Impact and Need for Globalization - Essay Example

Globalization Introduction Globalization has been a concept in most of the countries. The recent trend and development in the global market has led to the development of globalization. Globalization has different aspects in every field and it has led to the development of almost all types of countries. Globalization is not an individual concept. Rather it depends on the modernization and liberalization of a country. There has been a need for some revolutionary concept that would revive the entire world and assist the countries to experience an overall development. Globalization has led advancements in communication, financial expansion, invent of foreign transactions and improvement of the global economy. This paper deals with the advantages and disadvantages of globalization and highlights the problems faced by the countries. It also explains the impact of globalization on nationalism and national identities. Impact of Globalization Globalization has helped most of the countries and has led to growth and development. The economic and financial status has definitely improved when compared to the past. Globalization and its other aspects have eradicated many problems irrespective of the nature of the country. Globalization resulted in both positive and negative results which in turn made some of the countries suffer. (Waters, 1995). When considering countries like China, globalization has created a positive effect and the country went through tremendous improvement. When compared to the past, China went through a drastic change. Globalization improved the country’s economic status there by reducing the level of poverty. In a country like China where the population is high, it is difficult for the government to manage people and help them improve their status. Despite the poverty, China has grown in each and every aspect and globalization played a major role in improving the country as a whole. Need for Globalization Globalization is a concept which involves several other concepts. The concept of globalization does not end with mere privatization and improvement of a country’s economy. Instead it also refers to the integration of various financial markets, trade openings, exchange of technical aspects and development in communication. Globalization has created a great impact in most of the countries and has helped many countries to improve in spite of their financial difficulties. (Lechner, 2009). This made globalization more popular and the number of countries that follow globalization has increased when compared to the past. A government must incorporate globalization in order to make the country financially sound and economically strong. This ensures that a country is way through development. This in turn increases the number of countries that establish a financial relationship with a particular country. In any case, globalization has made countries open up their financial markets and international trade business. Gone are the days when trading and financial activities were done with in a country or a continent. Today each and every aspect has been made global. People can communicate or make a financial transaction with any country. The reason is the implementation of globalization which provided the countries with opportunities to improve themselves. The communication between two countries by means of trade, financial transactions and labor is possible due to globalization. Countries strived hard to establish a communication with other countries and the reason was lack of a medium. Once globalization came into existence, the interactions between countries have become much easier. Integration has become possible and people in most of the countries have been flooded with opportunities to pursue their education and employment in other countries. A country’s growth rate and economic status has improved when compared to the past. Countries that suffered from poverty and other problems have gone through the changing phase which helped the country to make its presence felt on the global market. (Suryadinata, 2000). The global market has widened due to the vast improvement in the financial sector of most of the countries. This expansion has led to a situation where people can interact and integrate with the people in other countries. The opening up of trade between several countries has helped the global market to achieve its best. The impact of globalization has been felt by almost all the countries and the level of improvement is unimaginable. Generally a country relies on a particular industry and strives hard to improve that industry. The reason is countries did not have the opportunity to experiment with other types of industries. The exposure and availability of other facilities were less. But the situation has gone through a complete change where people in a country can work in industries that are not based in their country. They have been provided with world class facilities to work in an industry that they have never imagined. Globalization has widened the international borders and has paved the way for improvement and development. Globalization has created both negative and positive impacts. Though countries developed at a rapid pace, there are certain problems related to each country. The major problem among them is reinforcement of collective identity. Globalization has reinforced the need for collective identity. The national identities that pertain to a country have been lost due to the growth of globalization. Globalization created a negative impact in terms of nationalism and national identities. The national identities have been lost and nationalisms have gone through a problematic phase. Nationalism, an important concept, is not a cause of concern nowadays since the labor market and financial market has changed the way people look at nationalism. Impact of Globalization on Nationalism Nationalism is an important aspect of any country and the expansion of a country purely depends on the country. When compared to the other countries America and European countries are the ones that are the most affected. Nationalism generally depends on the nationals and the interaction among the other countries. In a country like America where the number of nationals are more than the migrants, the problems related to nationalism is high. The number of people migrating to America has increased when compared to the past. (Featherstone, 1990). America is the most sought after nation as it is considered to be the super power. The educational and employment opportunities are relatively more in America and this is the major reason why people prefer America. Due to this factor, the numbers of people who migrate from the other countries have drastically increased. This increased the problem of nationalism since the numbers of migrants are increasing year after year. The country’s government has restricted the issue of visa, but this has not affected the problem in any way. Since the numbers of migrants are almost equal to the number of native residents, the concept of nationalism has gone through a change. The financial status of America is the major reason for such problems as people prefer to integrate with America in terms of trade and business translations. Nationalism and national identity is a serious problem in countries like America and Britain. The major reason is the expansion of global market. Though America is economically strong, the government does not have the capability to manage the migrants and due to this reason the problem becomes