Contemporary Global

Politics
Intro:
• Global political issues today are caused by a multitude of aspects of
life, from religion to medicine to economics and beyond. Political issues
in the world affect all nations, and frequently require the actions of
groups of nations, such as the European Union or the United Nations.

• Political issues can be defined as the conflicts of various types that

occur between individuals, organizations, states, and other actors.
Usually, conflicts over political issues occur between two individuals
who propose different solutions to the problems. However, some
people argue that certain political issues do not exist in the first place.
• Solutions to contemporary world issues have been both helped and
hindered by the rise of globalization. This is the increasingly-accepted
ideology among world leaders and political scientists that nations
should work at developing relationships with each other. This is in
direct contrast to the policy and ideology of isolationism, which states
that a country should only be concerned with internal issues.
• Globalization has elevating effects on the influence and power of
certain nations at the expense of others. This is one of the major
causes of contention between countries of the Middle East and
countries in the West.
• For instance, international and global trade can introduce economic
reliance of smaller, weaker nations on countries that engage in trade
with them. Others state that international trade weakens nations with
stronger economies.
• Other impacts of globalization include political and social influence of
global powers on the communities and societies of other nations. An
example of this is the overreach of American culture in other
countries, a process known as ''Americanization.''
Types of actors in IR
• State actors
• Non-state actors
What is globalization?
• Globalization is the process by which ideas, knowledge, information,
goods and services spread around the world. In business, the term is
used in an economic context to describe integrated economies
marked by free trade, the free flow of capital among countries and
easy access to foreign resources, including labor markets, to maximize
returns and benefit for the common good.
• Globalization is driven by the convergence of cultural and economic
systems. The more countries and regions of the world become
intertwined politically, culturally and economically, the more
globalized the world becomes.
How globalization works?
• In a globalized economy, countries specialize in the products and
services they have a competitive advantage in. This generally means
what they can produce and provide most efficiently, with the least
amount of resources, at a lower cost than competing nations.
• Policies that promote free trade, open borders and international
cooperation drive economic globalization. They enable international
businesses to access lower priced raw materials and parts, take
advantage of lower cost labor markets, and access larger and growing
markets around the world in which to sell their goods and services.
• Among the recent technological changes that have played a role in
globalization are the following:
• Internet and internet communication.
• Communication technology.
• Transportation
Why is globalization important?
• Globalization changes the way nations, businesses and people
interact. Specifically, it changes the nature of international economic
activity, expanding trade, opening global supply chains and providing
access to natural resources and labor markets.
• Exchange of ideas
• Increased trade promotes international competition.
History of globalization
• The Roman Empire. Going back to 600 B.C., the Roman Empire spread
its economic and governing systems through significant portions of
the ancient world for centuries.
• Silk Road trade. These trade routes, which date from 130 B.C. to 1453
A.D., represented another wave of globalization. They brought
merchants, goods and travelers from China, through Central Asia and
the Middle East, to Europe.
• Pre-World War I. European countries made significant investments
overseas in the decades before World War I. The period from 1870 to
1914 is called the golden age of globalization.
• Post-World War II. The United States led the effort to create a global
economic system with a set of broadly accepted international rules.
Multinational institutions were established such as the United
Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade
Organization to promote international cooperation and free trade.
• The term globalization as it's used today came to prominence in the
1980s, with the evolution of internet
• Globalization has ebbed and flowed throughout history, with periods
of expansion and retrenchment. The 21st century has witnessed both.
• Nationalist political movements have slowed immigration, closed
borders and increased trade protectionism. The pandemic had similar
effects on borders and immigration
Types of globalization
• Economic globalization.
• This type of globalization focuses on the integration of international
financial markets and the coordination of financial exchange. Free
trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement
and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, are examples of economic
globalization.
• Multinational corporations, which operate in two or more countries,
play a large role in economic globalization.
• Political globalization.
• This type covers the national policies that bring countries together
politically, economically and culturally. International organizations
such as NATO and the United Nations are part of the political
globalization effort.
• Cultural globalization.
• This aspect of globalization focuses in large part on the technological
and societal factors that are causing cultures to converge. These
include increased ease of communication, the pervasiveness of social
media and access to faster and better transportation.
Effects of globalization
• Individuals. A variety of international influences affect ordinary
people. Globalization can make it easier for people to access raw
materials, products and services. It can also lower the prices they pay
and their ability to travel to other countries.
• Communities. Globalization also changes how local and regional
organizations, businesses and economies function and interact. It
affects who lives in communities, where they work, who they work
for, their ability to move out of their community and into one in
another area, etc. Globalization also changes the way local cultures
develop within communities.
• Institutions. Multinational corporations, national governments and
other organizations such as colleges and universities are all affected
by their country's approach to and acceptance of globalization.
Globalization affects the ability of a company to grow and expand, a
university's ability to diversify and grow its student body and a
government's ability to pursue specific economic policies.
Pros:
• Solving economic problems
• Promoting free trade.
• Spurring economic development
• Encouraging positive trends in human rights and the environment.
• Promoting shared cultural understanding.
Cons:
• Destabilizes markets.
• Damages the environment
• Lowers living standards.
• Facilitates global recessions.
• Damages cultural identities.
• Increases the likelihood of pandemics.
Examples of deglobalization
• Globalization critics promote deglobalization, where nations are
skeptical of global integration. Independence, particularly economic
independence, is viewed as more beneficial than interdependence on
other nations.

• For example, the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on global supply chains

caused bottlenecks and shortages of many goods, straining various
nations' economies. To proponents of deglobalization, a shift toward
locally sourced raw materials and products made sense.
• However, it's not just countries that are becoming deglobalized.
Companies are disengaging from certain countries, as well. Many
companies closed their offices in Russia and suspended service in light
of the Russia-Ukraine war. Others have partially ceased operations
there, as Sketchers did in suspending shipments to Russia but not online
sales.

• In recent decades, companies in certain sectors -- particularly

manufacturing -- have outsourced operations to other countries to take
advantage of lower labor costs. More recently, there have been
targeted efforts to reduce reliance on countries like China
Future of globalization
• Technological advances, particularly in blockchain, mobile
communication and banking, are fueling economic globalization.
• Nonetheless, rising levels of protectionism and anti-globalization
sentiment could slow or even reverse the rapid pace of globalization.
Nationalism and increasing trends toward conservative economic
policies are driving these anti-globalization efforts.
• Global trade is also made more difficult by rising threats from other
factors, such as the following:
• Climate change.
• Decaying infrastructure.
• Cyber attacks.
• Human rights abuses.
Do political relations affect international
trade?
• China’s growing influence on the world has generated profound
effects on the political and economic decisions of her partner nations.
Recent conflict escalation between China and western countries gives
rise to widespread concern over the possibility of delinking China
from global trade and supply chain.
• Political relationship is a key determinant of collective emotions of
consumers and trading companies and consequently the interactions
between importers and exporters.
• The warmer relations lead to larger increases (or smaller decreases) in
trade while cooler relations have the opposite effect.