Living Life

The centuries-long process of globalization and carefully constructed trade strategy has helped some of the current superpowers establish their sphere of influence in the world. One can observe some of the historical impact of financial globalization on developing nations. For instance, without cotton exports to the Northern US and Britain during the Civil War period, the opulent palaces in Egypt, Jaffa, Palestine and other outposts of the Ottoman Empire would have never existed. Similarly, China has emerged as a super power as a result of textile and technological exports. Yet global issues have arisen because certain countries have gone to great lengths to protect their investments.

The last twenty years have shown a large increase in globalization trade, which was expedited by the decline of communism and closed door trade strategy. Countries like China and Russia have welcomed foreign developers in an effort to bolster and rebuild their nations. The Soviet Union was in a state of disrepair at one time and China was overwhelmed with poverty, but thanks to financial globalization, their countries are now valuable players in the world market.

Today global issues have emerged as resources become limited and Americans find themselves in a potentially compromising position. Traditionally, the US, Germany and Britain have long maintained the top slots in productivity and exportation. Although one could argue that they also have some of the highest importation rates as well. In recent years, with the technological boom, China has emerged as an extremely powerful force — becoming the world’s largest exporter of communications-technology, in addition to exporting massive quantities of cheaply-produced garments and toys, as well as automobiles. There is much domestic banter in the United States about trade globalization and the importance of self-sufficiency, which has become one of the predominant global issues with regards to our sustainability over the long-term. Cases of Chinese toys contaminated with lead or GHB-like chemicals, and Canadian beef contaminated with Mad Cow Disease has alerted Americans to the dangers of an increasingly reliant economy.

While there are abuses of globalization, resulting in global issues, there are some benefits of globalization as well. For example, World Bank points out that world poverty rates are diminishing, feminism and literacy rates are improving, life expectancy has increased and more countries are holding elections than ever before. It appears that commodities aren’t the only thing spreading across the borders, but ideas of elected officials, entrepreneurial advantage and freedom are too.

One thing is certain though, globalization has brought countries closer together which means facing up to other global issues such as global warming causes is now possible.