Implication of Globalization for Nation-State in Middle East - Essay Example

Implication of Globalization for Nation-State in Middle East Introduction The times we live in today is being depicted as the Post Cold War Era. Since it starts at the incorrect position, this is highly deceptive. There hasn’t really been an abrupt transfer in the economic activity. The progress of global politics has been belittled and degraded, even though it has had a much superior influence in comparison to the cold war. This is because is the economic and geopolitical conversion of East Asia has been characterized simply as a trend following the cold war. Primarily for the reason that it was after the Soviet Union diminished in importance to the Americans that the Middle East and Asia gained some importance. Vietnam, China and North Korea managed to resist the American aspiration to terminate communism for forty years. Yet they are not able to stand their ground against the over raging influence of East Asia’s capitalist political economy. To say that the end of the cold war was of fundamental importance to American policy is destroying that very policy. It takes it out of vital perspective and obliterates its essential and primary aspirations and goals. There was a much larger “Cold War” strategy and the Cold War itself was only an influential fraction of the puzzle. A predominately American world order was established by the initial US-Soviet hostility. To truly understand America’s Cold War policy one has to take closer look not at its written and spoken policy but at its actions which predominately involve its allies. Officials had coined a new phrase, the US “preponderance of power”. This was possible through the construction and preservation of the international economic and political order founded on the American prevalence of power. The allies of the US in East Asia and Europe managed to safeguard the conditions areas from themselves as a result of expelling power politics and nationalist rivalries. Globalization: The term Globalization has come about because of the development the world has undergone in the technology and communication. Being candid towards and surrendering oneself entirely to the enveloping external powers is what Globalization is really about. More and more frequently the world is being described as a global village. While the economy of every country in the world has been influenced by the diversity of Globalization, it has not always had a positive effect. For the progress of Middle Eastern Least Developed Countries Globalization has actually been an impediment. It seems that Globalization has set out on a course of action which will lead to creating and spreading out international preferences in cultural, environmental, political, social and economical issues. 1 Social Impact on Middle East States: For a society to exist it has to be made up of a population which shares a terrain and culture and often this population tends to be very large and made up several generations. Each and every society has its individual traditions and ethnicity, that is what make up its particular culture. The religion the majority of the civilization follows is one of the chief elements of a society’s culture. Today, the conflict between two of the major religions of the world, i.e. Islam and Christianity has been set off because of Globalization. The religion Islam is not contained within a one dogma which only preaches one idea, but it is made up of a unit, a variety of religious messages. Muslims follow it in tow ways. Either by electing to follow an assortment of its characteristics or by dispensing with its views entirely, even as they state loyalty and commitment to it (Fluehr-Lobban, 1994). Based on purely factual knowledge, Islamic predicaments are not the reason for all political friction between Western and Muslim countries. Muslims have faith in Islam as a complete structure of beliefs and a mold through which a holy society and government can develop. All Muslims and all every current Islamic government have a common opinion when it comes to Islam. It is viewed as an all-encompassing substitute to capitalism, communism, democracy and other such Western ideological systems. They are in undeniable conflict against political elites (whom they believe to be fraudulent and manipulative), small and elite military and family factions, landlords and oil-based finance groups. They believe that such people are tied up with corrupt local political leaders and Western Capitalists, and a self-indulgent Western culture submerged in sexual license and greed. They are of the opinion that corrupt administrations and foreign influences only propagate injustice in their societies. Such actions demoralize the natural order of the relations of men and women, and thus weaken the family and endorse immorality. Their solutions to these problems are both political and religious; oust corrupt governments, drive out foreign influences, and educate and elevate their own people through religious commitment. Oliver Roy writes, “Rather than a reaction against the modernization of Muslim societies, Islamism is a product of it.” 2 Modernity doesn’t induce materialism, laissez-faire, or democracy but breeds both materialism and religious revitalization. In the same way it arouses political orientation ranging from fascism on the right to communism on the left. The institutions of the assorted Islamic states haven’t been altered by the Islamic revolution. The economy and domestic policy issues such as welfare, housing or even the distribution of wealth hasn’t been manipulated by Islam. While features such the legal system, the schools, the media, and in public policy towards women are not the outline for the entire system, a certain level of Islamic influence can be seen in them. 3 The Middle East countries which employ the Islamic system have failed to change the political and economic state of affairs. None-the-less the restrained form of fundamentalism, the advancement of ethical commitment and social reforms carry on flourishing. These have been cultivated and become of great significance in countries like Iran. In such countries the trend seems to be that Islam is now being conveyed from the youth to the fully-grown, from the lower and upper middle classes to rich elites. People in general are now aware and attracted to the non-political forms of Islam. 