Globalization As a Source and an Antidote for Conflict Research Paper

Globalization As a Source and an Antidote for Conflict - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that no other phenomenon in the contemporary world has influenced the life of modern man as comprehensively as globalization, which has already left its imprint on the economic, cultural, and political spheres of human life. Significantly, the most distinguishing feature of globalization has been that it helped integrate the regional economies, societies, and cultures of the world into a global network of political ideas. In order to comprehend the real meaning of globalization, it is fundamental to realize the intricacies of international trade relations, economic institutions, the socio-cultural realms of international relations, the political ideologies and strategies affecting the economic relationship between the different nations, etc. The political activists and scholars dealing with the term ‘globalization’ explain it as an amalgam of the economic, political, cultural, ideological, and environmental practices in the dif ferent parts of the world. Manfred Steger describes globalization as a multifaceted system encompassing global, regional, and local aspects of social life. â€Å"The term globalization applies to a set of social processes that appear to transform our present social condition of weakening nationality into one of globality. At its core, then, globalization is about shifting forms of human contact†¦ Indeed †¦ the term globalization suggests a sort of dynamism bet captured by the notion of ‘development’†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . ...In other words, globalization is one of the most contested topics in the current social sciences, and there have been different types of theories of globalization, explaining the outcomes and advantages of this global phenomenon differently. In one of the noteworthy articles related to the topic, Mauro F Guillen examines the five key debates concerning globalization. According to him, â€Å"Observers and theorists of globalization have variously argued that the rapid increase in cross-border economic, social, technological and cultural exchange is civilizing, destructive, and feeble†¦ As in the civilizing view, the destructive interpretation regards globalization as leading to convergence, albeit predicting harmful rather than beneficial consequences.† (Guillen, 2010, p. 4). Therefore, it becomes obvious that the basic debate concerning globalization is whether it is civilizing, destructive, or feeble. There are also disagreements over the definition of globalization, when and where it started, etc. However, the key five debates concerning globalization, as Guillen points out, are whether: a) globalization is really happening, b) globalization produces convergence, c) globalization undermines the authority of the nation-state, d) globality is different from modernity, and e) global culture is in the making. (Guillen, 2010, p. 4). Whereas everyone agrees upon these types of debates happening across the globe on the topic of globalization, it should be remembered that these debates do not promise any easy answers to the heated topic. One of the most relevant studies on the debates concerning globalization has been the article â€Å"How to Judge Globalism† by Nobel prize-winner Amartya Sen, in which he argues that viewing