Globalization Sceptics

Territory still matters … there is the continued relevance of conventional political units, operating either
in the form of modern nation-states or global cities.

Governments can still take measures to make their economies more or less attractive to global
investors. xxx, nation-states have retained control over education, infrastructure, and, most importantly,
population movements. xxx, immigration control, together with population registration and monitoring,
has often been cited as the most notable exception to the general trend towards global integration.

Although only 2% of the world's population live outside their country of origin, immigration control has
become a central issue in most advanced nations. Many governments seek to restrict population flows,
particularly those originating in the poor countries of the global South. Even in the United States, annual
inflows of about 600,000 immigrants during the 1990s reached only half the levels recorded during the
first two decades of the 20th century.

The series of drastic national security measures that were implemented worldwide as a response to the
terrorist attacks of 9/11 reflect political dynamics that run counter to the hyperglobalizers' predictions of
a borderless world. Some civil rights advocates even fear that the enormous resurgence of patriotism
around the world might enable states to re-impose restrictions on the freedom of movement and
assembly.

Harari (2018) adds that:

technology has changed everything by creating a set of global existential threats that no nation can solve
on its own. A common enemy is the best catalyst for forging a common identity and humankind now has
at least three such enemies – nuclear war, climate change, and technological disruption. If despite these
common threats humans choose to privilege their particular national loyalties above everything else, the
results may be far worse than in 1914 and 1939 ... The rest of the world can learn from the European
example – (while remaining proud of their own national identities and history, the people of Europe are
determined to transcend their former divisions and, united ever more closely, to forge a common
destiny … Yet if we want to survive and flourish, humankind has little choice but to complement such
local loyalties with substantial obligations toward a global community. A person can and should be loyal
simultaneously to her family, her neighborhood, her profession, and her nation … humankind and planet
Earth.” (pp. 124-125)