25/01/2021

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What is Globalization?
First usage of this concept in 1961, Websters
Dictionary: “The beginning of an explicit recognition
in the contemporary period of the growing
significance of world-wide connectedness of social
events and relationships.”
It can be defined as the “set of social consequences
which derive from the increasing rate and speed of
interactions of knowledge, people, goods, and capital
between states and societies.”

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Five aspects of Globalization
Social globalization: It is a process whereby the population of
the world is increasingly bonded into a single society.
Cultural globalization: It is a process producing a singular,
homogenized version of modernity based on dominant Western
patterns.
Political globalization: It is not only the increasing
participation of people to the networks of global governance
but also to the spread of more widely shared political values
around the world.
Geographical globalization: It is a process breaking down
boundaries, shrinking distances and in which places lose its
significance.
Economic globalization: It is the process with which
capitalism became the only economic system of the world and
all economies were interconnected with each other.
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History of Globalization
100.000-40.000 B.C –
Movement of human
beings all over the globe.
1000 B.C – 300 A.C –
Babylonian and Roman
Empires – long distance
trade and interconnected
economies.
15th – 16th centuries: First
wave of globalization –
geographical explorations.
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History of Globalization
 19th century – Second Wave of Globalization
 Consolidation of nation-state system, increasing
interconnectedness between Europe, Asia and American
continents
 Increasing number of bilateral and multilateral agreements
 Development of international humanitarian regimes (1840
World Anti-Slavery Convention)
 Emergence of international exhibitions (First world fair in
London in 1851)
 Emergence of first international organizatizations (1815 Rhine
Commission) and first international NGOs (1863 Red Cross)
 Increasing communication (introduction of telegraph,
telephone and radio)
 Increasing economic interconnectedness (gold standard system)

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History of Globalization
1914-1970 Period Second Wave of Globalization Cont’d
Globalization of warfare (Two World Wars)
Emergence of global international organizations (League
of Nations/United Nations)
Decolonization and globalization of nation-state system.
Emergence of global icons (McDonalds in 1955)
Increasing importance of human rights (Holocaust,
Hiroshima/Nagazaki and Universal Declaration of Human
Rights)

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History of Globalization
1970 onwards – Third Wave of Globalization
Globalization of communication: Satellites, internet,
etc.
Globalization and digitalization of economics:
strengthening of MNCs, international economic
organizations, fully electronic stock exchanges
(NASDAQ)
Disintegration of Soviet Union and end of Cold War.
Emergence of global problems (poverty, hunger,
environment, terrorism)
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Political Globalization
Globalization and the eradication of borders:
Transforming states
Increasing sub-state actors roles/civil society
Increasing regionalization attempts
Globalization creates;
Successful integration projects such as the EU
Problems in adaptation to changes in weak states;
 Weak states/failed states: Bad economy, no coherent
community, lack of state institutions

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Political Globalization – Change in
the Statehood
Quasi-states: States which are internationally
recognized but failed to meet the basic needs of their
populations (Sudan)
Failed-states: States which are unable to govern
their societies without external support. (Somalia)
Security paradox: Weak states do not have any
external threat, they are a threat to themselves and
their regions and to whole international society.
Instability

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Social Globalization
Cosmopolitan vs. communitarian divide in global
politics
Cosmopolitans argue for demise of borders and
emergence for a globalized international society.
They argue for a “global humanity” instead of
national identity, which transcends all boundaries.
Communitarians argue for the maintenance of
borders and respect for national/local identities.

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Economic Globalization
Globalization of finance is a process which means
transnationalization of financial markets through the
worldwide integration of capital flows. Globalization, thus,
implies the growth of a single, unified world market.
After World War II, financial flows exceeded the volume of
world trade and the gap widens. Each day over a trillion dollars
flows around the world and this amount is sixty times higher
than the volume of daily world trade.
The digitalization of world economy lowered the costs and
increased the speed of transactions; hence increased the
financial flows dramatically.
Globalization of trade is also very important. The volume of
world trade increased tremendously.
Is the capitalism ultimate economic system or not?

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Cultural Globalization
Homogenization of culture (global culture): Western
consumerist culture (pop culture)
Eradication of local cultures and values.
Increasing significance of media for homogenization.
Increasing significance of global icons (Coca Cola,
Levis, McDonalds, Kardashians)
Increasing localization – the process of
g-localization.

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Three Scenarios with Regard to
Globalization
Francis Fukuyama – The
End of History thesis
Triumph of liberalism –
end of history
Older alternatives to
liberalism (fascism and
communism)
New threats to liberal
triumph (nationalism and
fundamentalism)

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Three Scenarios with Regard to
Globalization
Samuel Huntington – Clash of
civilizations thesis
Civilizations as the main unit of
analysis
Civilizational identity replacing
national identity
West vs. the rest argument
Clash of civilizations between
Christianity and
Islam/Confucianism
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Three Scenarios with Regard to
Globalization
Edward Luttwak – Geo-economics thesis
Interim period (globalization vs. nation-
state)
Three significant transformations:
From security based approaches to economy
based approaches
From military to trade
From world politics to world economics
From geopolitics to geoeconomics
Geoeconomics: continuation of logic of
conflict within the grammar of commerce.

