Obesity

SUPERSIZE french fries;

SUPERSIZE me

The health expert

Sophia Chew

“Obesity has become a global epidemic,” this phrase was quoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health.

The alarming facts are that there are at least 300 milllion out of the 1 billion adults in the world who are currently overweight. It is exceptionally prevalent in western populations, where they make up 50% of the total number of overweight people worldwide. Currently, in the UK, about two-thirds of the adults are either overweight or obese with 22% of men and 23% of women are at least two to three stone overweight. This means their weight is putting their health at considerable risk. Not only are the adults affected, obesity is a high amongst children as well. For the past 20 years, the level of obesity has tripled in number and unfortunately, the figures are still increasing rapidly.

Obesity is a great concern in the world as it can result in many adverse health problems - such as diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, high blood pressure, breathlessness, depression, gallstones, shortening our lifespan and the list goes on. This global epidemic is spreading to areas of developing countries. I believe the cause to this is because there is an easier access to over-processed food, especially with the wide franchise of fast food restaurants; and with modern transportation, comes less need to be active in our daily lives. Obesity is largely linked to the widespread of fast food chains all over the world. In the United States where it has one of the highest rates of obesity, their fast food industry is agressively entering into the market to introduce their products. For example, Taco Bell is being served in more than 4,500 school cafeterias. When other fast food chains notices this profitable action, they too salivate at this prospect. Hence, as much as we want to, it is rather difficult to stop the franchise of Macdonalds, Burger King, and KFC and so on, globally.

The content of the McDonald’s diet has long been a problematic issue with nutritionist. So what gives rise to such weight problems? Firstly, as people eat more meals outside the home, they consume more calories, less fiber and more fat. Furthermore, the introduction of unhealthy eating habits is due to the trade of foreign foods into and out outside nations. The World Health Organization foresights that “within the next few years, noncommunicable disease will become the principle cause of morbidity and mortality, a shift towards highly refined foods and towards meat and dairy products containing high levels of saturated fats which in turn, contribute to rises in incidences of obesity and noncommunicable disease.”

However, it is wrong to say that the fast food industry is entirely to blame. Consumers are big time culprits, too. Therefore, since we know that nutritional health is inversely proportional to the weight of the saturated fat you lift from the plate into your mouth, I urged the world to pick up healthier eating habits by reducing their amount of fat intake and lead a healthier and more active lifestyle.

World Demonstrations Strengthen Iraqis

Taken from: http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/resist/2006/0329demonstrations.htm

Angeline Chua, Political Expert

My Reflections

Globalization has resulted in the rise of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), religious groups as well as peace groups worldwide, which now hold a revolutionary form of power. When this power is at its peak, there is a high possibility for it to even surpass that of national governments that hold power only in their own countries. It is able to transcend the limitations of national borders as different nationalities put aside their differences to come together under a common cause. An example of such organizations includes the European Union, the United Nations, and the International Monetary Fund.

In the case of the Iraq War, the article has mentioned several NGOs in the United States that have conducted demonstrations and protests in the hope of ending the Iraq War. These include the Muslim Scholars Association, a group that represents the Sunni Muslims in Iraq, United for Peace and Justice, the anti-war group that is in charge of organizing protests against the war throughout the United States and Progressive Democrats of America which has also organized demonstrations alike, to name a few.

It can also be seen from this the consequences of our globalized world today. We have transformed drastically as compared to what we were years back, and a reversion is also impossible. Non-governmental organizations are now able to represent and stand up for the interests of the bulk of the citizens within a country, when the government has chosen to ignore public opinion and has insisted on doing things its way. In this case, the US Congress has persisted on sending tens and thousands of US troops to Iraq despite violent objections from the majority of the citizens in Untied States. In fact, these organizations, such as the Military Families Speak up, are now part of the efforts to "put pressure on the Congress to end the war".
Below is an excert taken from "Frustration Marks Another War Anniversary" by Haider Rizvi:

"Fully-funded safe withdrawal within a year is not an extreme position," said Tim Carpenter, director of Progressive Democrats of America, whose group has been active in organising anti-war protests. "It's the position of 60 percent of the American people," he added in a statement citing a recent USA Today newspaper poll.

People across the globe are also aware of the new power that possess that can impact major decisions in our globalized world today. National governments no longer have the last say to decisions on the outcome of issues that have citizens embroilled into it, in this case, sending more than 3,200 US troops to death while fighting the Iraq war and having 63,000 wounded.
In fact, many have seized at the opportunity to exercise this power, and fight for their rights.

Below is another excerpt from the same article as above:

Despite cold temperatures, at least 40,000 people took part in the New York rally, with women's participation more visible than ever before at anti-war events. Elsewhere outside the United States, huge rallies also took place in many European cities and Australia. Some estimates suggest that the turnout in Spain was close to 100,000.

The New York rally was held to mark the third war anniversary since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. From the figures shown, it can be seen how many have took it upon themselves to stop the war.

We should be thankful for this globalized world that we have right now, where we can be certain that every single one of us is significant enough to make a difference and change the world, so long as we are willing to take ownership and step forward.

Other resources: http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/advocacy/protest/iraq/2007/0319frustration.htm

One World, Many Powers

By David Ignatius

Taken from: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070505/OPINION/705050447/-1/LOCAL17

Angeline Chua, Political Expert

My Reflections

The article states that we are in the transition phase from a “bipolar” world - where the Soviet Union and the United States as the two major global powers controlled the globe during the days of the Cold War - to a “multipolar” world, where major powers now include China, France and Britain. The United States no longer stands alone. This has contributed to globalization as influences from all the major countries have been widespread across the world.

However, a multipolar world poses greater difficulty to the maintenance of peace and stability across the globe. It is also harder to finalize major decisions with more varied opinions and different points of view. It becomes less likely to get things done as a result. An example is issues pertaining to global warming, where in order to improve the condition of the environment, international cooperation and unanimous commitment to reduce dependence on fossil fuels is required. According to the article “Global warming can be controlled – but only if nations act now, UN told” from Times Online, scientists and politicians agreed that “the world needs to act quickly” in cutting carbon emissions, “increasing nuclear capacity from 16 to 18 per cent of world energy supply and increasing renewables such as wind, solar and tidal power from 18 per cent to between 30 and 35 per cent.”

However, as the article “One World, Many Powers” has pointed out, the system of multilateralism still lacks organization. It is not yet confirmed which country or community is prepared to emerge and rule as an influential power.

Is the Muslim world a pole? If so, who will lead it -- Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan? Can the Muslim nations of the Middle East put aside their traditional rivalries and act responsibly in resolving a crisis? That's what the meeting of Iraq's neighbors this week is testing. An exhausted America finally seems ready for a multilateral exit strategy from Iraq, but are the neighbors able enough to deliver it?

