Globalization is a force in the world that's been around since 1492, ever since Christopher Columbus happened upon the Americas and opened up the brave new world of colonization, exploitation, and long distance trade. Granted, globalization as we know it today didn't really get it's start until the 1990s, when the rise of the internet and the prevalence of telecommunications and the opening up of commercial air travel to the general public allowed the countries of the world to really start to become more interconnected - economically, socially, and culturally. The advance of globalization has only sped up in recent years with economies of global superpowers like the US, China, Russia, and the EU becoming more and more reliant on one another an, in turn, weaving the rest of the worlds nations into this new "global economy". This dense web of economic ties is at the core of globalization, and is what drives its other aspects.
Ever since it first started, and especially once it really took off in recent years, the debate has been raging between those in favor of globalization - aptly named globalists - and those against it, the populists. For years the populists have been on the losing side of the debate, watching as globalization soared rapidly with the worlds powers becoming more and more intertwined in almost every way. But now, the rise of more and more "global pandemics" in recent years have led to more and more people shifting to the side of populism, advocating for more national self-reliance in the form of stricter immigration control, bringing jobs back from overseers, and the like. With the worlds newest global pandemic, COVID-19, populist sentiment has soared, leading many to declare that the "death of globalism" is near. To look at why people are saying this, we first need to understand how globalism and pandemics are tied together. We already know that with the rise of globalism countries became more intertwined both socially, economically, and culturally - what this also means is that industries like tourism exploded in scope and scale as countries made it easier for foreigners to visit, work, or become citizens. This boom in tourism and the general number of people passing through both physical and political borders meant an increase in the economic prosperity of many countries - but it also massively increased the danger posed by diseases that once would have stayed locked in one area. Enter SARS, Swine flu, and COVID-19; scary diseases with high infection rates that allowed them to easily spread from person to person and, with the rise of globalization, country to country. COVID-19 especially has lead many to point to globalization as the reason the disease has ravaged the world the way it has. Without it, they say, COVID-19 would never have spread too far out of China, nor would it have had such a disastrous effect on the global economy.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-daily-vs-total-cases?time=2020-01-22..latest&country=~NZLWorse, the pandemic comes at a time of heightened political tension in the world. It has wreaked havoc on the United States and its presidential election, with president Donald Trump fanning the flames of populist sentiment by pushing for more closed borders and a crack down on immigration. This sentiment has been echoed in places like South America, where Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has parroted much of Trump's policy on the virus. Across the world this sudden pushback on globalization has lead to a rise in xenophobia and racism as people push back against the notion of an interconnected world out of fear.
However, while things may look bleak it is unlikely that globalization while suffer any serious setbacks. The worlds largest economies - the US, Russia, the EU, and China - all continue to increase their investments in foreign markets and the global economy. The world has profited from, and grown comfortable with, the effects of globalization - while the COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to rock the boat, all the signs suggest it's not going to sink any time soon.
https://time.com/5838751/globalization-coronavirus/
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/23/861577367/messaging-from-leaders-who-have-tamed-their-countrys-coronavirus-outbreaks
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1 comment:
This blog post was very interesting and brought up some intriguing points. It makes sense that globalism has increased since the rise of technology since it is now easier to communicate with foreign countries. However, while you said the pandemic defiantly had an effect on globalism you don't think it will change that much because the major powers can still thrive. While I agree with this point I think the pandemic will effect globalism with smaller countries that cannot thrive as much during this pandemic. I enjoyed reading your blog and thinking about the outcomes of globalism during the pandemic.
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