist attacks was
  based on the belief that an act of horrendous
  violence would provoke a harsh reprisal or
  demonstrate government incompetence.
• These responses would then cause the existing
  regimes to lose legitimacy and the terrorists
  would appear to be strong, organized, and
  determined.
• This would legitimize the terrorists as a
  potential replacement for the existing regime.
• Terrorism is hard to combat and well adapted to
  television news coverage.
• Although terrorism is not a new historical
  phenomenon, the new networks, especially the one
  led by Usama bin Laden, have attracted followers
  throughout the Islamic world.
• The United States has responded harshly to the
  attacks of bin Ladens followers, announcing a
  war on terrorism that led to the Second Persian
  Gulf War in Iraq the spring of 2003.
• The U.S. decision to invade Iraq was heavily
  criticized around the world and cost the United
  States the sympathy of the world. U.S. actions in
  Iraq and throughout the Muslim world reflect an
  anti-American point of view

5
What is Islamic militancy and why has it emerged
at the turn of the millennium?

• The Muslim world has undergone enormous changes
  in the PostWorld War I era.
• The decline of the Ottoman Empire led to the
  partition of the Middle East by the Western
  powers and the discovery of oil in the region led
  to economic as well as political and cultural
  imperialism of the region.
• Although many states became independent states in
  the 1950s, the wealth derived from oil sales has
  not been shared with the general population.
  Students should also understand that
  globalization, particularly mass marketing and
  mass media, has exposed the Muslim world to the
  consumer culture of the developed world while
  they are aware of their inability to attain
  access to these goods.
• Modernization has is struggling in the Muslim
  world and has led many Muslims to turn to their
  faith and their sacred past.
• Islam was a dominant civilization in the medieval
  period and fought the West.
• The sacred past of Islam reminds them of past
  struggles against the west and that they were
  able to prevail.
• Some Muslims blame their corrupt leaders and
  others focus on external enemies such as Israel
  and those who support Israel, the United States.
• The United States also has financially and
  politically supported corrupt and repressive
  governments in the Muslim world like Egypt and
  Saudi Arabia, a fact that is unpopular with
  Muslims as well.
• In the Persian Gulf War of 19901991, the United
  States stationed troops in Saudi Arabia, which is
  sacred territory for Muslims also was
  inflammatory.

6
Technology has not only helped spread Western
culture around the world, but has also changed
perceptions of culture. How has the perception of
popular culture changed in the twentieth century
as a result of new technologies?

• Popular culture was perceived as localized and
  vulgar entertainment for the masses.
• Peoples who were politically and economically
  dominated by the Westparticularly in overseas
  coloniessubordinated their own cultures and
  imitated Europes high culture. European
  theater, music, and art were seen as the epitome
  of high culture.
• Interest in popular culture revived with the
  advent of new technologies.
• Folk music and dance began to affect European
  culture, and the phonograph in particular became
  the instrument that brought popular culture to a
  world audience.
• The advertising industry, which has spread
  cultural imperialism, has also been responsible
  for disseminating popular culture.
• Ever on the lookout for new products and markets,
  advertising has brought local culture to national
  and international attention.

7
How did people of different faiths view the
events at the turn of the millennium?

• The millennium meant different things to the
  different faiths
• Some Christians viewed the end of the millennium
  through the writing of the Prophets in the last
  book of the New Testament where Christ would
  return to Earth and the world would come to an
  end.
• Christians also converted more enthusiastically.
• Other groups such as the Branch Davidians and
  Heavens Gate and the Members of the Solar Temple
  in France were inspired in part by the
  millennium.
• A Buddhist sect in Japan also believed in the end
  of the world in 1999 and attempted terrorist
  attacks in Japan.
• Some Jews view the struggle for the survival of
  Israel as part of their God-given right to rule
  all the land of the ancient state of Israel.
  Although Muslims are mostly moderate in their
  views, some have become frustrated with global
  events.
• The dominance of their resources and economy by
  the West in addition to corrupt repressive
  governments in the Muslim World has fostered
  Islam militancy

8
What is the impact of the expansion of democracy?
Why does it spread and where?

• There has been a general spread of democracy.
• Democratic governments have survived where they
  previously existed in the Americas and new ones
  have emerged in Asia and Eastern Europe.
• Democratic governments tend to encourage
  political moderation.
• In Africa there has been mixed results but there
  is hope of more democratic rule with the election
  of Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1994 and the
  election of Olusegun Obasanjo in Nigeria.
• The Middle East also has had a mixture of
  democratic governments as well as autocratic rule
  and the rise Islamic parties.

9
What events took place on September 11, 2001? How
did these events reflect a rejection of American
domination at the end of the millennium? Why was
terrorism the chosen method for this rejection?

• The events of September 11, 2001, include the
  hi-jacking of the planes and the mission to crash
  into American landmarks.
• These landmarks were chosen as they represent the
  economic invasion and the military used to
  protect these interests.
• al Qaeda, as all terrorist, desired to hit strong
  points to provide maximum terror value the more
  horrific and unexpected the greater the terror
• Usama bin Laden, a rich Saudi, was angry with the
  United States for its interference in the
  political, economic, and cultural affairs of the
  Middle East.
• By using terrorism as a method to attack the
  United States, al Qaeda hoped to bring a violent
  retaliation that would draw the worlds
  attention, sympathy, and the overthrow of
  repressive Middle Eastern governments.

10
Since the end of the Cold War, cultural
imperialism has replaced overt political
imperialism as a worldwide issue. Briefly explain
cultural imperialism and how it has spread.

• Cultural imperialism is the spread of Western
  styles and tastes in areas such as food, music,
  clothing, movies, and television. Critics view
  cultural imperialism as an attempt to dominate
  the world with a Western capitalist ideology,
  while suppressing local cultures.
• Technology has been primarily responsible for the
  spread of Western culture.
• Audio recordings on vinyl records, magnetic tape,
  and digitized discs have help spread Western
  music.
• Motion pictures and television have allowed
  global audiences to glimpse cultures almost
  entirely Western, and predominantly American.
• The advertising industry has used sight and sound
  to promote Western food and clothing styles to
  new world markets.
• Some nations have acted to protect their
  indigenous cultures from cultural imperialism.
• However, as the people of other countries
  continued to criticize America and its policies,
  it is clear that the effect of cultural
  imperialism is certainly more ambiguous than the
  traditional European imperialism.
• Cultural hegemony
• MacDonalization of the World
• MacWorld vs. Jihad

11
Thomas Friedmans assessment of the millennium
found in analysis of his The Lexus and the Olive
Tree

• Thomas Friedman presents an optimistic view of
  the new age at the turn of the millennium.
• He views the changes, including the collapse of
  the Soviet Union and the expansion of technology
  as an opportunity for increased global
  prosperity, peace, and democracy as symbolized by
  the Japanese car, the Lexus, and the Middle
  Eastern symbol, the olive tree.
• But there is also apessimistic view of
  globalization as well.
• This view is reflected in the writings of Samuel
  P. Huntington, who states that the world has
  become more divided along regional, religious,
  and cultural lines, not more integrated as
  Friedman suggests.
• Convergence vs. Divergence
• Culture wars?