Allow me to compare the system of global powers to the board of directors of a company. Being among the major global powers is similar to being part of the board to head a company. The difference is this ‘board’ of major powers is leading the world. In a company, nearly all the members of the committee share the same agenda for the company, merely different views. Multilateralism however, means that different countries that possess completely different sets of value systems and ambitions come together to lead.

The issue at hand is competency. According to the article, this may mean being able to “put aside… traditional rivalries and act responsibly in resolving a crisis”. It is extremely important that a country or community’s competency in all aspects (be it social, economic or trade) is taken into account before its emergence as a global power as this would greatly impact the future of the world.

Most of the major nations are on the cusp of political change. The United States is the most obvious example: George Bush will leave the White House in less than two years, but to whom? Big changes are coming in France and Britain, too. Gaullist foreign policy will outlive President Jacques Chirac, just as the Atlantic alliance will survive the departure of Prime Minister Tony Blair. But both moorings will probably be looser -- adding additional drift. And what should we expect from a post-Putin Russia -- assuming he follows through on his promise to retire next year?

The article also acknowledges the challenge posed by political changes to this transition to a multipolar world. However, for nations to constantly evolve politically is a norm, and it is almost impossible to have all the major nations not experience such changes.

The key is to be able to build up multilateralism in the midst of these changes. If the world continues to wait for the right opportunity to receive multilateralism, then a multipolar world would never come. We need to take the brave step forward, after acknowledging the need for a new system, to receive and embrace multipolarity.

Other Sources: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1749932.ece

UN under fire for turning a blind eye to peacekeepers' misconduct

Angeline Chua, Political Expert

Taken from: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/un-under-fire-for-turning-a-blind-eye-to-peacekeepers-misconduct/2007/05/06/1178390145310.html

Overview

UN police and civilian staff in Timor-Lese have been patronizing the brothels of Dili and UN vehicles can be seen parked outside brothels as well as picking up teenage prostitutes before dusk outside a hotel on Dili’s waterfront. These “peacemakers” have been openly violating what the United Nations would deem as a "zero tolerance policy towards sexual abuse and misconduct” in Timor-Lese, a deeply religious country, including fathering at least 20 Timorese children, leaving the poverty-stricken women ostracised by their community. Sexual abuse cases of children have also been reported. Dangerous driving by the UN staff have resulted in 80 vehicle accidents in the area, some of which included drink driving.

Unfortunately, the UN has apparently turned a “blind eye” prostitution, as a UN employee had said. Also, since 1999, none of the UN employees in the area has been charged with a serious offence. The spokeswoman of United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNIMT), Allison Cooper, has however insisted that they are strictly enforcing the “zero-tolerance” policy towards misconduct.

Analysis


The shameful deeds of the UN in Timor-Lese demonstrate a huge irony in the UN’s mission to render help and restore stability to countries in need. As Atul Khare, an Indian diplomat who was heading the UNIMT had commented about the dangerous driving of the UN employees, put it, UN were in Timor-Lese “to help the people recover from the trauma of conflict and not to perpetuate it." This incident may cause many to wonder if behind every good motivation, there would be hypocrisy to thwart progress made to help people in need. It would be unfortunate if the misconduct of some would cause the public to lose their trust in the whole organization – in this case, the United Nations, where others who have whole-heartedly dedicated their time would be doubted upon as well.

Indeed, globalization has brought more help to the nations in need. It has meant the rise in importance of international non-governmental organizations that solve issues which cannot be resolved within a nation, or by the means of international treaties, which have been criticised as being overly focused on capitalist interests.

However, having people from other countries help solve a problem that is not their own may also mean that half-heartedness and a lack of enthusiasm would suffice after awhile. It is impossible of course, for humans to be infallible, and this applies to the UN employees in Timor-Lese as well. Firstly, it is highly possible that there are some in their midst who do not view the Timorese as of equal importance as people of their own race and language. If they had, there would not have been sexual abuse cases of Timorese children or the fathering of at least 20 children that have left the Timorese women ostracised by their community. This may be a tad sweeping as a statement, but the inevitability of racial discrimination is undeniable.

This incident also shows the consequences of the near absence of strict control over any group of people, including “peacemakers”.

blogging- the new global culture!

Cultural expert- Yeo Jia Wen

Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogs

REFLECTIONS

Firstly, let me give you a definition of a blog. "A blog is a website where entries are made and displayed in a reverse chronological order." Blogging is a product of globalisation. As people all over the world start to adopt common lifestyles through globalisation, blogging has evolved to become a new phenomenon, a new global culture.

Many people all over the world with internet access own a blog, and blogging has inevitably become a new global culture. It is no surprise that people predict, by 2007, the number of writers who maintain a personal website will reach 100 million. I guess this is not only due to the growth in popularity of this global culture (probably because it is simple for one to start a blog. This can greatly appeal to internet users to have a blog.), but also because more countries are undergoing modernisation and technology is being developed. This will allow the internet to be more accessible to everyone, and which is likely to lead to an increase in the number of bloggers.

People are also bringing in real life issues into their blog entries. One example would be the Iraq war. It may be the case that in the future, blogs may become a form of historical source to let people understand the past- the historical resources that people study in the future might very well be these blogs!

Blogs can indeed have a large influence in modern society today, as the use of the internet is part of many people’s lives in modern society today. This makes the spread of ideas through blogging extensive and fast. Ideas circulating in people’s blogs can greatly impact society. Even politicians are at risk of being threatened by blogs- As mentioned in the article, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott made controversial comments at a public event, but no major media organizations reported on his comments until after blogs broke the story. This created a political crisis for Lott and he was forced to step down as majority leader. Clearly, this new global culture is rather large scale and can thus be very influential in society. This is probably why some of the world’s politicians and political candidates are harnessing blogs as a medium to express their opinions of things happening around them- a large number of people will read these blogs, understand the intentions of these politicians, and may start to support them. As such, these politicians can win over the support of the masses.

However, people have to be very careful when they choose to participate in this new global culture. This is because information released in blogs is viewable by everyone. Take Singapore’s case as an example. Two ethnic Chinese were imprisoned after posting anti-Muslim remarks on their web blogs, as it jeopardized the country’s stability. As such, bloggers have to have enough social responsibility to be careful of the materials they release onto the net. In a way, this new global culture is beneficial for society as it encourages people to learn to be responsible of their actions in society.

As shown, through globalisation, blogging has become a popular and extensive activity carried out by many in the world today. It has evolved to become a large-scale global culture. As more countries become more developed, allowing the internet to be more accessible by people, and as the integration of culture and ways of living continues in the world, it is likely that more people will participate in this global culture of blogging in the future. The impact of this global culture on the world will thus be greater.

Is globalisation avoidable?

-Shirleen Low

Is globalisation avoidable?

The answer is a reluctant yes, but it is definitely not easy. An example of a country which has resisted globalization would be North Korea – it does not even have formal diplomatic relations and is isolated on its own, separated from South Korea. However, this is a very drastic exception.

