One of two volumes, Globalization and the Challenges of a New
Century is a collection of 36 articles written between 1991 and
1998 by notable USA scholars. This "reader" resulted from
a national conference held in Washington, D.C., April 1998, to celebrate
the 40th Anniversary of Title VI of the Higher Education Act. The
theme "globalization" is treated from interdisciplinary
perspectives including political science, economics, security, history,
business, technology, environmental studies, and future studies. There
are 10 parts with 3 to 6 articles in each part. A summary introduction
is provided for each part as well as a concluding resource bibliography,
a list of contributors, and an index. The editors indicate that the
book is "intended for a general audience interested in world
affairs" and add that "teachers and students at different
levels in higher education will also find it useful…[as an] introductory
or capstone course in international studies" (p. xiv). I will
limit my review, out of mandate, to a select few of the 36 articles
and to my occasional comments on ideas that seem more relevant to
our readers.
In Part 1, Huntingdon, Barber, and Kaplan speculate about future power
distributions between state and society. They suggest that sources
of conflict will be based on one or more of the following: cultural
divisions; retribalization; global disintegration vs. homogenization;
scarcity; crime; ethnic conflict; overpopulation; and, disease. These
will give rise to conflicts "between nations and groups of different
civilizations" (p. 3), between culture against culture and tribe
against tribe, or between one commercially homogenous global network
and global anarchy and regionalism. Barber opts for a vision of "a
confederal union of semi-autonomous communities smaller than nation-states"
(p. 33) where politics would implement the adage 'think globally,
act locally'. He also urges new democratic practices because "democracy
remains both a form of coherence as binding as McWorld and a secular
faith potentially as inspiriting as Jihad" (p. 33). This article,
along with those by Zakaria (pp. 181-195) and Kaplan (pp. 196-214)
in Part 5, deals with aspects of democracy that could be useful for
courses in civics and in government.
Kaplan (Part 1) reminds us of the potential for the dissolution of
nation states due to demographic and environmental stresses. A well-travelled
journalist, Kaplan provides examples of many existing nations in turmoil,
particularly in the Middle East where colonial borders are contrary
to reality, noting that "hard Islamic city-states or shantytown-states
are likely to emerge" (p. 53). He goes on to claim that "henceforth
the map of the world will never be static…it will be an ever-mutating
representation of chaos" (p. 57). Kaplan seems to think that
the USA will be less a nation "even as it gains territory following
the peaceful dissolution of Canada" (p. 59). A smaller Quebec
will demonstrate North American regionalism.
These three authors present the broader, speculative picture and then
in Part 2 are rebutted by three other authors who claim that the original
three, in fact, distort and
over-simplify reality by missing crucial details. These details ultimately
confirm that many of the collection's authors take the position that
economic globalization or globalization of financial capital will
determine the future shape of the global map: "This globalization
with economies of scale leads to oligopolization of the world market,
inviting strategic trade rather than free trade" (p. 74).
If one accepts the vision that nation-states will weaken and that
national borders will take on a new structure, then articles in Part
3 present some implications for such a vision. I find two of the articles
in Part 4 provocative and relevant though equally challenging to comprehend.
The first, "Redefining Security: The New Global Schisms"
(pp. 131-139), is by Michel T. Klare who noted in 1996 that the "major
international schisms of the twenty-first century will not always
be definable in geographic terms" (p. 133). Klare nicely clarifies
the causes (i.e., poverty, ethnic and religious strife, population
growth in low or stagnant economic growth areas, and environmental
degradation) of these schisms. He writes that "…a successful
quest for peace must entail strategies for easing and erasing the
rifts in society, by eliminating the causes of dissension of finding
ways to peacefully bridge the gap between mutually antagonistic groups"
(p. 139).
The second article, "Postmodern Terrorism" by Walter Laquer,
was written for Foreign Affairs in 1996. Terrorism has a long
history but according to Laquer "little political impact".
Obviously, with the events of September 11, 2001, acts of terrorism
on such a massive scale have now significantly changed that history
and the initiative "has passed to the extreme right" (p.
150). Although written in the mid-90s, the relevance of this article
to the current terrorism emanating particularly from the Middle East
is copious: "state-sponsored terrorism has not disappeared…;
terrorists caused disruption and destabilization in other parts of
the world…; [and] terrorism's prospects…are improving as its destructive
potential increases" (pp. 151-152). Laquer writes about the new
weapons of terrorism, such as chemical weapons, and claims that "fanatical
Muslims consider the killing of the enemies of God a religious commandment
and…Allah's will" (p. 154). We have become vulnerable to a new
type of terrorism "in which the destructive power of both the
individual terrorist and terrorism as a tactic are infinitely greater"
(p. 156). With prophetic insight Laquer's concludes: "…the single
successful one [terrorist act] could claim many more victims, do more
material damage, and unleash far greater panic than anything the world
has yet experienced" (p. 157).
Economic globalization (Part 6) continues to be the most discussed,
complex, and dominant form of globalization. Dani Rodrik's article
(pp. 227-239) is informative and will provide the occasion for a lengthy
class discussion or cooperative learning activity, particularly in
an economics' class. He acknowledges the positive effects though the
negative ones seem to be the most controversial: "…globalization
does exert downward pressure on the wages of underskilled workers
in industrialized countries, exacerbate economic insecurity, call
into question accepted social arrangements, and weaken social safety
nets" (p. 238). A meaningful discussion could easily include
topics on the Free Trade debate, marketization, the shrinking of social
obligations, deregulation, and the potential effects on the social
network in Canadian federal and provincial jurisdictions. Rodrik offers
several positive remedies to the deficits of globalization.
In light of the events of September 11, 2001, we are now faced with
some of the results of various forms of globalization. The strike
against the heart of economic globalization has had an enormous ripple
effect on world markets, multinational corporations, trade and security,
employment, transportation, and governance. It has also reaffirmed
our connectedness to many nation states as expressed in coalitions
to fight terrorism, in solidarity events and efforts, in a revival
of religious roots, and in expressions of patriotism.
Other complimentary articles in Part 5 on "Globalization and
the Evolution of Democracy", Part 9 on "Think Global, Act
Local: The Environment", and Part 10 on "An Emerging Global
Culture?", are tedious and difficult but worth reading. Most
teachers will be challenged to make some of these seminal readings
relevant and compatible to the comprehension abilities and discussion
skills of their students.
For teachers at the senior secondary level, I would recommend this
"reader" as a resource book for the serious student who
might be required to or who wishes to wrestle with one or more articles
in a specific section on a given topic. Once read and analyzed, the
student might then locate a more recent article on the same topic
by the same author in order to determine if there has been change
in that author's position. There is a gap of some years since either
this collection was published or the authors' original publications
appeared. Creative teachers will be able to find ways to use some
of these readings in meaningful learning activities in their advanced
courses. (For a recent website resource see C.F. Risinger (October
2001) "Teaching Economics and the Globalization Debate on the
World Wide Web", Social Education 65, pp. 363-365.) Many
of the readings will be useful for the professional knowledge base
of senior secondary/high school teachers involved in teaching politics,
sociology, economics, and allied social sciences. Seeds of wisdom
and thought-provoking ideas abound but, admittedly, a few of the readings
should be a challenge for only the advanced post-secondary student,
the graduate student, or the professor.