The Extreme Future by James Canton

Author:James Canton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2006-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

The Many Faces of Globalization

INDIA BRACES FOR ETHNIC CLASHES AFTER ATTACK ON RELIGIOUS SITE CHINA TELLS U.S. CONGRESS NOT TO INTERFERE

OIL APPROACHES $61 A BARREL AS TROPICAL STORMS THREATEN U.S. SUPPLY

NEW RESEARCH SHOWS MIDDLE EAST AHEAD ON GLOBAL TECH TRENDS

Each of these headlines, taken from one day of searching Google-News for items about globalization, demonstrates the complexity and diversity of this issue. Globalization may well be the greatest challenge our modern civilization has ever faced. Not because the task is so new; there have been many efforts in the past to increase global trade among nations. The difference is that today, the complexity of factors that change in real time—from energy to climate, technology to commerce, security to economics—will become part of the globalization agenda in the future.

Globalization is the transformation of economics, culture, innovation, and trade into a new global synthesis—a new conversation about how our civilization might evolve for the better. Globalization is about the deep collaboration of nations in the world aligning around free trade and shared global concerns such as climate, energy, economics, technology, security, and democracy. As we remove trade barriers, invest in technology, and increase communication, the idea is that we will drastically reduce friction between nations, thus increasing peace and prosperity for all. This is the promise of globalization. The globalization of knowledge, of ideas that create value, may be the true legacy here.

The key challenge is to create a new type of what I call Sustainable Globalization that is good for business, good for individuals, good for free markets, and productive for both the developing and developed nations of the world. Sustainable Globalization emphasizes the social context; free societies can support fast and efficient increases in human standards of living, economies, and free choice for individuals: free minds, free markets, and free enterprise. Without attention to this social context, globalization will not develop the full potential, which is its design. Democracy can enable globalization by empowering freedom in society and in the individual.

The danger is that if globalization evolves or is perceived as an elitist Western creation, designed solely to give huge corporations access to local markets while frustrating poverty reduction and cultural understanding, the true promise of a global economic network will be doomed. We do not need more misunderstandings between cultures. We do not need globalization to be monopolized by forces of self-interest that would dominate its future. Corporations have a historic leadership role to play in helping to shape the future of globalization. This is a vital contract that will determine the success or failure of globalization’s future.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.