An example of a country which is slowly coming under the pressure of undergoing globalization would be India.



India has been quietly trying to resist the pull of globalization, claiming that it is unnecessary, but this is slowly changing as time passes. These following quotes (taken from the resources mentioned at the end) emphasize it:

"Globalization is an unavoidable process which is taking place independent of us. It forces us to cope with it. There is not room in a globalized world for an economy delinked from world trade and foreign investment."

“The truth is that if we do not reform rapidly, and position ourselves to compete, we will be marginalized. There is no divine dispensation that gives India alone the power to survive and prosper as an isolationist island in a globalized world."



This is undoubtedly true today. With the advent of globalisation and its fast spread worldwide, a country that does not follow suit will quickly be marginalized. Not only will it fall back economy-wise, its people will also start to lag behind the ever-evolving customs and mindsets pervading the rest of the world’s people. The country will have to rely completely on itself, and that is very obviously no easy task – unless the country has an indefinite amount of monetary resources, food and other basic things required to keep a country up and running and prosperous, this is very unlikely. As more and more countries become interdependent on each other, the truth is that globalisation is hard to avoid.

Simply said, India has to keep up with the times, and learn to slowly, but surely, go with the flow. However, its reluctance can be sympathised with – like most other countries, it has deep-rooted cultures and traditions, and globalisation has been shown to slowly erode these centuries-old conventions. However, the truth is that this was have to be (at the very least) slightly compromised upon – if India wants to embrace globalisation, sacrifices will also have to be made.



India is fast becoming a very important country when it comes to world affairs and the economy. However, this leap in front has to be kept up, by reforming and joining the world in its acceptance of globalisation. Only then can India play a central role in the global economy, and continue to prosper.

Credits:
Main article:
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=5333
Other resources:
http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2005/010705.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea

When Good Intentions Backfire

A displaced Sudanese woman carries her sons in the Otach Displaced Persons camp in the city of Nyala in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region

Article: UN Humanitarian Agency Says Darfur Violence Hampering Relief Efforts

Taken from: http://voanews.com/english/2007-05-06-voa10.cfm


By Angeline Chua, Political Expert


An Overview

The signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement between the Sudan government and the one rebel group in Darfur was meant to bring peace but has shockingly led to more chaos and violence in the region.

The conflict in Darfur stems right back to 2003, where rebel groups in Darfur rose against the formerly strong Islamic regime, claiming that Darfur was neglected and undeveloped.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs states that humanitarian efforts in Darfur “has been jeopardized by the very agreement meant to bring peace”. Merely weeks after the signing of the agreement with only one rebel faction while the other rebel groups claimed that the agreement failed to meet their power sharing requests and their monetary demands, full-scale fighting broke out in Darfur between the rebel groups. The fighting and violence caused tens of thousands in Darfur to meet with homelessness. Relief efforts have also faced a “progressive deteoriation”, as Antoine Gerard, manager of the Darfur section at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs puts it. This is due to increased attacks on relief workers in Darfur by the rebels, who are unable to be identified and to be held guilty for such attacks thereafter.

Sadly enough, relief workers in places that were formally controlled by the rebels have been raped and beaten. Even in government-controlled places in the country, “Sudanese police have beaten and sexually assaulted relief workers and international humanitarian staff.”

Analysis

When good intentions backfire - such as that which motivated the United Nations humanitarian efforts in Darfur - they still deserve to be applauded. Despite the shocking response of the rebels to the peace agreement, the international community who has tirelessly worked for the realization of the Darfur Peace Agreement deserves commendation for its effort in the past years.

Globalization has enabled other parts of the world to provide aid to a region in distress, just so that its victims need not face desperation when the leaders in their own country have failed them in terms of ridding the country of violence and chaos. Due to international relief efforts provided to the area, these people are able to climb out of their abyss of desperation to meet with the possibility of a peaceful future. Such issues may seem almost impossible to deal with and may even threaten to know no end, such as the conflict started by the rebel groups in Darfur which has lasted for nearly four years.

In times such as this, when any hint of progress is thwarted by an unexpected twist of events that would see all efforts in the past years go down the drain, the victims, an established organization such as the United Nations, together with humanitarian workers who have put aside self to dedicate years to helping the victims may begin to find themselves losing hope at the prospect of seeing the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.

However, in times such as this, instead of eagerly pointing out the loopholes in the peace agreement, criticizing how it failed to take into consideration the mindsets of the various rebel groups, the world should gear up instead on its encouragement towards the people involved just so that they are able to grit their teeth and press on.

It is of course important to find out any inadequacies in the peace agreement or raise suggestions as to how the UN can get the rebels to sign the agreement, but it is even of greater importance that we do not fall into the trap of criticizing without empathy.

Many would see this peace agreement as a failure, but I see it as an international effort to help up to 2.5 million others that would ultimately succeed.

Globalization and Asia: Article

- Shirleen Low

Please refer to the article "As The World Gets Tight" by Jonathan Sprague taken from this website.

Although globalisation is talked about as if it is something new to the world, the truth is that it isn't so. Globalisation has been taking place for centuries now, and it prominently arose to public notice in the late 1980s. However, the process of globalisation has been speeding up dramatically in the past 50 years and counting.

The article states that globalisation "used to have a universally hopeful ring to it" and now, "to some, the word represents financial markets ravaging economies, foreign competitors crushing local enterprises, and distant bureaucrats making decisions that turn societies inside out". There is some truth to this. With the rise in free-market-oriented businesses and other companies, economies have been overwhelmed by the rise of numerous financial markets.

Globalisation has also led to smaller, local companies facing much competition from overseas foreign competitors who have come in thanks to the massive integration of different markets. This has caused much of these companies to go bust, leading to much unhappiness from local business contenders. Meanwhile, the part about "distant bureaucrats making decisions that turn societies inside out" probably indicates how big business leaders and other prominent figures make decisions concerning globalisation that change much of another country's economic and social landscape.

Altogether, this article is about how globalisation - with all its advantages - also has a downside. It argues for a balance between preventing the bad side-effects of globalisation and globalisation's advantages. As mentioned in the article, globalisation has had a huge positive effect on the world - especially in Asia. In the case of Asia, it has opened this part of the world to not just trade and economy, but also to new ideas, ways of thinking, new lifestyles. It has created a huge positive boom in Asian markets. However, on the other hand, there are downsides, such as the suffering of local companies who have been 'run over' by huge multi-national corporations.

