Interconnectedness thru globalization

After centuries of technological progress and advances in international cooperation, the world is
more connected than ever. Countries have built economic partnerships to facilitate these movements
over many centuries. Following centuries of European colonization and trade activity, that first “wave”
of globalization was propelled by steamships, railroads, the telegraph, and other breakthroughs, and
also by increasing economic cooperation among countries.

Modern communication has played a large role in globalization. Today, news and information
zips instantly around the world on the internet. People can read information about foreign countries as
easily as they read about their local news. Through globalization, people may become aware of incidents
very quickly. In seconds, people are able to respond to natural disasters that happen thousands of miles
away.

Increased international travel has also increased globalization. Each year, millions of people move from
one country to another in search of work. Migrant workers from the Philippines, for instance, may travel
to Europe, Australia, or North America to find better-paying jobs. People do not travel just for work, of
course. Millions of people take vacations to foreign countries. Most of these international tourists are
from developed countries. Travel and tourism have made people more familiar with other cultures.

Changes/Effects of globalization on political, economic and cultural aspects

Culture: Travel and tourism have made people more familiar with other cultures. Travelers are
exposed to new ideas about food, which may change what they buy at the store at home. They
are exposed to ideas about goods and services, which may increase demand for a specific
product that may not be available at home. They are exposed to new ideas, which may influence
how they vote. In this way, globalization influences trade, taste, and culture.

Popular culture has also become more globalized. People in the Philippines enjoy
listening to South Korean music and reading Japanese manga. India, for instance, has a thriving
film industry, nicknamed “Bollywood.” Clothing styles have also become more uniform as a
result of globalization. National and regional costumes have become rarer as globalization has
increased. In most parts of the world, professionals such as bankers wear suits, and jeans and T-
shirts are common for young people.

There has also been an increasing exchange of foods across the globe. The people in the
Philippines like trying food from other countries like Japanese sushi, Korean kimchi, or Brazilian
coffee. Meanwhile, American fast food chains have become common throughout the world.
McDonald's is an evident example. And people all across the world are eating more meat and
sugary foods, like those sold in fast food restaurants.
Economy: The international economy has also become more globalized in recent decades.
International trade is vital to the economies of most countries around the world. American
software companies, such as Microsoft, rely on international trade to make large profits. The
economy of the country of Saudi Arabia is almost entirely dependent on oil exports. To increase
trade, many countries have created free trade agreements with other countries. Under free
trade agreements, countries agree to remove trade barriers. For example, they may stop
charging tariffs, or taxes, on imports. This allowed globalization of goods and services, as well as
people and ideas, between the countries.

Most large corporations operate in many countries around the world. Take HSBC as an
example. Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation, the world’s largest bank, has offices in 88
different countries. Additionally, economic globalization has allowed many corporations based
in the developed countries to move factories and jobs to less economically developed countries,
a process called outsourcing. This however, produces some detrimental effects to the less
economically developed countries.

Politics: Cultural and economic globalization has caused countries to become more connected
politically. Countries frequently cooperate to enact trade agreements. They work together to
open their borders to allow the movement of money and people needed to keep economic
globalization working. Since people, money, and computerized information move so easily
around the globe, more countries are increasingly working together to fight crime. The idea of
maintaining international law has also grown. Many problems facing the world today cross
national borders, so countries must work together to solve them. Efforts to confront problems
such as global climate change must involve many different countries. Other international issues
include terrorism, drug trafficking, and immigration.

The process of globalization is very controversial. Many people say globalization will
help people communicate. Aid agencies can respond more quickly to a natural disaster.
Advanced medicines are more easily and widely available to people who may not have been
able to afford them. Jobs available through globalization have lifted many people out of poverty.
Globalization has increased the number of students studying abroad.

Invention, Innovations and new systems helped mitigate globalization

Technological developments are conceived as the main facilitator and driving force of most of the
globalization processes. Advances in technology are one of the fundamental reasons that globalization
has risen in the history.

One may argue that the commercial activities on the Mediterranean in the Ancient times were to be
labeled as globalization. The world of these ages, although smaller in size than that of today, had
witnessed a simpler form of globalization, after the technological developments on navigation and
transportation. The invention of the script can be considered as the first technology of communication
that contributed to globalization. With the script man could transmit and store information that could
speed up further technological developments. Transportation and communication around these ages
were in parallel to each other and there were couriers, people who specifically carried and delivered
mail and other written materials by running or riding horse. However this limited amount of information
transmitted, received and stored was not sufficient for a large-scale state. Later, due to further
developments in transportation and communication it was possible to control larger areas; and the
emergence of larger empires such as Byzantine Empire had provided greater globalizations. Invention of
the print machine with moving letters by Gutenberg was the most important revolutionary technological
development, which made possible even a larger global geography. The emergence of the newspapers
marked an important era of globalization when the news both commercial and political became an
indispensable element for the decision makers. Another milestone in the history of globalization is the
invention of telegraph by Samuel Morse. Telegraph made it possible to communicate with the places
where you don’t have to go and separated the practices of communication from those of transportation.
This aspect of telegraph soon drew the attention of military ranks and telegraph became both a civilian
and military communication technology. Because the poles and the copper wires needed for a telegraph
and telephone system, it was not possible to set up a properly functioning network in insecure and
instable geographies. Cyrus Field’s attempts to lay a transatlantic cable for telegraphy succeeded in 1858
and this marked the beginning of a global network. Telephone of Graham Bell in 1861 also contributed
to communication networks. Railways also networked to reach to larger distances. Invention of radio as
a wireless communication technology solved this problem and opened a new era of globalization. With
radio it became possible to communicate with places where you cannot go and even with places where
no one can travel. Hertz, Maxwell, Marconi, Tesla and several other people contributed to the invention
of radio, which soon became a military communication tool especially for the navy. Radio of 1920’s
however, turned to be a commercial communication technology; and is used as a mass communication
technology. Transportation technologies also improved with the start of the 20th Century when
transatlantic ships became safer and faster and airplanes were produced. First propeller driven
passenger plane began service in 1919 between London and Paris. Jet plane and television of 1950’s
were also important steps toward greater globalizations. The first reliable transatlantic telephone cable
TAT-1 was laid in 1956. 1957 marked the most important step in the history of globalization when USSR
launched its Sputnik as the first man-made satellite. Satellites made it possible to build a fully reliable
global network, compensating the radio networks’ ionosphere fading problem. However global
networks still required stronger global networks with solid connections. The first transatlantic fiber cable
TAT-8 was laid in 1988 for faster and reliable networks.

References:

piie.com

The Global Network | National Geographic Society