Impact of Globalization on the State - Term Paper Example

Impact of Globalization On the State Introduction The political, economic and cultural scenario of most countries around the world has changed due to the globalization, since last more than two decades. With advancement in technology, the world has virtually become a single nation. The world politics and economies have changed, which resulted from homogenization of cultures around the world. For example, the “world wide web” has brought the citizens of all nations together irrespective of their individual national identities. The completion of projects, on-line, has made it much easier to control remotely the activities of the project team that may be working at different locations around the world. However, the globalization has brought forth many differences that pertain to different national identities working together to in the direction of achieving a particular task. In addition, the globalization is responsible for the narrowing gap in the economic conditions of the world. The people from different nationalities work for multi-national companies, which offer excellent salary packages. The free market economic principals, combined with capitalist ideology are the driving force for world economies currently working in tandem. This paper discusses few of the impacts that the world is witnessing from globalization, while it can be said that it has brought positive change to the state affairs, there is raging debate on its positive and negative impact. Globalization and good governance The affect of globalization is seen in terms of both positive and negative impacts for different countries, around the world. The positive impact is the growth in economy that has resulted in better living standards and prosperity for the larger society. However, the negative impacts include new wave of migration of human resources from developing to developed nations, which can result in loss of employment in developed countries and forced changes in the social strictures. The new gap created by globalization between rich and poor also leads to increase in criminal offenses. In addition, rich countries may witness depletion in resources, while bringing more pollution problems in some other countries. The direct result of globalization is the outsourcing of manufacturing facilities by countries like USA to developing nations in Asia. This has resulted in loss of employment for skilled workers in such countries. The establishment of call centers in Asian countries that attend to queries from European and American consumers of a particular product or service is an example in this direction. This is mainly due to lesser out-sourcing and operational costs. However, due to changing scenario of economic conditions in developing countries, these costs are going up with every passing year and the parent countries are thinking of reversing the trend. While this can reduce the negative impact of globalization, its positive affect remains in tact, as utilizing world resources have become much easier now. However, it remains the duty of local governments to protect the people, who are not able to merge into the globalization process, economically or socially. Hence, good governance is needed to avoid such negative impacts of globalization. Accordingly, various governments have started the movement of regulating globalization. The reforms in this direction can consider ethics, transparency, bureaucratic reforms and accountability, which can result in good governance. (Jain) Globalization impact upon states The positive impacts of globalization include progressive development of world peace and interdependency, increase in transparency, accountability and awareness. The negative impacts include erosion in the sovereignty of the sate and making the state economies fragile. In addition, the direct affect of globalization is the increase in terror related crimes, due to liberal world economic policies. The relatively free flow of currencies and money across world countries leads to terrorist activities. The inter-dependency and connectedness of world markets results in situations where state governments are unable to control their economies in an efficient manner. This results in state governments loosing their supremacy to control financial activities. However, the positive affect of globalization can be seen in the states becoming more transparent and accountable with regard to policy matters. With globalization, the international laws gain supremacy and the individual nations also follow it, which can result in reduction and prevention of human rights abuses around the world. However, most people around the world consider globalization as the driving force to increase the economic inequalities. It helps rich getting richer, while poor becomes poorer. An example of this is the increasing gap in the developed countries of North and underdeveloped countries of South. In addition, with national borders losing their functional importance, the role of mutational companies and world financing bodies like World Bank and IMF has become prominent to dominate the world politics.(Burak) Impact of globalization on Canada Canada has a history of free market economy and international trade, much before the globalization brought its affect on most of the countries around world. Canadian business was focused on areas like industrial and financial services, as well as exploration of natural resources. However, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between USA and Canada, signed in 1988 brought many changes in the business scenario of the country. As World Trade Organization (WTO) was established, the business outlook of Canadian companies and government changed dramatically. Passage of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) also helped in this direction, as Canadian businesses expanded their activities internationally. However, the experience of many Canadian business heads and executives is varied. Canadian economy has been, for decades, very active in international trade, as it has the best available information and communication technologies. The private enterprise and government is dependant on world trade for retaining the healthy economy. Socially people are more integrated as residents have varied ethnic and cultural background. Canadians also travel more frequently, internationally. Hence, globalization was natural for the state of Canada, being already active in international trade. Thus, the impact of globalization on Canada has been positive. However, many Canadians opine that globalization is bad for the country. These people, mostly following ‘left’ political ideology, protested at the ministerial meeting in Seattle for WTO. According to these protesters, globalization ha resulted in exploitation of human resources, while the government controls have reduced. The labor, social and environmental standards have been lowered along with the reduction in taxes. This has resulted in reduced government revenue. The reduced government funding means fewer investments in social schemes. In addition, the opponents of globalization feel, that MNCs are taking undue advantage of the government policies to capture international projects. (Globalization) Canadian CEOs and globalization The impact of globalization on Canadian business executives has been positive, as their international work experience increased tremendously, over the last two decades, post globalization. However, this positive affect is seen mostly in financial services sector. In addition, the passage of NAFTA and FTA along with the existence of WTO helped Canadian businesses, as the USA remains the biggest trade partner of the country. Nevertheless, the exposure to international work by Canadian businesses has declined during the period 1987 to 1997. This shows that with the shield of NAFTA and FTA, Canadian government did not find it necessary to explore world markets, as they are busy is active partnership with American businesses. Canadian CEOs have expressed their positive reaction to globalization, as the same has added the international dimension to their work experience. While America is the largest trade partner of this country, Canada has expanded its business with UK and China in an impressive manner. Many business heads agree that this is good for the country’s overall business environment. Hence, the general opinion of Canadians remains that globalization is not only positive for the country, instead it the necessity of this nation. With maturing domestic markets, Canada needs exploring business outside the country. (A World of Experience) However, the varied opinions about the impact of globalization on Canada include the negative affect of globalization on the economy of this country. Many economists feel that Canadian businesses may suffer due to the financial problems present in other countries of the world. (Buckner) Conclusion Globalization for countries like Canada has positive impact on the state, as it advances the country’s already booming international trade Works Cited “A World of Experience”, RUSSELL RAYNOLDS ASSOCIATES, 1987to 2007 study, n.d. Web. 24 Nov, 2014. < http://www.russellreynolds.com/content/world-experience-globalization-canadian-corporate-leadership> Buckner, Diane, “Canada is not an Island.” CBC News.13 Sep. 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. Baruck Begum., “ The Impact of Globalization” The GW post.com. 7 Sep. 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. , “Globalization.” The Canadian encyclopedia., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. Jain, R. B., “Globalization and Good Governance” google books., n.d. 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