I feel that it is very difficult to achieve such a balance. If the economy is to be kept booming, I think it is very difficult to help and let everyone benefit from globalisation. Economies are booming simply because large companies are spreading worldwide. Because this is so, smaller, local companies are being marginalized. It is a cycle that needs to be kept going and will be kept going simply because globalization cannot be stopped, especially not at this point in time. However, these sacrifices should be minimalized as much as possible. A probable way would be to control the amount of global and local companies in a country.

music as a global culture

Cultural & Technological expert- Yeo Jia Wen

The following are excerpts(which explains the numerous hyperlinks. Sorry about that!) from this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music
[please click on link to view article]

"Music is an art form that involves organized sounds and silence. It is expressed in terms of pitch (which includes melody and harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo and meter), and the quality of sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture).

The music that composers make can be heard through several media; the most traditional way is to hear it live, in the presence, or as one of the musicians. Live music can also be broadcast over the radio, television or the internet. Some musical styles focus on producing a sound for a performance, while others focus on producing a recording which mixes together sounds which were never played "live". Recording, even of styles which are essentially live, often uses the ability to edit and splice to produce recordings which are considered better than the actual performance.

In many cultures, there is less distinction between performing and listening to music, as virtually everyone is involved in some sort of musical activity, often communal. In industrialised countries, listening to music through a recorded form, such as sound recording or watching a music video, became more common than experiencing live performance, roughly in the middle of the 20th century.

Sometimes, live performances incorporate prerecorded sounds. For example, a DJ uses disc records for scratching, and some 20th-century works have a solo for an instrument or voice that is performed along with music that is prerecorded onto a tape. Computers and many keyboards can be programmed to produce and play MIDI music. "

REFLECTIONS

Music is a form of art that can be experienced by everyone around the world, regardless of their age or social status. Young children can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and poor people can experience music through nature around them- the melodious sounds of birds. I guess one of the reasons why music has become a global culture, is that it is easily accessible by everyone and anyone in the world. Just be humming a tune, you are already creating music, and you are already part of this global culture.

Quoting the article, "virtually everyone is involved in some sort of musical activity". I cannot agree more with that! There are pitches, which is a huge and essential aspect of music, in many things in life. Just listen carefully when you vacuum the floor or when the MRT arrives at the station. Even if one dislikes music (Though I doubt anyone does), he will still be part of this culture as music is all around us. Isn't it amazing how music can so easily be part of our daily lives? Isn't it amazing how extensive this global culture is?

Today, much appreciation of music is done through technology. We listen to recordings of music through the radio, our iPods and MP3 players. We watch recorded musical performances through the television and internet. As the article mentioned, computers and keyboards can also be programmed to produce MIDI files, which can then be played as songs. As can be seen, technology has inevitably become an essential part of the spread of this global culture in the modern world we live in today.

Technology, a product of globalisation, plays a big role in promoting music as a global culture. One clear example is shown in the article, where people can watch/listen to music performances through the media, such as the internet, television and radio. The media is largely extensive, spreading across geographical boundaries of all countries. Performances of music by people from one part of the world can be easily accessed by others from the other side of the world. It also exposes people to different genres of music from all around the world. The Chinese can now easily listen to African music, and the British can get a taste of Asian music, just by a click of the mouse. As shown, the extensiveness of the media exposes more people to this global culture, as well as different aspects and types of it.

Perhaps, we can say that globalisation has already taken place at the primitive ages of the Earth, as music has easily established itself as a global culture even without the help of modern day technology(music is incorporated into people's lives since the primitive ages of the Earth). However, with the usage of modern day technology, this global culture is further enhanced. Through the media, which is a product of technology, people are more exposed to music as well as different forms of it. People would better understand what the different types of music are about. Also, since our iPods and MP3s are portable, we can take our favourite music everywhere we go! All these works of technology further promotes music as a global culture, and develop it in a more wholesome way.

Environmental Issues

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT;
says the Ecologist

The environment itself is inherently global, with ecosystems frequently crossing national boundaries, pollutions spreading throughout continents and oceans and a single shared atmosphere which provides all living entity on earth with climate protection from damaging UV rays.

Globalization and the impacts on our environment are influenced by a couple of factors – I believe the economy plays a major role in this topic of discussion.

The Economy
Everywhere our forests are overlogged, our agricultural lands overcropped, our grasslands overgrazed, our wetlands overdrained, our groundwaters overtapped, our seas overfished, and just about the whole earthly and marine environment is overpolluted with chemical and toxic. Not to mention, the atmospheric ozone layer which is man’s protection to harmful UV rays, is gradually being depleted. From these adverse effects, it is only obvious that the environment is slowly disintegrating due to man’s economic activities.

Increasing trade today is justified because it represents economic development which equates with progress. In the global conception of modernization, it is the only way to produce materials and technology advancement.

However, it is most unfortunate that through economic development, it has resulted in further increase in economic activities. Taiwan and South Korea are two good examples. These two principal newly industrial countries (NICS) that have achieved the most stunning rates of economic growth over the years are currently Third World countries role models to emulate.

In the case of Taiwan, deforestation has been practiced to accommodate industrial and residential developments and to allow the expansion of plantations. The virgin broadleaf forests that once covered the entire eastern coast have now been almost completely destroyed. The vast network of roads built to open up the forests to logging, agriculture and development, has resulted in severe soil erosion, especially in mountainous areas where entire slopes of bare soil have already slid away.

In its pursuits for economic growth, the use of pesticides has also greatly increased. Despite being a major source of contamination of Taiwan's surface waters, no governmental control has been implemented to monitor the distribution of such harmful products. The food produced is getting so contaminated with pesticides to the extent that Taiwanese farmers prefer to grow and consume their own organic crops instead of getting it from the market.

According to Taiwan’s government, 20 per cent of farmland is now polluted by industrial waste water, while 30 per cent of the rice grown in Taiwan is contaminated with heavy metals, including mercury, arsenic and cadmium. In Hou Jin, a small town near the city of Kaohsiung, forty years of pollution by the Taiwan Petroleum Company has made the water not only unsave to drink but actually flammable.
Air pollution has also increased massively. Sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide pollution in Taiwan are now intolerable. The incidence of asthma among children in Taiwan has quadrupled in the last ten years, while cancer has now become the leading cause of death, its occurrence doubling over the last 30 years.
We are most certainly facing an environmental crisis in the world. Before conditions worsen, measures should be taken up immediately to ban or at least limit activities that are particularly destructive and at the same time, channeling economic development into areas that are less so.

Our environment is very precious and I believe it should hold precedence over anything else, that including the development of our economy. Furthermore, there has been no evidence that trade or economic developments are absolutely essential to man. World trade has increased by eleven times since 1950 and economic growth by five times, yet during this same period there has been an unprecedented increase in poverty, unemployment, social degeneration and environmental devastation. This proves my point, our environment is then our greatest wealth as there can be no international trade, no economic development on a dead planet.

Sophia Chew

SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT;
says the Ecologist

The environment itself is inherently global, with ecosystems frequently crossing national boundaries, pollutions spreading throughout continents and oceans and a single shared atmosphere which provides all living entity on earth with climate protection from damaging UV rays.

