Globalisation and contemporary issues

Poverty

Some argue that globalisation has caused poverty. With the transfer of jobs to lower-cost countries – for example, outsourcing call centres to India or the production of clothing to the Far East, away from Europe and the USA – unemployment can be a consequence in countries that lose these industries. Likewise, the opening up of developing markets to Western competition can kill off local companies and the theory of comparative advantage can condemn developing nations to remain focused on the primary sector, such as crop production. However, there is considerable evidence that globalisation is lifting countries and people out of poverty. Those countries that have opened themselves up to trade in recent decades have seen economic growth and the improvement of living standards. Not all citizens are helped equally, but there have been positives.

Conflict

Poverty, inequality and fear can also lead to conflict. While Western states do not want to lose

the considerable advantages they already have, developing nations do not want to be deprived

of the gains of globalisation and growth they think they have earned and are entitled to. Around the world, nationalism has been rising, which has a tendency to blame others for a nation’s misfortunes. Nationalism is a well-known threat to peace, and conflicts have a habit of spreading. This has been the case in Syria, where the civil war has led to increased regional tensions involving Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and also millions of refugees forced from their homes, heading to Europe or living precarious lives in neighbouring countries.

Human rights

The humanitarian plight of the Syrian refugees and the human rights abuses that they have suffered in the civil war – and are still vulnerable to – have pricked the conscience of many. However, the inability to protect these people has also damaged the reputation of the international community and its organisations.

The environment

Cimate change is a significant challenge for humankind – one which no state individually can solve. As people in developing nations start to consume at the levels of Western citizens, this will place a tremendous strain on the world’s resources. Food and meat production, fish for human consumption, oil, coal and gas extraction, CO2 emissions into the environment, other air, land and sea pollution are just some of the challenges facing the environment.