USA / world - Society
by Andrew
Rossiter
Words/phrases
in red
are explained in the general word guide
below: words
in blue are explained in
the specific
economic word guide.
Donald Trump is determined to Make
America Great Again, and
part of his plan is to reduce the USA's dependence on imports. But as
his introduction of tarifs on imports from many other countries, and
particularly from China, has shown, import tarifs are driving up
American consumer prices, making many essential products more
expensive
for ordinary Americans. Globalization has hugely benefited people in
developed countries, and other countries too, by keeping down the cost
of living. And whatever Donald Trump may want to do, it's here to stay,
in one form or another.
Mention
the word "globalization", and you
are
likely to get a reaction.
Globalization,
the creation of a new world economic system dominated by huge
corporations
and the "
G7"
nations, is an idea that
has its
fervent supporters and its
bitter
opponents.
For its
opponents,
globalization is seen as a
system designed to
impose
the American
economic model on
the
whole world, for the
sole
benefit
of the USA and a few other rich countries. For its supporters,
globalization
is the way forward to a better world, where everyone will
ultimately
be
better
off than they are today.
Globalization
is a
process
about which both supporters
and opponents can justify some of their arguments. Yet in spite of the
hopes of many of its critics, there is one thing about which there
can
no longer be any doubt. "Globalization" is not a future development
that
we can accept or reject; it is a process that has already largely taken
place; and it is one from which - in
all
but
the most catastrophic future scenarios -
there can
be no going back
A few years ago in Paris, I attended an
international
symposium
on globalization that brought together politicians and economists,
diplomats,
academics,
trade unionists and
representatives
of humanitarian agencies; there were speakers from Africa, Asia, Europe
and the Americas, including Umberto Eco, former French foreign minister
Bernard
Kouchner, and Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs. Each had his or her own
specific views, but there was one thing on which every speaker
agreed;
the fact that globalization is here to stay.
As French trade
union leader Nicole Notat put it, "The
market
economy is certainly the best system that
exists."
Historic roots
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In many ways, there is nothing
new about globalization; it is a process that began to spread some
three
hundred years ago, when European nations, and Britain in particular,
developed
an economic system that depended on international trade.
Spices,
sugar, tea and coffee were among
the first commodities that
were traded
globally. By 1850, Britain - the most developed nation at the time -
had
an economy that was dependent for its survival on global trade. Unable
to feed
its growing population, the country
was importing 25% of its basic food, most of it from America and the
British
empire; and even if Britain was at the time far ahead of other nations
in the "globalization" of its economy, other countries such as France
and
the United States were already moving strongly in the same direction.
Without the
globalization of trade, no nation would have been able to achieve
its current state of development; for no nation in the world, not even
the USA, can supply all
its own needs in raw
materials, products,
or services.
Over the last
two centuries, thanks to this process, living standards have increased
dramatically in most parts of the world. Yet this huge improvement has
not benefited every nation equally, and there are indeed some parts of
the world where living standards have actually
declined. In 1820, the difference in wealth
between the people in the world's poorest nations and those in the
world's
richest nations was about 3 to 1. Today it is about 30:1.
It is this flagrant
inequality resulting from globalization, that is unacceptable to so
many
people.
Nonetheless,
it would be quite wrong to suggest that globalization only benefits the
nations of the world that are already rich. In the last fifty
years, a
whole group of nations, including China and India, the world's two most
populated states, have benefited massively from the advantages of
globalization. Not to mention oil-rich states like the Emirates or
Dubai. In the 1990's, eighteen out of twenty of the fastest
growing economies in the world were in the developing world; only two
were "western" countries. In the 1990s the Chinese economy, thanks to a
huge development
of international trade, grew by a massive average of 10.7% per year,
bringing
jobs and a sharp rise in living standards
to millions of people. Without globalization, where would they be?
By contrast,
over the same period the economy of Switzerland, one of the world's
richest
nations, grew by just 0.6% per year.
The way forward
In the end therefore, the question
is not "To globalize or not to globalize?" It is a matter of finding
ways
to make sure that the riches of tomorrow's global economy are spread
more
equitably
across the world.
It is not going
to be easy. For instance there is a large degree of popular consensus
in developed countries that the "Third World Debt", the vicious
circle of poverty that condemns some of the world's poorest countries
to
remain poor, is an injustice that must be set
right;
yet even though the first steps in this direction have already been
taken,
there is still a lot more to be done.
Today, about
25% of the world's population live in countries that are benefiting
very little, or not at all,
from the effects of globalization - countries like Chad or Myanmar,
countries that are often hard to reach and even harder to live in.
Until
recently, these countries were largely left
to their
own devices, left to sink
further
into poverty. One man who understood this well was Bin Laden, who
though
coming personally from a rich family that had benefited massively from
globalization, recruited his Taliban and Al Qaida fighters from the
ranks of those who had been
left
out;
Afghans, poor Pakistanis, Chechens, even Burmese.
Paradoxically
- both for himself and for the developed world - Bin Laden's terrorism reinforced
globalization rather than destroying it – notably because of the
dramatic way in which it has highlighted
the dangers of the growing gap
between
rich nations and poor ones. There is only one feasible
way of addressing this problem, and that is to involve
the world's poorer countries more closely in the
growing economy. It will have to happen, because the
consequences of
failure
in this matter will benefit no country.