Globalization and the impacts on our environment are influenced by a couple of factors – I believe the economy plays a major role in this topic of discussion.

The Economy
Everywhere our forests are overlogged, our agricultural lands overcropped, our grasslands overgrazed, our wetlands overdrained, our groundwaters overtapped, our seas overfished, and just about the whole earthly and marine environment is overpolluted with chemical and toxic. Not to mention, the atmospheric ozone layer which is man’s protection to harmful UV rays, is gradually being depleted. From these adverse effects, it is only obvious that the environment is slowly disintegrating due to man’s economic activities.

Increasing trade today is justified because it represents economic development which equates with progress. In the global conception of modernization, it is the only way to produce materials and technology advancement.

However, it is most unfortunate that through economic development, it has resulted in further increase in economic activities. Taiwan and South Korea are two good examples. These two principal newly industrial countries (NICS) that have achieved the most stunning rates of economic growth over the years are currently Third World countries role models to emulate.

In the case of Taiwan, deforestation has been practiced to accommodate industrial and residential developments and to allow the expansion of plantations. The virgin broadleaf forests that once covered the entire eastern coast have now been almost completely destroyed. The vast network of roads built to open up the forests to logging, agriculture and development, has resulted in severe soil erosion, especially in mountainous areas where entire slopes of bare soil have already slid away.

In its pursuits for economic growth, the use of pesticides has also greatly increased. Despite being a major source of contamination of Taiwan's surface waters, no governmental control has been implemented to monitor the distribution of such harmful products. The food produced is getting so contaminated with pesticides to the extent that Taiwanese farmers prefer to grow and consume their own organic crops instead of getting it from the market.

According to Taiwan’s government, 20 per cent of farmland is now polluted by industrial waste water, while 30 per cent of the rice grown in Taiwan is contaminated with heavy metals, including mercury, arsenic and cadmium. In Hou Jin, a small town near the city of Kaohsiung, forty years of pollution by the Taiwan Petroleum Company has made the water not only unsave to drink but actually flammable.
Air pollution has also increased massively. Sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide pollution in Taiwan are now intolerable. The incidence of asthma among children in Taiwan has quadrupled in the last ten years, while cancer has now become the leading cause of death, its occurrence doubling over the last 30 years.
We are most certainly facing an environmental crisis in the world. Before conditions worsen, measures should be taken up immediately to ban or at least limit activities that are particularly destructive and at the same time, channeling economic development into areas that are less so.

Our environment is very precious and I believe it should hold precedence over anything else, that including the development of our economy. Furthermore, there has been no evidence that trade or economic developments are absolutely essential to man. World trade has increased by eleven times since 1950 and economic growth by five times, yet during this same period there has been an unprecedented increase in poverty, unemployment, social degeneration and environmental devastation. On the other hand, our environment is our greatest wealth as there can be no international trade, no economic development on a dead planet.

Sophia Chew

technology&culture

Technology and Cultural expert- Yeo Jia Wen

The following are excerpts from the following website:

Article source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube

[please click on link to view the full article]

YouTube is a popular video sharing website where users can upload, view, and share video clips. Videos can be rated, and the average rating and the number of times a video has been watched are both published.

During the summer of 2006, YouTube was one of the fastest-growing websites on the World Wide Web, and was ranked as the 5th most popular website on Alexa, far outpacing even MySpaces's growth. According to a July 16, 2006 survey, 100 million clips are viewed daily on YouTube, with an additional 65,000 new videos uploaded per 24 hours. The site has almost 20 million visitors each month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, where around 44% are female, 56% male, and the 12- to 17-year-old age group is dominant. YouTube's pre-eminence in the online video market is staggering. According to the website Hitwise.com, YouTube commands up to 64% of the UK online video market.

In its short time on the web, YouTube has grown quickly and received much attention. Online word-of-mouth has been primarily responsible for YouTube's growth since its inception

Reflections

Technology, in particular the internet, television and radio, is indeed shaping the world.

Just by typing a few words on search engines, switching on your television and radio, we can easily access foreign materials. No longer do we have to travel halfway around the world to see what is life like at the other end. Clearly, technology has shrinked the world.

YouTube is yet another example of how technology is shaping the world. YouTube has impacted the world, and it has become something that many people in many different parts of the world have incorporated into their lives. YouTube has 20 million visitors each month, and this shows that technology is part of many people's lives in the world today. It is possibly why YouTube, a product developed from technology, can rise to be such a phenomena.

One of the reasons why YouTube has become so widely used and famous is because it can easily be accessed and used by simply anyone in the world. One just have to sign up and they can use it to upload an unlimited number of videos. Since people find this website interesting and it is so user-friendly, people would want to recommend it to their peers and this encourages the growth in popularity of YouTube.

Technology is something that can be understood and managed by all, crossing all language barriers and countries' geographical borders, which helps the world to create a common culture rapidly. One example would be the World Wide Web. One can obtain a piece of information almost instantaneously from another once it is being placed onto the World Wide Web. As such, the World Wide Web encourages the rapid spread of information and ideas, and even at a large scale. YouTube has become a common tool used by millions all around the world. People can view how others live their lives, and this can influence their way of living as well, by making it similar to that of others'. This can thus create a common culture. People are harnessing technology to create a global culture, and this shows how big a role technology plays in globalisation.

The Next Time You Eat Chocolate, Think Again

Political Expert: Angeline Chua

Article from BBC


Child Labour and the Pressure of Globalization

The news article reports how many of the children in West Africa, where half of the world's cocoa is produced, are forced to become labourers at cocoa plantations. Working in the cocoa plantations is dangerous for the children as they often have to suffer major cuts and injuries while using a machete, a large knife.

These children are trafficked from extremely poor countries and can be found to labour in approximately 1.5 million small cocoa farms in West Africa.

Globalization As A Cause

Using children as cheap labourers in the cocoa plantations is in fact, a side-effect - if not, a response - to globalization. It blatantly shows the impact of globalization on the people living in developing countries. They grab at the rare opportunities presented to them as a result of an increasingly globalized world in order to pull themselves out of the bottomless pit of poverty.

The chocolate market has been reported to bring in approximately $13 billion in sales for the United States. The is due to the globalized market and increasing international interest in the trade and sales of chocolate. With a huge supply of cacao being the means of living for the people in West Africa, some 7 million of them are involved in economic cacao trade and it has helped to lessen the negative impact of poverty and illiteracy on the people. However, the fact remains that due to the oversupply of cacao, its price still remains low. West African farmers do not have the power and ability to bargain for the sale of cacao at a higher price, and thus have to turn to reducing the cost of their labourers in order to gain profit. Exploitation of children as labourers in a culture where education is set aside and children are hardly able to to go to school thus becomes the ultimate and seemingly rightful choice for the farmers.

