Notes in Contemporary World

Relevance of this course

1. Studying the outside world is a cure to parochialism or an outlook that is limited to one’s
immediate community.

2. It is important to study the world because it can teach you more about yourself.

3. You need to study the world because you will be interacting with it.

Lesson 1: What is Globalization?

Contemporary- Belonging to the present time; characteristic of the present.

World- is the planet Earth and all life on it, including human civilization.

Globalization- is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and

governments worldwide.

 Globalization is the process in which people, ideas and goods spread throughout the

world, urging more interaction and integration between the world's cultures, governments

and economies.

Advantages of Globalization

EDUCATION
With numerous educational institutions around the globe, one can move out from the
home country for better opportunities elsewhere.

EMPLOYMENT

Considered as one of the most crucial advantages, globalization has led to the
generation of numerous employment opportunities. Companies are moving towards the
developing countries to acquire labor force.

PRODUCT QUALITY

The product quality has been enhanced to retain customers. Today the customers may
compromise with the price range but not with the quality of the product. Low or poor product
quality can affect customer satisfaction.
COMMUNICATION

Every single information is easily accessible from almost every corner of the world.
Circulation of information is no longer a tedious task and can happen in seconds. The internet
has significantly affected the global economy, thereby providing direct access.

TRANSPORTATION

Considered as the wheel of every business organization, connectivity to various parts of

the world is no more a serious problem.

DISADVANTAGES OF GLOBALIZATION

LOSS OF CULTURE

With large number of people moving into and out of a country, the culture takes a
backseat. People may adapt to the culture of the resident country. They tend to follow the
foreign culture more, forgetting their own roots.

Uneven Wealth Distribution

It is said that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. In the real sense,
globalization has not been able to reduce poverty.

Globalism

 Is a widespread belief among powerful people that the global integration of economic
markets is beneficial for everyone.

Kinds of globalization according to Arjun Apparudai (is an Indian-American

anthropologist recognized as a major theorist in globalization studies )

1. Ethnoscape- global movement of people

2. Mediascape- flow of culture
3. Technoscape- the scope and movement of technology around the world
4. Financescape- global circulation of money
5. Ideoscape- the global flow of ideas

Lesson 2: The globalization of world economic

Economic globalization

 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines it as a historical process representing the
result of human innovation and technological progress.
  Increased trade means that investments are moving all over the world at faster speeds.
International Trading Systems

Silk road
 oldest known international trade route
 a network of pathways that spanned China to Middle East and Europe.
 the Silk Road was international, it was not truly “global” because it had no ocean
routes.

1571- establishment of the galleon trade that connected Manila in the Philippines and Acapulco
in Mexico.
Mercantilism era
 countries primarily in Europe, competed with one another to sell more goods as a
means to boost their country’s income (called monetary reserves).
 to defend their products from competitors who sold goods more cheaply,
imposed high tariffs, forbade colonies to trade with other nations.
 Designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports.
Gold Standard
 a more open trade system that emerged in 1867.
 its goal was to create a common system that would allow for more efficient trade.
 established a common basis for currency prices and a fixed exchange rate system
– all based on the value of gold.
Great depression- caused by the gold standard and was the worst and longest
recession ever experienced by the Western world.
 Economic historian Barry Eichengreen argues that the recovery of the US really began
when having abandoned the gold standard.

Fiat money is money that derives its value from government regulation or law.

The Bretton Woods System

After the two world wars, world leaders sought to create a global economic system
that would ensure a longer lasting global peace.

The Bretton woods system was inaugurated in 1944 to prevent the catastrophes
of the early decades of the century from reoccurring and affecting international ties.

It was largely influenced by the ideas of British economist John Maynard Keynes
who believed that economic crises occur not when a country does not have enough
money, but when money is not being spent and not moving.

Global Keynesianism- a system of the active role of governments in managing spending served
as the anchor.
Two financial institutions
 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or world bank) – to
be responsible for funding postwar reconstruction projects.
  International Monetary Fund (IMF)- is an organization of 189 countries, working to
foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate
international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic
growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
Stagflation- a phenomenon in which a decline in economic growth and employment (stagnation)
takes place alongside a sharp increase in prices (inflation).
Neoliberalism- a policy model- bridging politics, social studies and economics that seeks to
transfer control of economic factors to the private sector from public sector.

Lesson 3: A History of Global Politics: Creating an International Order

International Relations

-scholars of politics study this, it is about political, military, and other diplomatic engagements
between two or more countries.

Internationalization

- deepening of interactions between states

- does not equal globalization, but a major part of globalization.

The Attributes of Today’s Global System

Four key attributes of world politics

1. There are countries or states that are independent and govern themselves.
2. These countries interact with each other through diplomacy.
3. There are international organizations, like the United Nations (UN), that facilitate these
interactions.
4. Beyond simply facilitating meetings between states, international organizations also take
on loves of their own.

Nation-State

-is a relatively modern phenomenon in human history, and people did not always organize
themselves as countries.

The two interchangeable terms of nation – state

“Not all states are nations and not all nations are states”

Examples

1. The nation of Scotland has its own flag and national culture but still belongs to a state
called United Kingdom.
 2. Many believe that Bangsamoro is a separate nation within Philippines but the authority
still recognizes it as a Philippine State.

State

-is an independent political entity with clear geographic boundaries.

- refers to a territory

Four attributes of State

1. Citizen
Bases in determining principles
 Jus Sanguinis
 Jus Soli
 Naturalization

Smallest State- Singapore & Vatican

Largest State-China & Russia

2. Territory

3. Government

-agency in which the will of the people are established, limited &defined.

3 structures of government

1. Executive
2. Judiciary
3. Legislative
Forms of government

1. Monarchial
2. Republican
3. Dictatorial
4. Democratic

4. Sovereignty is the full right and power of a governing body over itself, without any
interference from outside sources or bodies.

Nation

is a stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory,

history and ethnicity manifested in a common culture.
The Interstate System

- a system of competing and allying states.

-nthe Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic designed a system
that would avert wars in the future.

Treaty of Westphalia

-a set of agreements signed in 1648 to end the Thirty Years War between the major continental
powers of Europe.

Napoleon Bonaparte

-believed in spreading the principles of the French Revolution (liberty, equality and fraternity)
Napoleonic Code

-forbade birth privileges, encouraged freedom or religion and promoted meritocracy in

government service.

Immanuel Kant
- first major thinker of liberal internationalism
- “establish a continuously growing state consisting of various nations which will ultimately
include the nations of the world.

- he imagined a form of global government.

Jeremy Bentham
- coined the word “international”
- he believed that objective global legislators should aim to propose legislation that would
create “the greatest happiness of all nations taken together”.

Karl Marx

- He did not divide the world into countries, but into classes.
Capitalist Class
-owners
Proletariat Class
-workers
The Socialist International

- Was a union of European socialist and labor parties established on Paris in 1889.

The Communist International

- Served as the central body for directing Communist parties all over the world.