Globalization and (Dis)order

So far we've covered:

corportions

pollution

goods and transportation

nation-state sovereignty and neoliberalism

Culture

Migration

 

 

Negative globalization: Processes of globalization leads to the breakdown of once 'solid' institutions and practices. This breakdown makes it difficult to halt, control or plan for events that exceed the boundaries of communities. 

Today we find ourselves at a crossroads—the future is upon us, and we will never return to a pre-globalization economy. As Germans and Americans we must seize the opportunity to shape globalization based on our values and our ideas.

President Barack Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel

November 17, 2016

Positives of Globalization

  • New ideas and practices leading to innovation in business, technology and learning and an increased quality of life.

 

  • access to experiences beyond one's place of origin. This applies to travel, popular culture and work.

 

  • increased opportunities for cooperation amongst nation states about global problems and political peace.

"The collapse of long-term thinking, planning and acting, and the disappearance or weakening of social structures in which thinking, planning and acting could be inscribed for a long time to come, leads to a slicing of both political history and individual lives into a series of short term projects and episodes which are in principle infinite, and do not combine into the kinds of sequences to which concepts like 'development', 'maturation', 'career' or 'progress' could be meaningfully applied...Past successes do not necessarily increase the probability of future victories, let alone guarantee them...A swift and thorough forgetting of outdated information and fast aging habits can be more important for the next success than the memorization of past moves and the building of strategies on a foundation laid by previous learning."

 

-- Bauman, Z. 2007. Liquid Times: Living in an Age of Uncertainty. Cambridge: Polity

Rampant Consumerism and disposability

The disappearance'Careers'

Increased Mobility

Constant work and 'self improvement'

Devaluing accumulated and older forms of knowledge

A never ending search for 'what's new'

How

our lives are changing

Global Problems

We were never as insulated and separated from each other as Huntington would suggest.

 

However, the difference between now and the past is the speed and scale at which we face new  problems.

Burmese Python in the Florida Everglades

Sex Trafficking is usually managed by organized crime units who also specialize in drugs.

" "[Now] well over 95% of the drugs are moving on the water via container ships, non-commercial vessels, pleasure boats, sail boats, fishing boats. They also have fast boats which try to outrun our law enforcement assets."

--Admiral Christopher Toomey, speaking to the BBC (12/3/2015)

The Syrian Civil War: Today

  • Syrian Center for Policy research (2/16): 11.5% of the pre-war population of Syria has been killed.
  • 1.88 million injured
  • 11 million displaces

 

What is causing the death?

  • Direct violence
  • Disease
  • malnutrition
  • the targeting of medical facilities

Political violence amongst states in not new, yet increasingly states are engaging in violent conflict with non-state actors.

Terrorism: "actions that cause deaths, serious bodily injuries and serious damage to public or private property, places, facilities, or other systems and are aimed at intimidating citizens, governments, or international organizations"

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria 

A transnational organization that wishes to erect an Islamic Caliphate.

  • A large number of foreign fighters
  • In control of areas in Syria, Iraq and North Africa.
  • Emerges out of American-led de-stabilization in Iraq and the Arab Spring.

September 11, 2001

  • Al Qaeda launched terrorist attacks on U.S.
    • NYC World Trade Center
    • The Pentagon
    • Passengers of UA flight 93
    • Highjackers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, and the UAE

Osama bin Laden

  • From Saudi Arabia
  • Family wealth in construction and oil
  • Fought against Soviet Union in Afghanistan
  • Against Saudi and U.S. government

2003 Invasion of Iraq

Operation Iraqi Freedom: a coalition of countries led by the United States instituted an air and ground invasion of Iraq to remove weapons of mass destruction and to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein.

 

Done without the approval of the United Nations and against the advice of Arab allies in the region.

No Weapons found

 

Estimated cost to the United States: $5 Trillion

IRAQ HAD NO TIES WITH AL-QAEDA

 

The Arab Spring

A reaction against authoritarianism, gross inequality and disappearing opportunity

Globalization and New Media

The current media landscape was made possible by technology, the spread of ideas, and international sources of funding

  • 1990s-2000s civil society organizations active in laying political groundwork
    • Civil Society: Research Institutes, political organizations, NGOs.
  • Islamic revival encouraged a culture of debate around a shared frame of reference and a questioning of the justness of society.
  • Access to satellite TV
  • Access to social media

The Period before the Arab Spring

BUT!

 

  • Not everyone has access to social media technology
  • while many protesters and political organizations wanted to move toward implementing democracy, there was no consensus on what that would look like.
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