Globalization Then and Now

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer explains that modern globalization is generally understood to be the expansion of businesses and corporate interests to foreign markets either to increase their consumer base or to utilize a cheap workforce. The writer then notes that the history of globalization really dates back to colonial and even ancient time periods; when strategic and monetary aims were first being seen from an intercontinental perspective and were usually achieved to increase the power and wealth of the state. The writer concludes that outside of the political factors that helped to create our economy, technological advances in travel and communications have aided globalization, and at the same time been fostered by it.

From the Paper:

"Within the Roman Empire, for example, numerous Germanic clans - most notably the Goths - desperately sought to incorporate themselves into the powerful Roman state because it offered them economic opportunities as well as safety from invading tribes, like the Huns. Additionally, through most of Roman history, incorporating these people into the Empire was beneficial; conquered lands meant more slaves, more citizens meant more soldiers, more lands meant a more food, and all of these meant a more opulent lifestyle was possible for the ruling culture or class. Although ancient globalization centered on military operations, the ultimate goal was quite analogous to present day globalization: increasing the wealth of the expansionists. Modern expansionists, however, achieve their aims with far less bloodshed and no longer need the people they draw their wealth from to be subjugated by their homeland. Accordingly, the primary difference between the form of globalization evident in ancient times and the form prevalent in modern times is the current absence of military enforcement and the limited role of the state."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brown, D. Clayton. Globalization and America since 1945. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources Inc., 2003.lass Handouts, 2006.
• Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999.
• Legrain, Philippe. Open World: the Truth about Globalization. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2002.

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