severe. (Bell, 2005). The concept of globalization has made most of the countries feel its impact and the recent growth in the international organizations have also led to problems. International organizations improved the status of each and every country. They act as a medium between countries and this helps the countries to strengthen their financial relationship. Any improvement and development comes with its own problems. Globalization, though seems to be a satisfying concept, has its own problems. The citizens of a country are the main reason for the problems that arise in the country. An International organization depends on the country’s government to establish its business with the other countries. These international organizations rely on the people who work from the other countries. In this case, the business is driven based on the other country and the people working for it. Though a country owns and maintains this business, it has to rely on its neighboring countries. Even though this seems to be a development, the concept of nationalism and national identities gets eroded. Since the people from all other countries are involved in this process, the native people lose their identities. They are collectively called as employees of a particular organization and in the due course they are moved to an extent where they lose their national identities. A country’s native people must be generally differentiated from the migrants. In today’s world, the native residents are also treated like migrants. People who migrate from other countries are also given equal opportunities in spite of national and economic barriers. Countries like Scotland permit the residents to participate in the governmental elections. Even if they are not the citizens of that country, they are given a chance to cast their votes in the respective elections. This will certainly create problems since these people are not aware of the issues that occur in that country. In these situations, nationalism loses its importance which leads to problems in the government as well as the country. (Bertho, et al., 2008). This clearly proves that national conflicts arise due to the fact that non-residents are also given equal rights and importance. Globalization is not separate system; instead it is developed by means of modernization and liberalization of the countries all over the world. The Asian countries were the major reason for such developments. The need for international trade and integration brought in the concept of globalization. But in the modern times, globalization is often misunderstood as a concept that drives a country’s growth. Though this is true to certain extent, the country’s participation is the major criteria in making globalization a universal concept. The industries and international market has widened and it has opened up several opportunities to the private as well as governmental organizations. The national boundaries have expanded at a faster pace; they have brought in various problems. Certain countries felt that globalization has not affected the national identities and it has not led to the decline of nationalism and national identities. Every country has lost its own culture and tradition due to the increase in the number of migrants. The culture has been damaged by means of globalization. The advent of new culture and practices has led to the decline of the native cultures and the people are easily influenced by the culture of another country. Globalization, as perceived by most of the countries, is the expansion of modernization which helped the countries to improve them as a whole. The changes in the industrialization and with invent of globalization, the countries have an opportunity to expand their financial boundaries. (Ekins, 2009). This helps them to expand their business aspects and makes the process of international trading a much easier task. The researches and readings specify that nationalism does not rely on globalization and it has not changed due to the impact of globalization. In certain cases, nationalism has fallen as prey to the expansion in terms of economic and financial aspects, migration in large numbers and political pressures from the government. Nationalism and national identities certainly rely on government’s decisions and the intervention of other states and countries create a negative impact. The financial competitions between countries are also a reason for the decline of national identities. The establishment of financial and economic integration generally leads to various problems that in turn affect the national identities. The economic competitions between the countries result in economic downturns of many other countries. The impact of globalization on nationalism and national identities depend on the type of countries and their nationalistic ideologies. Nationalist thinking has also diminished due to the globalization that made people to rely and depend on other cultures. The import and export of goods and products has also contributed to this problem. (Kennedy, 2001). The influences of other cultures are so strong that people get carried away by the mere attraction of those cultures. This in turn reduces the nationalistic approach and this cultivates a thirst for new cultures. This clearly shows that people are easily prone to cultural problems and this affects the national identities. America Vs Europe Many countries have been influenced by globalization and when compared to the other countries America and European countries are the most affected ones. A country like America where the effect of globalization is most felt, experiences various nationalistic problems. There has been an evident improvement in the financial aspect of the country. Due to this development and improvement in terms of economy and international trade, the communication has gradually increased. As all these factors contribute to the problems, globalization is considered as the main cause for threats and problems to nationalism. The development in communication networks like internet and improvement in mobility, people are flooded with opportunities. (Schwartz, 2006). This eventually increases the migration to other countries. Since America is the most sought after country, people from almost all the countries migrate to America. This creates a great impact on the nationalism and the national identities of Native Americans are lost. As the government also permits people to migrate from other parts of the world, the native culture gets affected. People from various cultural backgrounds are a part of American society and each of their cultural influence affects the country’s nationalism. This proves to be a threat to the American culture. When compared to America, the European countries have felt this impact in its financial and global market. European countries generally rely on their historical political polices and ideologies and they suffer in the midst of globalization. Though Europe suffers due to globalization, the problems are less when compared to America. (Scholte, 2000). The modern nationalism created havoc in America and this resulted in downturns in the country’s economy. The eastern part of Europe was filled with migrants from French colonies. North Africans migrated to other parts of Europe and this gradually resulted in major recession. (Bufon, 2004). The country fought back against recession and the economic status improved only after several years. The problem did not end with this; instead economic crisis was occasionally throughout the country. The problems that prevailed in the