4 Impact on Culture A very basic definition of culture could be using material objects to complete traditional actions specific to humans. Any culture is a very complex combination of language, ideas, beliefs, customs, codes, institutions, tools, techniques of arts, rituals, ceremonies, etc. etc. The strength of the capability that men can contain within themselves, make or break any culture. Such a capability has been portrayed as the aptitude for rational or abstract thought. A human being cannot live without culture. For culture to truly exist it needs to retain both tangible substances (that is the material culture) and ideology (that is the non-material culture). Countless social scientists identify culture with dissimilar ideas. However, psychologists in general express culture as an emerging system of individuals, relationships, material and social frameworks and establishments. First there was the agricultural revolution, then the industrial revolution and now the information revolution. Philosophical, intellectual, cultural and social terms are all undergoing essential alterations during the information era. The information technology era hasn’t been the only key factor which has had a significant hand in the advancement of globalization; there have been other deciding features as well. These have helped technology make the transition. One of these chief elements is the media. “Once a technology is admitted to our culture, it plays out its hand; it does what it is designed to do. Our task is to understand what that design is-when we admit a new technology to the culture, we must do so with our eyes wide open.” 5 The media is a vital method through which the Western culture by and large and the American culture specifically is sent overseas. The foreign culture which has a direct influence on not only the adolescents but on the older parts of the population in the Middle East and other countries of the world can effortlessly be seen on: 6 Language: The Middle East has always been a hot bed of diverse regional languages and accents but unfortunately the media has had a negative influence on the adolescents of Middle East. This influence has led to them dropping the richness and regional diversity of their languages and accents. Typically, they start following the language and accent of television stars and newscasters. This is not only a problem in the Middle East, according to a survey held the teenagers of America have experienced a significant loss of vocabulary, from 25 thousand words to 10 thousand words in the past five decades (Nightingale, 1996) Advertisements: The third biggest export in the US is the electronic media. This has resulted in American pop culture inundating the world. The advertisements induce the Middle Eastern population to buy where even though above one fifth of the world population lies below the poverty line. This in turn makes their governments unable to produce and meet the population’s demands. 7 Rise of consumerism: Consumerism has risen advertently due to media advertisements. The spiritual values of the society have been severely suffering and the society as a whole has been turned into a materialistic society. The fact of the matter is that as long as vices dominate our lives, there can be no peace, no happiness. Effect on Economy Globalization has been characterized by the complimentary movement of goods throughout the world. 8 Every country has undergone the effects of Globalization but the undeveloped countries of the Middle Eastern States in particular have been the most negatively effected. Poverty has turned into an eternal torture for these countries because of the collapse of commodities market, debt crisis and structural adjustment. Financial flows, rapid communication and increased transportation have been turning the world into an even tinier global village day by day. Borders are no longer an issue; countries are receiving each other’s products with enthusiasm acceptance. International trade is booming. There has been a sharp rise in the number of multinational corporations since 1969; they have nearly tripled in the world’s 14 richest countries from 7,000 to 24,000. Forty years ago imports of goods and services were only 12 percent of the gross domestic product worldwide, it is now practically twice that. A quarter of the United States’ GDP is made up of international trade and the exports are predicted to rise to 51 percent between 1996 and 2006. 9 Today global competition is on the rise, growing steadier. International markets have been invaded by foreigners from all over and home markets are no longer as rich in opportunity. There are barely any industries left which have not been infiltrated by foreign competition. A few companies would rather that the foreign invasion of markets stop but in speaking in the long term, this would only elevate the living costs and defend incompetent domestic companies. The smarter option is to constantly enhance and develop home products and then invade foreign markets. A better way for companies to compete is to continuously improve their product at home and expand into foreign markets. Performance levels and operations have to be standardized and internationalized if firms want to venture into the global market. When the competitive standing of any given company is affected by their global stance, then a global industry has been formed. Speculating internationally and collecting and securing marketing, production, research and development and financial benefits by which the domestic firms can not score, turns a company into a global firm. The Least Developed Countries had to increase commodity production and economic growth by borrowing enormous amounts of money. This was because of the terrible economic policies of 1980 which in turn led to the disintegration of commodities market and a debt crisis. The Least Developed Countries consented when the banks decided to review their interest rates and then regulate them on all new and existing loans. There was no other choice but to decline commodity prices because of globalization. Since the Least Developed Countries’ primary supply of income came from commodities it was a struggle to pay their debts and this only grew worse. In fact in the end it resulted in mass unemployment in many commodity sectors. International business had boomed to such a capacity that it is difficult to put a figure on it. The gross national product of every country in world has been surpassed by the annual output of the United States overseas affiliates. Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have dominated the international business; they are a diminutive amount of very substantial business firms. They have great influence, they have the ability to transfer assets from country to country and sway nation’s economies, politics, and cultures. One single multinational firm’s sales revenues can exceed most countries gross national products- their sales revenues measure above $10 billion per year. 10 Investing directly in manufacturing facilities in an overseas country requires a higher level of involvement. To directly invest is to manage the productive assets. This in part is the tell tale difference between other entry strategies that authorize less managerial jurisdiction. 11 Traders, who in the past worked as a link connecting buyers and sellers, are now slowing fading away because of Globalization. The farmer now sells his goods to huge firms which can afford to buy shipping and warehousing facilities in the vicinity. Organizations in developed countries have the definite advantage because of the prerequisite of erudite technology and human skills. The international market doesn’t need to be invaded to exist. For instance, for most local businesses it is enough to do very well in the local market. Functioning domestically leads to safer and much less complicated operations. There are several difficulties and hazards one has to deal with when operating internationally. These include learning another country’s language and laws, dealing with unpredictable currencies, tackling political and legal qualms, or redesigning products to suit different customer needs and expectations. On the other hand, organizations which work on an international level have to rethink all their tactics in order to do well on a worldwide basis. The United Nation Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published “The Least Developed Countries report” in 1999. It was written in the introduction that the 1980s were christened the ‘lost decade’ for developing countries in general and Least Developed Countries in specifically. However, the 1990s have turned into an era of have become increasing marginalization, inequality, poverty and social exclusion for Least Developed Countries. Inequality and scarcity are the reasons behind direct outcome of violence and social tension in the Least Developed Countries. 12 Political Impact To suit the conditions of existing international politics, the old fundamentals of world politics have been rapidly altered in the past years. The fall of Russia and rise of the European Union are the two single factors which have had the biggest effect on the global political culture. Provided that the Americans had Russia as a probable threat to deal with the world Politics remained unchanged. But when there was no other super-power to deal with America took over and took upon itself the job of tending to every imperative affair, everywhere in the world. The rule of thumb, “Might is Right” 13 governed the world until the last century. Democracy bought about the popular idea of “majority is authority”. 14 This saw the principle of “might” capitulate to the principle of “majority”. Over the past three centuries nations have fallen and risen. In total there have been twelve great states which have been in power at one time or the other during the multi-polar era. Only two of the original seven remained after World War II. Before the precedent was that when one nation fell another rose to take over. World War II broke the precedent; for the first time in a world of sovereign states, bi-polarity prevailed. Just like Great Britain did in the nineteenth century, the United States built and took advantage economically from an established international political order instead of conquering colonies. Lenin’s theory that imperialism is, or allows for “the highest stage of capitalism”, 15 an open economy among the industrialized nations, proves to be right is this condition. History repeats itself. This can be seen by the repeated behavior of states, the repeated patterns of their interactions, and the repeated outcomes their interaction produces through the centuries. All this has happened in spite of the fact that there have been definite alterations in the internal constitution of territories and powers. They unrelenting contend against each other in economic, military and other ways. They threaten each other with force and have fought countless wars on the un-important. However, through this upheaval peace reigned at the heart of international politics. The amendments made in the arrangement and diversity of weapons accessible to a few nations has led to bring about a disturbed kind of peace. How US suffered from Globalization? We have gone through the impact of globalization on the Middle East States through social, cultural, economic and political standpoints. While the US has been the singular nation which has had the utmost benefit from globalization, it has affected even America negatively, especially on the socio-political environment. Boundaries of nations and cultures have ceased to exist because of Globalization. A single working environment can consist of a mixed population with people hailing from different ethnic and demographic backgrounds; Globalization escalated outsourcing. This has created a certain level of serenity and understanding amongst nations and countries but it has also detonated discrimination between diverse people. In a multi-cultural society like the US such discrimination is the most apparent and often leads to aggression and hostility in the workplace. To subdue it the