Globalization To Tackle With Issue : Cocoa Protocol

After news had reported the exploitation of children as labourers in West Africa, US policymakers responded and Congressman Elliott Engel and Senator Tom Harkin came up with a way known as the Cocoa Protocol, or Harkin Engel Protocol. to get rid of child labour. This was an alternative to the otherwise refusal of entry of such cocoa in US made by forced labour as "under the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, the US Customs Service is supposed to refuse entry to any goods identified as made by forced labor." However, it is important to note that this would not only worsen the living conditions and the state of poverty that the people in West Africa have already been living in, but also affect the 13-billion-dollar chocolate market in the United States. As a result, the Cocoa Protocol was an apt approach toward ridding West Africa of child labour yet not exacerbating the conditions in West Africa.

The Cocoa Protocol required major chocolate companies, plantation owners and cacao traders to work together with "unions, civil society and government officials" to ensure that all cocoa is produced without forced labour.

This is an example of how globalization can be both "A cause" which can also be "a cure", if I may quote from Sandra Ariel Aaronson's "Child Labour and Globalization : The Cause Can Also Be A Cure.

However, the Cocoa Protocol has failed to deliver the results that Harkin and Engel had hoped it would. Consumption by the worries of the civil war in West Africa has resulted in a lack of action taken and attention paid to solving the issue of child labour. The deadline of the Cocoa Protocol has passed, yet anything but the eradication of child labour has been successful. According to the news article from BBC, it is also due to the fact that the global chocolate industry is unwilling to make changes in the way business is carried out once child labour is rid of in West Africa. The only evidence of the chocolate industry's efforts to eradicate child labour is a mere mud hut to serve as a village school, which was only built five years after the Cocoa Protocol was implemented.

It is not sufficient for a group of US congressman and NGOs to be concerned over the issue of of child labour. A multi-pronged approach is required and it needs the effort of the whole world, chocolate manufacturers and everyone else involved in the global chocolate industry. Most importantly, solving the issue of child labour requires our attention as consumers.

References:

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/article.print?id=8907

Globalisation and Culture

Cultural expert- Yeo Jia Wen

With globalisation today, we witness a wide and uncontrollable spread of ideas which has inevitably created a somewhat homogeneous culture throughout the world. It is clear that everyone in the world now can find some things in common. Pokemon has become a popular cartoon among children; Macdonalds has become a common fast food franchise that can be found in many parts of the world. These are but some of the many examples. The new culture of the world has seem to be evolving to a western one.

Globalisation has resulted in the growth of cross-cultural contacts. This paves the way for cultural diffusion and the creation of a common international culture. People would want to consume and enjoy foreign products and ideas, adopt new technology and practices, and participate in this "world culture".

Each individual can access foreign materials and be exposed to a diversified range of culture through globalisation(this is of course facilitated by the developments of technology, yet another phenomenon of globalisation). This new world culture can easily displace or replace the local culture, causing reduction in diversity at an international level. One clear example would be westernisation, which has taken place in many parts of Asia.

Refer to the article: http://allafrica.com/stories/200702200611.html?page=2, the section "Culture and Globalisation" (please view the next page as well)

Africa has a rich culture. However, with globalisation, there has been an inflow of foreign ideas into Africa, which supplants its local culture. Their local language, which forms the basis of their culture, is also affected. In Africa, some countries like Uganda even use English as a national and official language.

Africans have changed their ways of living through exposure to foreign ideas through the television, internet as well as the radio. The impact and influence of these foreign ideas is easily spotted in Africa today. It has now become absurd to see a young Rwandan moving around half naked as it does not fit into the idea of civilisation, which is widely spread in the world today. I quote the article, "The loud echoing advertisement rhythms of the famous Perimus, Carlsberg, Amstel, etc can be hard across boundaries in towns, cities, and townships and even in remote rural areas where drinking water is problem to get." Clearly, we can see that the new world culture is gradually becoming a new phenomenon. Ideas become so widespread that even where drinking water is hard to get, people are still hearing of brands of beers. It seems to me that when people purchase a famous product, the practicality of the product to its consumers does not seem to matter anymore, but what people now are concerned about is being part of this new world culture. I feel that people are becoming so absorbed in this new culture that certain aspects of their local culture is left aside, and as such, comprised. It is evident that this new world culture is sweeping the world, kicking each country's unique local cultures aside.

It is highly possible that this new culture will be a western one. The world is getting increasingly westernised as a result of globalisation. Western culture is soon becoming THE culture of the world, for they have the economical power to spread their influence all over the world. Take the United States or the United Kingdom as examples. They are all well to do and developed countries, which have the means to spread their influence through the media(internet, television etc.). The media is influential , powerful and easily assessbile to everyone, and being able to gain control of the media can certainly help a country spread their influence.

Coming back to my point of globalisation creating a homogeneous culture, the Korean Craze is another clear example.

Refer to article: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/33501/Korean-craze-in-the-Philippines

I'm sure the Korean craze will not be alien to any of us here, as not only has the Korean craze spread to the Philippines, it has also affected many of us Singaporeans. If we were to go onto the streets and ask people if they knew of Rain, or Jewel in the Palace, people are likely to respond with a yes. I was quite surprised to know that the Korean craze in the Philippines has become such a phenomenon that Baguio City has even, I quote, "welcomed the opening of Korean stores, schools and churches." Filipinos have even classified a Korean restaurant as one of their favourites. Indeed, there seem to be a "Little Korea" in the midst of Philippines.

This extent of this spread of Korean culture is rather amazing. Clearly, each country's ideas is no longer subtended by their geographical boundaries. Through the media, people would be able to access these infomation. In the case of the Korean craze, people can get to know more about the Korean culture through Korean drama serials, and they would start incorporating it into their daily lives as part of the craze. The Korean culture would then have become a common culture to many countries.

I agree that globalisation promotes monoculture, and in the process, the world will experience loss of many unique cultures that can diversify the world, and give each country a sense of identity. Globalisation involves the integration of culture through the spread of common ideas throughout the world. People own the same things, do the same things, experience the same things(if not, similar). As such, ONE common global culture is developed.

Economics of Globalization: Markets, Businesses, Economic Developments

- Shirleen Low

Now that there has been a brief explanation about economics in globalization (and vice versa), free trade and a short introduction to the WTO and GATT, we can move on to the world market (with global businesses) and the economic developments of various countries.

World Market/ Economy

The world market or economy is usually judged in monetary terms - basically, taking in a broad view of the different economies of the world (the economy of Asia, or Europe, or Africa, etc). However, with globalization, more and more economies are being merged and integrated with one another and slowly, the gaps between the different economies of different parts of the world are being bridged.

With the promotion of free trade, the emerging of financial markets across the world and the growing interdependence countries have on one another, instead of thinking of the world economy as separate parts, the world economy is gradually moving towards being one consistent part that incorporates and integrates the different economies of the world.

