« Globalisation » is a word that comes up much more often than others in debate topics. For some, nothing better than globalization (and the liberalizing process that comes with it) could happen to us. On the other side, globalisation's detractors hold it responsible for a great number of the planet's problems such as poverty or underdevelopment and they also believe it will lead us to a disaster if we continue that way.
First of all, we must shortly define what is meant with globalisation : it is the process of creating one world where everything is interconnected, where one country better be in contact with the rest of the world in order to achieve good living conditions. That is attained through different kinds of globalisation: news, ideas, culture, transports and the goods and tertiary markets; all these sectors have undergone a globalisation process. It implies, that at the end stage of this process, there will be no rivalry anymore, that everyone will work hand in hand with his « neighbours » and that we will have attained a stage of global peace and prosperity. And already, « all » the states work together in world organisations such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
[...] That brings us back to the starting point: globalisation is not necessarily a pleasant process. To say that and to stop there however is to forget the differences between the underdeveloped and the developed countries. The western world is free to adapt and to make the best of it. The on the other hand mainly depends on the help of the That help comes from specific countries but mainly through international organisations such as the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank. [...]
[...] Therefore, I think we should keep in mind that even though globalisation is an unavoidable process, there are many possible ways to diminish the harsh transition stages and these solutions are not necessarily conveyed by the official structures whose it is their main task. Hence, until now we have seen that people all over the world are affected by globalisation and that depending on their position they can achieve different things about it. We also saw that a few people have changed the course of events, at least on a short timescale. [...]
[...] creates rather than fight against it. His main point is that we have to become more adaptable, more flexible because the developed countries are not the only ones able to produce services and goods with the high added value anymore: China and the Asian tigers are able to do so as well. Hence, reforms of the state and of the labour market have to be undertaken. One of the points that he emphasizes the most is education and how it is important for the future. [...]
[...] The second article, Globalisation works and how to make it work better” is a book review of Defence of Globalisation” by Jagdish Bhagwati. Here again, the author is a specialist on the topic and he also has first hand experience on the effects on globalisation as he was born and lived in India. Bhagwati methodically takes all the assumptions that are made about globalisation and shows that they are false i.e. that it does not worsen poverty or women's right, nor that it erodes democracy (and so on). [...]
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