Government of United States introduced the Affirmative Action in 1965. Workplace violence can be characterized in two ways. The media’s definition of such violence is when an armed employee shoots at other employees and Managers. The other definition seems more fitting. It says that workplace violence when employees are affected negatively in physical or psychological ways because of a hostile environment. Threats, coercion and all forms of harassment come under workplace violence; it includes all types of physical or verbal assaults. In current times, some people take extreme action to display their dislike and so specifically in this subject, security must to do something regarding globalization. According to statistics everyday approximately 16,400 workers are threatened during their job, 723 are attacked and about 800 are harassed. Globalization gives rise to less manufacturing and this leads to downsizing. Eventually downsizing results in the decline of Safety and security personnel and an inferior budget for environmental and security vulnerabilities. A trend of employing conditional workers, the temporary, part-time and leased employees, plus the self-employed has emerged because to globalization. Part-time workers are mainly required as clerics/ receptionists, secretary/ word processing, accountants / financial, data processors and engineers. 16 The firms can establish themselves as strong contenders in the international market because such trends enable firms to acquire excellent employees, and at the same time reduce extensive employee cost. Intense global competition and hasty environmental transformations have had job insecurity and job loss as a consequence. This in turn results in accelerating alcohol and drug abuse and multiplies the likelihood of physical and psychological ailments and accidents. The most significant and pressing issues which employers face today is workplace safety and security. The federal and State Governments have also taken this so seriously that Congress has passed an act for the safety of employees in the workplace, it is called “Occupational and Safety Health Act” (OSHA). This law guarantees a safe workplace environment for employees (Legal Information Institute). The security and safety of the organizations is largely affected by globalization. Discrimination the workplace leads to violence and safety and security have become something of a challenge for the Safety Managers. All safety measures need to be followed by Safety Managers so that a comfortable working environment, without discrimination, can be maintained. Outsourcing, part-time employment and lesser manufacturing have all been an outcome of globalization. The likelihood of this happening makes the employee anxious and creates a nerve-racking environment. In the end this results in security violation in the company. Conclusion The past years of global economy have not shown too many bright examples. Crucial examples are the collapse of Argentina, the bursting of the dot com bubble and government scandals like Enron. The global era of today is indeed very delicate. Its fragility is dependent upon the social and economic justice, human rights, trade financial flows and macroeconomic stability. The fragility of current global political economy environment is what pushes it forward. It is the temperament of capitalism to experience booms and busts. According to economists, the globalized economy doesn’t live by the rules of the business cycle gravity. The possibilities which other economical systems offer cannot be offered by capitalism and so it can never really attain the hearts of people. Even in spite of this, capitalism is the only system that can generate wealth persistently. So it is of the utmost importance that capitalism be preserved and perfected as far as possible. Globalized markets operate within politically defined rules and governance institutions. The present policies of the global markets and economic governance institution need to be renovated. Effective and credible methods involving civil society, governments and international organizations are required. This would help develop the necessary new measures for effectual governance of the global economy. State leaders and those people who now exercise most control over events have to have essential long-term vision for such strategies. Tangible modifications will stabilize the fragility of the global economy, and the second great age of capitalism can be enjoyed with success. References Alden, John. (1998). What in the World Drive UPS, International Business, April, pp.6-7 Dunning, J. H. (1994), Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy, Workingham, England, Addison-Wesley. Emmanuel, Sivan (1997), Constraints and Opportunities in the Arab World, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 8, 2, April: 102-13. See particularly pp. 10-11. Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn, (1994), Islamic society in practice, Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 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Retrieved on 11th November, 2006 from http://world.std.com/~jimf/informing.html Roy, Oliver, The Failure of Political Islam, (1994), Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Schaeffer, R. K. (2003). Understanding globalization. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. The Least Developed Countries 1999 report. United Nations. Retrieved on 11th November, 2006 from http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ldc1999_en.pdf Workplace safety: an overview. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved on 11th November, 2006 from http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/workplace_safety.html might is right - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 11th November, 2006 from http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/might+is+right Not Available. Retrieved on 9th January, 2007 from http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/letters/view.asp?msgID=511 Lenin: Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Retrieved on 11th November, 2006 from http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/ Read More