Bin Laden wanted
to destroy America, and with it the global economy; yet were the global
economy to collapse, every nation in the world, including the USA,
would suffer, though the worst to suffer would be the world's poorer
and poorest nations. That is no
doubt
the most compelling
general argument
in favour of continuing globalization.
The most compelling
argument against globalization, in its current form, concerns the
nature
of the economic forces that are at work. Of the 100 largest players in
today's world economy, just 37 are nations, while 63 are multinational
corporations,
unelected bodies
whose interests can
sometimes be very different from those of the people of countries in
which
they operate.
(Freudenberg, 2015):
The task that
now faces world leaders is finding the best way to control future
developments,
for the greatest benefit of the greatest number of people; it is also -
perhaps more importantly - to do so in an environmentally
sustainable
way.
Tomorrow's world economy will be
continue to be global; but it must be green too . These two targets are
not incompatible with each other; quite the reverse, they are
intimately connected.
SPECIFIC
ECONOMIC VOCABULARY:
benefit: vb: take
advantage of; noun: advantage
-
commodities: raw
materials, the products of nature or agriculture
-
conference: congress,
meeting
-
corporation: company,
firm -
debt: owing money to
another person or to a creditor . Verb: to be
in debt.
economic model: economic
system -
globalization: establishing
an integrated worldwide economic system -
G7: The Group of Seven
most important nations in the world's economy.
market economy: an economic
system operating according to the natural forces of supply
and demand -
products: manufactured
goods -
raw materials: natural,
unadapted substances, ingredients.
services: transport,
communications, advice and financial services -
supply: vb: to
provide, to offer; noun: the provision of goods and/or services
(c.f
antonym:
demand)-
trade union: labor union,
organisation of workers
-
trade: commerce
-
wealth: richness, prosperity
-
World Trade Organisation:
The international body whose job is to establish rules for
international
trade, and ensure that nations and corporations respect them. Critics
complain
that the WTO is manipulated in the interests of the rich nations and
large
multinational corporations. The WTO has nothing to do with the World
Trade
Center, destroyed on September 11th 2001.
GENERAL WORD GUIDE:
academics: specialists
from universities -
achieve: reach, attain
-
actually:
in fact -
agree: have the same opinion
- all but:
all except -
are likely to: will probably -
attending:
taking part in
- better off: more
prosperous
- bitter:
hostile
- bodies: organisations
- compelling:
forceful, irresistible -
consensus: agreement,
accord -
environmentally
sustainable: green
- equitable:
fair, equal
- feasible: possible, realistic
- feed:
provide food for
- fervent: very keen
-
flagrant:
sharp, very visible
- gap: difference
-
highlighted:
underlined, shown
- impose: require,
force
- involve:
include -
leave out: exclude
- left to
their own devices:
forgotten, left without help
-
paradoxically:
in a manner that produces an effect contrary to the intended
result
-
potential:
possible
- process: procedure
-
prove to be:
in the end be
- set right: corrected
- sink:
fall
- sole: only, exclusive
-
spices: plants,
grains with very strong taste, such as pepper
- symposium:
conference
- the ranks of: among
-
there can be no
going back: it will be impossible to go back
-
trade:
commerce
- ultimately: in the
end
Printing: Optimized
for printing
Copyright © Linguapress renewed 2025. Updated
2025 from an article originally published in 2001.
Copying permitted for personal study, or by teachers for use with their
students
LINGUAPRESS
ADVANCED ENGLISH - STUDENT
WORKSHEET
Globalization:
Note:
spelling: Globalization
or
globalisation?
The choice of "z" or "s" in words
ending
ize/ise and their
derivatives generally depends on
whether the writer is using American English or British English. The
"z"
tends to be used in US English, the "s" in British English. However,
there
are some words such as globalization for which - due to predominantly
international usage - the "z" spelling is generally used.
A. Grammar exercise: Conditionals:
In this
article, there are four examples of conditional structures in which the
word "if" is not
used.
1. Mention the word
"globalization",
and you are likely to get a reaction.
2. Without the globalization of
trade, no nation would have been able to achieve its current
state of development.
3.. Without globalization, where
would they be?
4. Yet were the global economy
to collapse, it would not be the world's richest nations that suffer
most.
Rewrite each
of these sentences following the prompts given, and including the word
"if" in your
answer:
1.
2.
3.
4.
B: QUESTION
FORMING: Interactive - can be
completed on your computer
Here are
the answers to some questions, based on information in the article.
Imagine
appropriate questions for each answer.
1. Because they believe that it
is the only way to ensure a more prosperous future for most of the
people
in the world.
2. About three hundred years ago.
3.. Britain.
4. China.
5. It grew on average 0.6% per year.
6. Because their economies did not
benefit from globalization.
7. The world's poorest nations would
suffer most.
C SYNOPSIS
WRITING:
Reduce this
1200 word article to about a third of its original length.
D READING
FOR INFORMATION:
Read the
article and pick out:
- a) The arguments that some people
make against the process of globalization.
- b) The main arguments in favour
of the continuing process of globalization.
- c) The aspects of globalization
that need to be improved in the years to come.
E CREATIVE
WRITING:
a) Pair work: Working in
pairs, students should script a discussion between a representative of
the World Trade Organisation, and a representative of a charity working
to help poor people in the Third World.
b) Using information from this
article, write an (imaginary) letter to the President of the WTO,
expressing
your views on the future of globalization.
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