CURRENT AFFAIRS BY SIR UMAIR HASSAN

What is globalization?

Globalisation means an increase in cross-border interactions that lead to high

similarity globally in different life spheres.

Cross-border interactions include the flow of goods, services, finances, people,

nature, laws and ideas.

Thus, though people generally mainly focus on economic globalisation, one can also
speak of globalisation in other life spheres, e.g. political, cultural, psychological and
ecological globalisation.

Views of Neoliberals

Neoliberal groups favour greater flow of capital and trade globally which benefits
them. However, they oppose the greater flow of people (immigration) into developed
countries and technology and aid to developing countries.

instead of one monolithic globalisation template seeking to enhance all global flows,
there exist several globalisation projects, each run by competing interest groups and
seeking to increase certain transnational flows and reduce others in line with their
interests.

The most well-known right-wing project is neoliberal globalisation, which emerged

around 1980 in Europe and the US in reaction to the increasing powers of
governments and unions and shrinking corporate profits. The coalition for this
project includes conservative politicians, large-scale business interests, neoclassical
economists and multilateral economic institutions. Although neoliberal globalisation
benefits the rich, it actually harms developing countries.

Globalization and Terrorism

The other two right-wing projects transgress the realms of legality. The first—
underground globalisation — is run by criminal cartels involved in the illegal flows of
goods, services, people, finances and nature globally. Its rise has ironically been
facilitated by neo- liberalism as governmental capacities to control cross-border
flows have shrunk under the influence of neoliberal ideology

In contrast, the Al Qaeda-led jihadist globalisation project has emerged in opposition

to neoliberal globalisation. Unlike neoliberal and underground globalisation, it
focuses on political and cultural, rather than economic, globalisation and dreams of
establishing a global fundamentalist caliphate

Keynesian globalisation

In practice, Keynesian globalisation policies have underpinned the success of several

Asian countries, including Japan, the Asian tigers and, more recently, China and
India. Despite its success, Keynesian globalisation carries limited replication
potential for developing countries due to several reasons. Firstly, negatively affected
by the success of these Asian countries, developed countries now actively seek to
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block such policies through bilateral and multilateral treaties with developing
countries.

Secondly, such policies require strong governance which most developing countries
lack.

Thirdly, the success of these Asian countries has arrested the industrialisation of
other developing countries since aggregate global demand can support a limited
number of cheap manufacturing countries. Finally, such policies have accelerated
ecological globalisation (global warming) as these Asian countries have become large
polluters.

the second left-wing globalisation project emerged out of environmental concerns

and can be termed as the green globalisation project. it supports greater global
regulation (political globalisation), and flow of aid and technology to poor countries
and of migrants to rich countries.

The project opposes Western cultural hegemony but supports cultural globalisation
based on mutual respect and learning. Greens point to the large literature that shows
that wealth does not increase life satisfaction beyond a certain level but precipitates
global warming and increasing inequality. Thus, Greens favour steady-state, low-
growth economies where countries live within the world’s ecological limits. Greens
argue that this goal should be pursued immediately by rich countries

Thus, all projects support some form of globalisation. The closest exponent of
complete de- globalisation is North Korea, whose abysmal record should deter others
from following this path. That said, the green globalisation which will most benefit
developing countries and actually all humankind is very different from the neoliberal
globalisation template which today is globalisation’s most actively marketed brand.

GLOBALIZATION AND DEGLOBALIZATION

Globalised world would benefit rich and poor nations alike because of
interdependence. Thomas Friedman, in his 2005 book The World is Flat, noted that
in the globalised world, historical and geographical divisions would gradually
become irrelevant, and with a level playing field, traders would compete in a global
market.

The UN started holding mega conferences to stitch together a new common

normative framework for the entire world. In 1990, it organised a world conference
on child welfare, in 1992 on the environment, in 1993 human rights, in 1994
population, in 1995 women and in 1996 on habitat.

With the dawn of the new century, five-yearly and 10-yearly reviews of the ambitious
outcomes of these conferences started shaping a new, global sociocultural paradigm,
essentially derived from Western thought and values. The dominant view was that
the world had become truly globalised.
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The first reality check came with the events of 9/11. The world discovered that the
interconnectedness could also be misused by non-state actors who did not share the
philosophy of the US-led liberal democratic and economic order.

The 2011 Arab Spring, which soon turned into an ‘Arab Autumn’, was another failed
attempt to establish the superiority of liberal democracy as a panacea for all societies.

Kishore Mahboobani, in his 2008 book The New Asian Hemisphere: The irresistible
shift of global power to the East, argued that the 21st century would witness a serious
challenge to Western commerce, thought and power.

The first two decades of this century have shown that Western liberal democracy is
not the only successful form of political system and that there are alternative,
perhaps more efficacious, roads to human development. The spectacular rise of
China is a case in point.

Nevertheless, it has not only worked well to deliver continuously high rates of
economic growth but has also helped lift nearly 800 million people out of poverty.

The most recent challenge to globalisation has emerged from the ongoing power
competition, particularly between the US and China, raising fears that the world is on
the cusp of another Cold War, leading to camp politics. The US has embarked on an
elaborate Indo-Pacific strategy to contain China’s rise. It has even initiated steps to
decouple its economy and that of Europe from China’s.

EMERGENCE OF DEGLOBALIZATION

Free international trade is giving way to trade protectionism. Migrants, once deemed
vital for society, are being viewed as economic or cultural threats. Xenophobia,
Islamophobia and the rise of far-right groups are causing societal disorders. Narrow
nationalism is also on the rise, which populist leaders are exploiting to challenge the
notions of interdependence.

So the world, it appears, is now headed towards de-globalisation. However, that is

not the future it should aspire to. International cooperation is imperative for global
prosperity.

Common and existential challenges such as climate change can never be tackled by
countries on their own. Ironically, it is China, and not the West, which is emerging as
the champion of globalisation, through its mega Belt and Road Initiative.

In these turbulent times, the best option for developing countries, including
Pakistan, is to pursue self-help strategies for greater self-reliance while benefiting
from our economic geography.

Our focus should remain on emphasising the importance of connectivity and trade
within our region for a more prosperous South Asia and on bolstering our economic
ties beyond the region as much as possible.
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