country were resolved only after the European Union was established. Till then the country went through a hiatus and people were largely treated as slaves. All these posed a great threat and challenge to national ideologies and cultural practices respectively. Collective Identity The regional movements and ideologies in Europe went through several problems as to how can other cultures be combined with the native regional practices. This proves that globalization reinforces the need for collective identity. People from almost all the nations migrate to one or the other countries in search of education or employment. Due to this factor, the occurrence of cross cultural impact is considerably more. As people from other culture and community tend to dominate the native residents, the need for collective identity occurs. The uniqueness and experiences of the nations changed due to the interventions of people from other parts of the world. The political aspects of a country play a major role in shaping up the country’s nationalism. Nationalism of a country generally depends on the cultural aspects and practices, social beliefs and happenings and political system. The people of a country generally follow the nationalistic ideologies and policies and act according to the laws and legislations of the government. The influence of other countries and their cultural practices tend to create problems that result in the decline of national identities. A national identity is established based on the country’s cultural and regional policies. Once it gets changed or modified, the national identity automatically changes. (Yamashita, 2003). Though globalization has created various positive impacts on the global market, it has also contributed to the decrease in the national identities. Nationalism and national identities were the ones that were most affected by globalization. Though most of the countries feel the drawback, the other beneficial aspects of globalization dominate the cropping up of these problems. Though the argument against the negative aspects of globalization continues, certain countries and groups specify globalization helps to foster nationalism. It has increased the chances of cross-cultural practices and people will have an opportunity to deal with people from other cultures. Nationalist thinkers are a part of every society and they have a fear over cultural aspects of other country. This creates a sense of fear among the native residents. Cross cultural practices have been a part of every country’s history since civilizations between countries have brought in a considerable difference among the people’s mind. The popularity of globalization was possible only by the international organizations and multinational corporations. The increase in the numbers of such organizations improved the intercontinental relationship there by creating new opportunities in terms of trade and finance. (Martell, 2010). The countries which were rivals, turned out to be an integrated business partners. The level of communication and integration has gone through a several changes and it revived the way in which people looked at globalization. Apart from these positive aspects, globalization has certain disadvantages too. Many countries often complain about the rise in inequality among the people. The problem of inequality exists in most of the underdeveloped countries. Developed countries maintain a proper government and abide by the governmental policies, where as smaller countries are more prone to these problems. Benefits of Globalization In general globalization is a more advantageous concept, except for certain issues. It paved the way for mutual exchange of labor and knowledge. It also encouraged the concept of foreign investments where the countries can invest in the foreign companies. (Goyal, 2006). This eventually increases the foreign collaboration and helps in the development of both the countries involved in such integration process. Globalization helped the countries in joint ventures that could further strengthen the relationship. The import and export operations were also liberalized which led to the minimal export tariff rates. Globalization has also increased the competition between the countries in the international market. This in turn emphasized on interdependence among the other countries. All these contributed to the overall growth of a country by initial development of a country’s economy. The economic status of a country decides its stand in the global financial market. If a country is financially capable, then other countries will certainly establish their relationship with these countries. Globalization helped in creating these ties between the countries. The annual growth rate of a country has improved with the implementation of globalization. This helped most of the countries to improve their economic status and this in turn improved the country’s position in the global economic market. The economic improvement of one country will lead to the improvement of other countries since interdependence plays a major role. (Conversi, 2009). Globalization permitted foreign investments which improved the strata of many developing countries. This was implemented by means of non-debt options so that the investor and the investee are benefited. The financial sector was totally reformed to suit the needs of the global market and the investing authorities. The government sector industries and factories encouraged the participation of private sector groups. This was made possible due to the increase in the foreign trade and investments. In the global market, countries like India, China and Europe also gained a position similar to America. The vast expansion of the countries, impacts of globalization have led to a situation where domestic economic policies cannot be decided by a country’s government alone. (Pruskus, 2008). Instead they must consider the international market before deciding on any financial policies. Since the countries depend on one another, the economy of one country cannot turn out to be a success or a failure without the intervention of other countries. Conclusion Globalization has created several positive impacts on a country and has attributed to a country’s growth. It has led to the growth and development of most of the countries and helped them scale heights. Globalization changed the way people look at the global market. The country’s strata have undergone a change and there has been a tremendous improvement in terms on economic and financial aspects. It has widened the opportunities and paved the way for economic integration and financial transactions. Foreign trade and development have been revived and has led to the overall development of a country. Countries that felt a sense of economic downtrend have also gone through the improvement phase and have become a part of the global market. The changes in the countries and their political and social factors have reinforced the need for a collective identity. Reference Waters, M., 1995. Globalization. New York: Routledge. Lechner, F., 2009. Globalization: The Making of World Society. U.K: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Suryadinata, L., 2000. Nationalism and Globalization: East and West. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian studies. Featherstone, M., 1990. Global Culture: Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Bell, L., 2005. Globalization, Regional Development and Local Response. Netherlands: Dutch University Press. Bertho, M. 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