Similarly, global businesses are businesses which expand across the globe, transcending national boundaries, and do not limit themself to or are committed to a single home country. They typically generate a large amount of the revenue from overseas ventures and investments. These businesses are encouraged by the encouragement of free trade in the world economy today and with globalization, more and more global businesses have started to emerge.

This is a diagram from the IMF showing the prediction of the world economy's growth.

This is another graph showing the world's productivity performance (also from the IMF).



Economic Developments: Focus on America (overseas) & Singapore (local)

Globalization has affected economic developments in every country all over the world. However, we shall focus on America and Singapore's economic developments so far.

America

America has the world's largest and most advanced economy, with a GDP (per capita) of $43,500 and GDP growth of 3.4%. Generally, private individuals, businesses and companies make most of the decisions in the market-based economy. In the past years, the economy has been steadily growing, the american dollar slowly gaining over the euro (currency used by most of the European countries excluding countries like England). Globalization plays somewhat of a part in this economic growth and development - again, with the promotion of free trade, individuals are able to make decisions, leading to a 'lean and mean' economy where countries all compete with one another.

Simply put, the US economy is a very strong one - this could be seen when the GDP and economy didn't stop growing or expanding, even under circumstances such as the advent of Hurricane Katrina and high oil prices in 2005/06.

Singapore

Singapore's economy is known to be remarkably secure and free of corruption. It is a highly developed free-market economy with a GDP (per capita) of $30,900 and a GDP growth rate of 7.4%. The economy depends primarily on exports, usually in consumer electronics and information technology.

Especially since Singapore is a small country with no natural resources to call its own, globalization is one of the primary reasons as to why Asian economies are generally booming. With the spread of global businesses, Singapore has been opened up to economic opportunities from abroad, something that is ultimately crucial for our survival. Without input from abroad, overseas investments and deals, Singapore will be stranded on its own and ultimately be unable to survive based on its own small economy. Asia's competitiveness has been increased through globalization, just like most other countries. This has since kept Singapore's economy up and running, and the economic development of Singapore is steadily increasing. This can be seen from this diagram (click to see it in bigger form):

Resources:

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/01/index.htm

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/01/index.htm#ch1fig

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/us.html

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/sn.html

http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/magazine/2000/0218/sr.globalization.html

http://www.christiansarkar.com/2005/12/the_globalization_index_how_gl.htm

Globalization and Diseases

GLOBALIZATION AND DISEASES
The Health Expert - Sophia Chew

With the flow of information, products, capital and people across political and geographic borders, Globalization, have resulted in the spread of some of the dealiest infectious diseases known to humans. The spread of diseases across wide geographic scales increases with time. This is because in the modern world today, globalization has overtaken us so greatly that we become more and more interdependent on one another.

With the discovery of modes of transportation, they have enabled people and products to travel around the globe at a faster and more effective pace and unknowingly, open the airways to the transcontinental movement of infectious disease vectors (creatures that carry germs from one species to another). Air travel have allowed people to visit foreign lands, contract a disease whereby symptoms do not appear until they get home, having infected others to the disease along their journey back. Hence, when a population is infected with a new disease, where no antibodies have been developed, the disease tends to run rampant within the population. It is extremely dangerous and critical if the disease is fatal.

With the progression of medicine research, various vaccines and cures have been discovered to treat some of the worst diseases the world has encountered, such as plague, cholera and malaria. However, disease organisms have a tendency to multiply and evolve at a very rapid rate and ‘attack’ at the most unmindful times, and even with vaccines, we have difficulty providing full immunity to many diseases and finding vaccines for some diseases remains extremely difficult. Vaccines are essential; without them, our world is vulnerable to infectious diseases.


Specific Diseases

Plague

spread of plague in Europe

In the beginning of 14th century, Plague, caused by the enterobacteria, Yersinia pestis, devastated the world. It is primarily spread by fleas which live on common black rats. A human would become infected after being bitten by an infected flea resulting in swelling of the skin and eventually be covered with dark splotches caused by bleeding under the skin. During the 14th and 15th century, humans did not know that a bacterium was the cause of plague, and thus, efforts to slow the spread were futile.

Outbreak of the plague happened in China in the 1330s when China was engaged in trade with western Asia and Europe. Europe was then struck with the plague in October of 1347. The plague first struck port cities, followed by both sea and land trade routes. It was rampant through Italy into France and the British Isles and was then carried over the Alps into Switzerland, and eastward into Hungary and Russia. It occurred throughout the 14th and 15th century however, later epidemics were never as widespread as earlier outbreaks. This is because vaccinese and measures were slowly discovered overtime to combat the bacterium.

HIV/AIDS

Prevalence of HIV infected adults per country at the end of 2005

Aids or HIV is among the latest and most fatalistic disease in the world today. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that causes Acquired immunodificiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which the body’s immune system begins to break down leading to a high possibility of death.
The first few cases occurred in 1981 and as of 2004, an estimated number of 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 people in the United States were livning with HIV/AIDS, and an estimated 39.5 million worldwide are living with HIV. According to the World Health Organization, the numbers are increasing despite global efforts, awareness and measures taken to deal with this problem. Since 2004, there has already been a shocking increase of 50% in the number of infected of persons.

Economics of Globalization from the Economic Expert

- Shirleen Low

Globalization in economics is a broad term that includes the selling and buying of products, change in prices, and different assortments of various profits and interests. With globalization, it is obvious that the economy is quickly expanding - international trade is booming, there is a large amount of human migration, and various financial economic markets are being merged, integrated while huge investments take place. This is merely a brief introduction to how globalization affects the economy, and how the economy is directly linked to globalization.

Globalization, which internationalises almost every country today can be seen to be very closely linked to economics. Ever since the 2nd World War, various international agreements have been created to promote free trade and the freedom of investment - for example, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This promotion of free trade has since led to positive factors such as:

• the reduction/ elimination of tariffs (a tariff is a tax on foreign goods, usually imposed upon them being imported into a country
• the reduction of goods transportation costs
• the reduction/ elimination of capital controls (a monetary policy device that a government makes use of to regulate the flow of money/currency into and out of a country mainly through investments)

FREE TRADE?

