Analysis of Globalization: The Super-story by Thomas - Essay Example

Critique globalization Introduction We are a larger continent brought together through globalization and threatened by its same benefits due to the security concerns that the linkage and connection creates to us. Thomas L Friedman in his globalization: the super-story’ creates an interesting passage on globalization that touches on the essential elements of security and its impacts on peace. It touches on the fundamental topics in history and politics that have remained of great attraction to me since joining college. Before actually beginning to read his work, I expected him to focus on the area of global markets and the way nations interact at the international levels. Due to the emergence of digital applications and the internet in globalization, I also expected that he would touch on the topic of the application of the internet in moving globalization towards the right direction and route. It was therefore not surprising to find that he touched on the areas of supermarkets and the creation of the global financial centers. In explaining the manner in which nations are interconnected especially after the cold war, Friedman captured the role of the United States as the superpower that has remained. He however failed to provide a description of the post-cold war era especially the knowledge on how it affected the economic powers of the people and how it influenced growth. Summary In Friedman, the process through markets integrates and develops uniform transportation and communication systems for doing business across the world is globalization, a process that has never been seen in history. Through this process, corporations spread across the world have been enabled to move the products from one point to the other with haste, efficiency and precision than was witnessed before. Through this definition, the author has clearly captured the business systems that exist today especially capturing the post and pre-cold war eras that witnessed world integration and formation of economic powerhouses. Though looking simple, the definition has captured the fact that markets across the world have been interconnected and brought together through web connectivity, a process that can allow companies as separate and far apart as North America to do business with Asia (Friedman 474). Before the eyes of Friedman, globalization is a force multiplier that gives nations, global markets and individuals at different levels of incorporation are empowered to communicate and us the available resources. According to Friedman, globalization is tool that leads to the distribution of power to all participants equally irrespective of their geographical location. He thus states that globalization leaves no individual or nation in charge of the entire operation in the international arena (Friedman 474). Globalization is centered on three facets that revolve around power and how those who wield it to further their ideas and goals use it. This power is shared between countries, the countries and global market players and the country and individual global players. The author has uses the United States and its people as a perfect example of how this power is distributed by a country and its people. The system currently in place in the United States inherited the system that was developed during the cold war that created the soviet and the capitalist’s fronts in globalization. However, the Soviet Union collapsed and this resulted into the shift of power to the United States, an event that gave the United States the power to be able to sink a nation. To emphasize the strength of the United States in the global stage, Friedman states that the United States is capable of destroying a country by dropping a bomb or creating a supermarket that is capable to downgrade the bonds in the market (473). Despite having the potential to improve the economic status of a country, Friedman argues that its fragility makes it capable of bringing down a country. By presenting a one-side argument on to the United States readers, Friedman presents the balance of power between individuals and the nation-state. The remaining part of the article is used by the author to strengthen the power of the United States and although one sided; it stresses the writer’s view of the strength of the United States in the global sphere. Overall, Friedman has attempted to convince and dissuade the readers that globalization, as a concept is far much better as compared to the integration that was witnessed during the cold war as it increases the efficiency of nations (Friedman 473). Critique According to Friedman, all markets in the global world are intertwined in a web of connectivity that makes it possible for countries far apart to do business with ease. The author however fails to give a detailed level of interconnectivity, as it does not actually end with the interaction of countries in businesses. Globalization of markets in the world thus has the potential to help organizations across the world irrespective of their financial strength and place in global trade. Though it created room for the outsourcing of jobs, the entry of corporations into remote markets have assisted to in the creation of employment for the locals. It thus acts to offer a source of livelihood for the workers who would certainly be in no position to get engaged in gainful employment. The author also stated that the United States can use the supermarkets to destroy nations but failed to highlight the power of the same in giving growth impetus to the poor economies. The easy exchange of raw materials between countries also makes it almost impossible for a given country to completely lack raw materials. The development of global business has therefore made it possible for nations across the borders to conduct businesses and operate industries by using materials, which does not naturally exist within its borders. Most countries that do not therefore have natural resources in their countries rely on global trade and liberalization to ensure that their industries are operational. Smaller countries like Portugal and Sweden have developed through globalization that has enabled them to access resources from other countries and this is something that began long before the medieval ages. Globalization is therefore about the connection of different states and its citizens that allow for different level of economic and political interactions. Though well handled by Friedman in his passage, globalization does not end on political and social integration but the development of communication and business approaches that bring states together. It has created a greater cultural integration that does not actually require an individual to be somewhere in person but does actually gives an individual the power to feel a culture several miles away. Practices initially seen as too western or too African are currently seen in the African and the western countries thanks to the power of globalization. Different people that initially valued their culture and practices are currently losing the grip on them due to the sweeping impacts of globalization. Foods eaten across the globe have revolutionized and different faiths are today celebrating and observing the charismas holiday despite being non-Christians. Different venues and forum have been created through which the impacts of globalization can be spread across the globe. These include the use of social media sites, different blog sites that hold interactions for participants separated by large seas and even through YouTube. Conclusion Friedman used a clear argument to front the discussion on globalization and critically introduce pioneer readers into the discussion by fronting the different fronts of the argument. Through associating globalization, which is an international business concept, with historical events such as the cold war and the struggle between superpowers, the writer has made the passage quite interesting. This passage thus expanded my knowledge on globalization and how it has actually affected business growth and development in the world. The overall idea of globalization remains a great development in the world that has given different countries the power to advance despite being poor in natural resources. These countries can therefore increase their manufacturing activities by importing raw materials from other endowed countries like the United States and Russia. Work Cited Friedman, Thomas. Globalization: the super-story. McGraw Hill reader. 2013. Print. Read More