With the attack of the World Trade Center in 2001 and the ongoing war in Iraq many people around the world have begun to question the benefits of globalization. At first glance it seems a wonderful idea -- the free flow of information, ideas, technology and goods across national borders -- but this free flow can have major consequences. Both Robert Wright and Robert J. Samuelson have written articles for The New York Times and Newsweek respectively pointing out the issues of globalization. Both articles focus on the negatives of globalization and bring up good points about both its favorable and adverse effects. The following is a summary of both articles.
Globalization is not a new idea in world history. It dates back as far as the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. Even then it caused one major question to be asked. It is the same question being asked today: are the free flow of information, ideas, technology and goods across national borders worth the consequences? Globalization allows for a greater population of the world to be educated and informed while allowing people who share the same ideas and opinions to communicate. This communication is usually harmless and even beneficial, but some instances it has proven to be fatal.
The attacks on the World Trade Center in September of 2001 were a direct result of globalization. Not only was the motivation for the attacks based on the affects of globalization, but so was the ability to plan and execute the attacks.
With the free flow of information, ideas, technology and goods across national borders comes the threat of deterioration. When people who are under a totalitarian rule discover that there are free people in another state who share the same ideals and beliefs they start to question authority, tradition, individual rights, religion and culture. This questioning angered others so much that a plan to attack the World Trade Center was developed and executed in retaliation of the deterioration of the ideals and culture that they treasured.
The interesting twist is that without globalization, neither the planning nor the execution could have been possible. The men that were involved in the attacks used technology that they gained through globalization such as cell-phones and computers. These technologies were traded for goods and services that countries in the Middle East can provide.
Terrorism is not the only consequence of globalization. Economic downfall is also a major threat. Nations now are so co-dependent that an economic turn, a natural disaster or a deadly illness in any one country could completely destroy the world economy. This happened on a small scale after the World Trade Center attacks. Not only did the United States economy slow, but so did many other economies around the world. With the international trade scale as high as it is now the global effect is unimaginable.
Both Wright and Samuelson showed in their articles that globalization has positive effects. However they focused more on the undeniable plethora of problems that it also creates. The question now is how do we continue the positive aspects of globalization and eliminate the negative without creating issues of profiling and discrimination.