Free trade is basically a market model in which trading of goods and services between countries is not controlled by or slowed down by government taxes/tariffs and other barriers. Some aspects of free trade would be:

• international trading without taxes/tariffs or other barriers/obstacles (e.g. fixed quotas on imported goods)
• no more policies which distort free trade (e.g. those which give domestic companies/businesses advantages over foreign ones)
• free access to financial and economic markets
• free access to such markets' information

Free trade agreements have since helped to promote free trade, and globalization has pushed these agreements forward to further encourage the idea and mindset of having an idealized free economy. An example as mentioned was GATT. Another example would be the World Trade Organization (WTO). Both originate from the United States, which has been one of the largest and most consistent supporters of free trade.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

The GATT's main purpose is to reduce barriers and restrictions in international trade. The GATT, through various smaller agreements, has tried to do so by reducing tariff barriers, other quantitative restrictions, and subsidies on trading. The first version of GATT was developed in 1947 during a United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment. The GATT continued to work all the way until 1994, when it was somewhat merged and updated, through the WTO.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

The WTO is an international organization, with an aim to supervise over and liberalize trading in the world. It was formally formed in 1995. It comprises more than 150 countries worldwide. The WTO deals with trading rules between various countries and nations mostly at a global level. Its main responsibility is to negotiate, create and implement new trade agreements, and is also responsible for ensuring that the member countries adhere to all WTO agreements. It ultimately wants to reach the goal of improving the welfare of people, by lowering/removing trade barriers, solving trade disputes and creating a platform for trade negotiation. The WTO also reviews and ensures the transparency of national trade policies, and is a center of economic research and analysis of global economics and trade. It closely works with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

The WTO's trading policies have a framework comprising 5 main concepts and components:

• 1. Non-Discrimination
• For example, the WTO requires that "a product made in one member country be treated no less favorably that a very similar good that origiinated in any other country".
• 2. Reciprocity
• This ensures that the policy of non-discrimination, while existing, does not encourage people who are 'freeriders'. When gains are made by a nation thanks to another nation, these gains should be reciprocated.
• 3. Binding and enforceable commitments
• An example of such commitments would be that member countries have tariff commitments.
• 4. Transparency
• An example of how the WTO tries to maintain transparency would be that all members are required to publish their trade regulations, to uphold institutions which allow the review of administrative decisions that affect trade, to respond to requests for information by other members, and to notify the WTO of changes in trade policies.
• 5. Safety Valves
• An example of a safety valve would be that in specific/dire situations, governments are given the power to restrict trade.

These are only a few parts which explain the economics of globalization - there is also the expansion, creation and development of a world market, global business, and the various different economic developments of various countries around the globe. These will be explored in another post. (:

Resources:
http://images.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mazzaroth.com/ChapterSeven/Images/GATT.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.mazzaroth.com/ChapterSeven/GATT-WTO.htm&h=245&w=232&sz=4&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=LMYSj2n3OZZtKM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGATT%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
http://www.wto.org/

http://www.gatt.org/

Anti-Globalization?

-Shirleen Low

Globalization is not all good - there are cons to it as well. For example, there is a strong argument that globalization, with its creation of cultural diffusion (discussed in earlier post "Globalization?") has destroyed the specific characteristics of cultures in the world. For example, since people are now much more open to new cultures, the old cultures are slowly being eroded and there are fears that in future, the beauty of a country's historical culture will be lost thanks to globalization. There have also been fears that globalization will homogenize the world, making each country lose its unique aspects and charm.

People have also raised controversial issues about whether globalisation is merely a front for "Americanism", where America is the country which benefits the most and has the most to gain from globalization. Altogether, anti-globalisation is a broad term encompassing many aspects of globalization to which groups of people have disagreed upon (an example would be the argument that globalization is a front for mere corporate interests and the generation of wealth in countries such as America).

An example of a cartoon showcasing globalisation in a less-than-favourable light can be seen here.

Simply, this cartoon shows the earth pressing on the glass door of a house, seeming as though it is about to break in. A man is sitting on the couch reading a newspaper, and globalization is obviously the main theme of the cartoon. The fact that the globe is pressing dangerously against the door is a sign that perhaps, globalization has been 'overdone' and has crossed the limit for many people. It is now an impending 'threat' to our homes and this is clearly a negative portrayal of globalization as a whole. This probably tells people who see this cartoon that globalization cannot be stopped, and now has become an integral part of our lives that we cannot avoid.

This is mostly true; globalization is a global ongoing process that has been set in motion and there is not much we can do to stop it from happening as the world changes. The probable intention of portraying globalization in a negative light can also be somewhat explained, as can be seen from the first two paragraphs. Altogether, I feel that the cartoonist, through this cartoon/drawing, is trying to convey the message that globalization is something the world cannot stop or avoid, and it will not be good for us, whether in the short term, or in the long run.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization#Anti-globalization

Globalization?

-Shirleen Low

What exactly is all this furore about globalization about anyway? Yes, we know - McDonalds, KFC, Nike, and plenty of other well-known brands can be found just about anywhere in the world today. However, what exactly is globalization, and how did it come about?

According to Wikipedia, globalization refers to the ever-increasing "global connectivity, integration and interdependence" in all sorts of spheres, ranging from the economic to the ecological. Simply put, globalization basically refers to the ever-evolving way in which our world is changing - this leads to the world getting more and more integrated and how countries are now very closely linked to each other, and are dependent on each other. This has led to the fast spreading of now-global well-known brands such as McDonalds, the world's largest chain of fast-food restaurants. A person who does not know of McDonalds or who has never seen one is a rare find these days.

These are some pictures of McDonalds from Japan, America and Germany respectively:

What causes globalization? There are many factors - one of which would be technology and new modern advances. With the spread of such advances, information is passed much easier around the globe. A very obvious example would be through the Internet - information about any place in the world or almost any group of people in the world can be found with a single click. The spread of infinite information is far and wide, and globalization has led to the setting up of a global telecommunications infrastructure. All this has led to investments being made without having to fly anywhere; buying and selling can be done with much more ease than before. For example, since 1950, the volume of world trade has multiplied by 20 times, and economies worldwide are booming with the fast spread of quick investments and easy consumerism.

Another factor which has pushed globalization forward further would be the economies; many countries have adopted the free-economy system, thus giving investors and businesses the freedom to invest freely. This has greatly increased the amount of investments, spreading fast across the world faster than ever before. Surely, the days by which Nike and McDonalds were limited only to the USA are long gone. Globalization has enabled companies to spread not only within specific countries, but globally (thus the name), and much more freely than before.

However, globalization is not only limited to well-known brands spreading across the globe, quickly becoming household names. Globalization not only helps to quicken the spread of information everywhere (including remote areas), it also creates a form of cultural diffusion. With globalization, people are slowly opening up to new ideas, new ways of thinking and new cultures and even religious practices. Now, instead of limiting one's self to a certain culture merely because one belongs to a specific part of the world, one can become part of the world culture, where everyone participates in new ideas and goes against the old conventional ways. A good example would be the wide spread of Hollywood movies. Now, the same blockbusters and box office hits can be watched in almost any country in the world.

These are all only the tip of the iceberg - globalization is a general term and encompasses many aspects of many countries' economies, society, technology, culture, politics and ecology. This is only a quick overview about what globalization is about. Today, globalization is taking place at a faster pace than ever before. Simply put, globalization cannot be stopped as the world continues to change, and the world is becoming more and more globalized by the day.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization
http://www.globalization101.org/