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Three Scenarios with Regard to
Globalization
Luttwak Huntington Fukuyama

Main Thesis From geopolitics to Clash of

Dominant form of

state interaction Economic Cultural Political/Economic

Religious
Main threats
fundamentalism
Economic Cultural conflicts
and nationalism
Economically
New Fault-lines Christianity vs. Nation-states and
powerful states and
Conficuanism/Isla religious
economically weak
m communities
states
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Global Problems
Environmental Problems
Environmental Problems
Sea pollution: Oxygen-starved dead zones that cannot sustain
life now cover an area roughly the size of the state of Oregon.
Air pollution: Only 1% of China’s 560 million city residents
breathe air that is considered safe by the European Union.
Water pollution: Less than 1% of the world’s freshwater is
readily available for human use. 87% of freshwater resources are
used for agriculture, as much of 60% of that is wasted due to
inefficient watering systems.
Increasing population: The human population on earth has
grown more in the last 50 years than it did in the previous 4
million years

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Global Problems
Environmental Problems
Environmental Problems
Extinction of species: One in four mammals is at
risk of extinction.
Rainforest degradation: At least 50 million acres of
rainforest are lost every year, totaling an area the size
of England, Wales and Scotland combined.
Greenhouse gas emissions: Average temperatures
will increase by as much as 12 degrees Fahrenheit by
the end of the 21st century if greenhouse gas
emissions continue to rise at the current pace.
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Global Problems
Environmental Problems
Debate between modernists and ecoradicals
Modernists argue that we should continue improving
scientific knowledge and technological capacity because
they will enhance our capability to protect the
environment
Ecoradicals claim that ecosystem has a limited carrying
capacity so if we continue to push further; we can exceed
this limit and reach the point of no return. They argue
that population rise should be strictly controlled and
measures should be taken to adopt a more environmental
friendly and less consumption oriented way of life.
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Global Problems
Increasing Insecurity
Increasing insecurity (sub-state level insecurity
and international terrorism)
Minority problems (ex-Yugoslavia wars)
States failing to provide security of their citizens
(failed states)
States attacking on their own citizens (genocidal
states)
Global networks of terrorist organizations (al-Qaeda,
Islamic State)

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Global Problems
Increasing Insecurity
Different views on international terrorism
Realists  tend to link terrorism with other states\ the
way of resolving international terrorism is using military
force and dealing with the states that sponsoring terrorism
Liberals  International cooperation is necessary to deal
with international terrorism. The best way to respond
international terrorist networks is to establish networks of
cooperating government agencies
Critical Terrorism Studies Mainstream theories are
too closely associated with governments. This limits their
analytical capability. We should focus not to actors but to
discourses on terrorism.
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Global Problems
Cultural Imperialism?
Disappearance of local cultures, anti-
globalization movement.
Homogenization and disappearance of local cultures.
Western cultural imperialism: Adopting Western
notion of modernity
473 out of 6,909 living languages are about to
extinct.
Grassroots NGOs for anti-globalization.

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Global Problems
Health Problems
Globalization of health problems (AIDS, SARS, bird flu,
Ebola, Covid- 19 etc.)
Quicker spread of epidemics because of increasing
mobility.
2009 Influenza epidemic – 15000 people (global)
2010 Cholera epidemic – 8500 people (mostly in Haiti)
2013-2015 Ebola epidemic – 10000 people (mostly in
Africa)
2019 – Coronavirus pandemic. By 21/01/2020 – over 96
million cases, 2.06 million deaths.
Because of the power of the internet some dangerous and
unscientific ideas can spread quickly such as anti
vaccination campaign.
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Global Problems
Health Problems
Corona-virus disease (Covid-19) pandemic unearthed
some problems in international politics.
The size of the economic and political gap between
underdeveloped and developed countries.
Fragility of capitalist economic system
Nation states are still main reference point for people
in nationwide/worldwide crises.
Authoritarian regimes possess a risk for global human
security. Chinese officials hid facts from WHO.

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Global Problems
Economic inequality
Increasing economic inequality and poverty
The richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the
year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85%
of the world total. In contrast, the bottom half of the world
adult population owned barely 1% of global wealth.
The richest 85 people across the globe share a combined wealth
of £1tn, as much as the poorest 3.5 billion of the world's
population.
Some 925 million people in the world do not have enough food
to lead a healthy active life. That's about one in eight people on
earth.
The vast majority of the world's hungry people live in
developing countries, where 13.5 percent of the population is
undernourished

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Human Rights
Human rights are rights that all individuals possess
by virtue of being human, regardless of their status as
citizens of particular states or members of a group or
organization. These rights are, accordingly, universal
and apply to all humans equally.
The acceptance of The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948) by United Nations General
Assembly human rights have become both a part of
the international law and a norm in international
politics.

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Human Rights
Because of differing legal traditions, domestic
political regimes and institutions, and philosophies,
states often have different interests in human
rights.
Even though human rights are by definition
universal, states do not necessarily have the same
interests in promoting the same rights to the
same extent.
That is why human rights are a controversial issue in
international politics.
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Human Rights
Governments ;

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Human Rights
Critics of human rights;
1. Human rights and especially The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is a Western
Project.
2. The debate over what rights individuals have.
3. Human rights have not been internalized as norms in
all societies and governments; and it is almost
impossible to do so.
4. There is no authority to implement human rights law

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Human Rights
Why do states violate human rights?
Incapacity
National Security reasons
Preserving the incumbent government’s rule
Type of government

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Human Rights
Why do states sign human rights agreements?
To lock in domestic political reforms
For rewards such as joining an international
organization, foreign aid etc.
Moral and philosophical motivations
Self interest motivations

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Human Rights
States take action on human rights 
When there is domestic pressure to “do something” to
stop human rights abuses.
When doing so serves larger geopolitical interests.
When the gap between the principle of sovereignty and
international human rights law can be bridged.

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