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World as a global village: Learning to live together


Outline:

1)      Introduction
i)                    Definition of Globalization and the global village.
ii)                   What is an ideal global village?

2)      Main Body
i)                    Idealistic Global village vs. Realistic Global village
ii)                   Major recent precedents of globalization
iii)                 Some recent examples of anti-globalized moves by countries or groups
iv)                 Hurdles in globalization
v)                  How to bring about globalization?

3)      Conclusion

Globalization is the shrinking of the world community into one mutual benefited group. Globalization can be viewed from different aspects such as culture, economy, politics, and technology etc. All of these are the building blocks for bringing the world together into one coherent community. The global village is the community or village formed as a result of the process of globalization. This village incorporates people from all nationalities, races, cultures, and religions irrespective of their backgrounds. An ideal global village is a theoretical concept that will bring all the communities of the world into a single uniformed entity on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

Racism is no solution


An ideal village as we already discussed will be free from any prejudices but that is almost impossible to achieve. When humans are brought together; they try to retain their national, regional, cultural, and religious identities and even they try to impose their own ideas on other people. This presents a picture that is not suitable for a single entity on the world level. However, the world can be seen to be coming together irrespective of the clash that is going on, maybe not as a single nation but definitely as a coherent international community. This is evident from the Chinese integration into the world economy. After the communist revolution, China was skeptical of the big powers but as time went on Chinese learned that it is not possible to live in the world without being a part of the global community. Their introduction of a free-trade economy produced wonders for them, which is an example of positive results of globalization.

Another example is that of Iran. Iran after the launch of the nuclear weapons program was being sidelined by the big powers from the world community but it did not last long and now Iran is now an important part of global politics. The JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) agreement between Iran and global players is another testament to this fact. The normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States of America is another example of globalization. Cuba, a communist state, started a new era of close partnership with America, the leader of capitalism. This is how globalization affects world politics.

These positive developments can be called the major signs of the formation of a single global entity but there is another side to the story as well which cannot be ignored. The relationship of North Korea with world powers and especially with America is one such glaring example. North Korea is trying to keep West at bay from spreading their influence. Similarly, the war against terror on the world level is termed as a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West.  According to many analysts, West in the guise of a war on terror is targeting Islam on the whole, which the west denies. In reciprocation, the terrorist attacks in Europe are being blamed on the people who are trying to overcome the western influence. This war of hegemony has caused havoc across the world and is extremely dangerous for harmony among the world community.

The Globalization phenomenon is indeed spreading its tentacles across the world but still, there are some major hurdles. The clash of civilization is one of the major hurdles that we face in our journey towards globalization. Western hegemonic designs and their recent bids to overthrow governments inside Muslim countries created a huge mistrust among common Muslims. This sowed the seeds of hatred among the world community instead of bringing it closer towards the formation of a global village. Another manifestation of this was the printing of blasphemous cartoons in the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Magazine, which enraged tensions across the Muslim community. Similarly, the recent burning of the Holy Quran in the Norwegian City also proved to be a major setback for the proponents of globalization.

Another major reason is the clash of interests of different countries and communities. Each country tries to pursue its own interests without taking care of the reservations of others. This has caused huge resentment among the poor nations against the rich. The American invasion in Afghanistan and in Iraq and the efforts to overthrow governments in Libya and Egypt further fuelled the tensions in the minds of the people. They view the west as a hegemonic power that wants to rule the world and to extract world resources for their own use. United Nations Organisations and IMF are considered to be the pawns of the west to loot poor nations.

The role of an international organization such as the United Nations Organization and International Monetary Fund has further strengthened the concept that World powers do not care for any rules and regulations. United Nations had no role to play when America attacked Iraq and Afghanistan. The same is the case with Syria, Libya, and Yemen etc. IMF and other financial institutions are also considered part of the same tally. IMF gives loans to poor countries on very strict terms and conditions, which make the life of poor people miserable. This draws criticism from third world countries. The recent rise in inflation in Pakistan is considered the ill effect of IMF loans.

WTO is considered to be a major pro-globalization organization but its policies have serious repercussions for the poor nations. This organization campaigns for barrier-free trade among nations to boost up economic integration but is not taking care of the implications it would have for underdeveloped regions of the world. When high-quality products of the developed countries reach the countries of these underdeveloped then none cares for the low-quality indigenous products. This is can be termed as an economic invasion. Even the President of the United States of America criticized the role of WTO.

Religious and cultural dogmas on the part of the public are also playing the role of a hurdle. Religious clergy for their own purpose and vested interests keeps the followers blind on many matters. They don’t allow common people to have the knowledge which can challenge their old ideas and thoughts. On the contrary, they breed hatred and contempt in people’s minds to fulfill their own vested interests. The same is the situation of cultural elites, who play with the sentiments of the people for their own purpose and interests.

The technology barrier is also of major importance. The lack of internet facility and mass media channels is also making it difficult to bring the world on a single platform. However, this is a fact that communication channels and especially social media are playing a huge role in the closeness of the world community as a whole but its proper use is necessary.

Social Media is a platform for globalization
Social Media: a platform  for globalization



Globalization can be very fruitful for mankind if these ambiguities and confusions are removed. The first thing that is of primary importance is to incorporate in the minds of people that globalization is mutually beneficial for them. This will increase the sense of importance in the mind of an individual in a globalized community.  This sense can only be originated if they were given full opportunity to utilize their resources for their use instead of colonizing them. The effect of the mass colonization of British imperialism is still damaging the world as a whole. Now it’s time to give locals the sense of responsibility that they are the masters of their own fate.

Another major step will be to bring people belonging to different religions on a single platform. This does not mean that we assimilate the diverging views; in fact, we have to provide them a platform to understand each other’s views. Inter-faith dialogue with high media coverage can be really helpful in this regard. This will provide the public with an opportunity to listen to a wide range of diverging religious views and to understand each other’s differences and commonalities. Apart from the religion, diverse cultural and ethnic views would need to be accommodated in order to further increase the sense of one global community.

Another aspect of this is to increase the use of communication tools across the globe. Communication Channels such as Electronic Television corporations and social media is of huge importance. These can significantly reduce the communication gap between people through the propagation and prevalence of differing views and thoughts. The closeness of people of different religions and nationalities on social media has provided us with major opportunities to enhance our understanding of different cultures. The mainstream electronic media channels such as BBC and CNN are also of huge importance in this regard.

Free but a fair economic system should be introduced on the world level, in which industries and multinational corporations could not pursue their interest-driven agenda and could not destroy the indigenous industries in the poor countries.  This will be possible only through financial aid from major financial institutions such as IMF, World Bank, and the developed world.

Lastly, people to people contact should be encouraged. This will help people understand each other and to think out of their shell of ultra-nationalism. This person to people contact can be in the form of cultural exchange programs, liberalized mechanisms for visas, cultural attaches, educational scholarships for the students, and many other such initiatives.

The fear of globalization has caused some anxieties across the world and especially across the poor lot but it is can prove to be phenomenal towards economic personality and universal brotherhood if taken seriously but it needs a process of evolution in which people understand each other’s point of views by coming together. This globalization should not be at the cost of assimilation of a culture, civilization, or religion instead it should be based on the harmony of all these important entities of the future globalized world.




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