Steven Lombardo 11390992 Integrative Essay Around the globe humans are experiencing life in ways not thought

possible just a few decades ago. The world has united for a variety of reasons. For the fight against diseases to the spread of goods and ideas. New technology lets us communicate across the world in seconds. Our ideas about human rights has spread to every nation, and religious beliefs that originated in the Middle East have spread to countries thousands of miles away. Globalization of the world has snowballed effecting every facet of our lives. From typing on a laptop built in China, to wearing clothes made in Taiwan. However the production and shipment of these goods has an effect on the environment. No matter where you live, global climate change caused by the wasteful consumption of goods by one nation, will effect a country half the world away. Steger notes that globalization is an uneven process and how people in different parts of the world are effected differently1. So while some nations reap the benefits of globalization, others suffer from it. The positive influence globalization has on the world must outweigh the negative. If the balance shifts to where the globe suffers from its rapid acceleration into modernization, will the benefits outweigh the negative aspects of globalization? Observing certain aspects of globalization and their histories can tell us how globalization has affected the world, and humanity in both positive and negative aspects. We can decipher if the good is worth the damaging effects from globalization. Possibly the most notable aspect of globalization is the worldwide trading networks. Steger says, Economic globalization refers to the intensification and stretching of economic connections across the globe.2 Throughout history cultures have sought to expand their acquisition of goods and economic power. Earlier trade routes across the Eurasian continent had been improved upon by a Chinese explorer Zhang Qian. Zhang Qian would help create what was called the Silk Road which would last from the 2nd century BCE to the 11th century CE.3 It would stretch seven thousand miles and would connect new and old empires together. With this trade link connecting most of the globe, humans would begin to share ideas and technology. Steger points out globalization involves the acceleration of social exchanges and activities, the Silk Road provided a necessary way to accomplish that. Steger also notes how globalization includes the expansion of social relations, activities, and connections.4 The Silk Road would add not just goods, but it allowed nations to begin connecting on a more global scale. However with the benefit of efficient trade comes the downside to a global market. With such an effective connection from one end of the continent comes the quick spread of diseases. No matter the source of the disease, it can spread from one nation to another. The Black Plague would originate October 1346 in the land of the Uzbeks. From there it would to spread to Crimea and Byzantium using trade routes.5 It would leave lasting effects on the world. Jean De Valdent records that the replacement population was brutal, and those in power sought to ignite wars. 6 Even though the
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Manfred B. Steger, Globalization; A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2013), 11. Steger, 37. 3 Migrations, World Trade, and the Silk Roads, 8/28. 4 Steger, 13-15 5 Michael Dols, Ibn Al-Wardis Risalah Al-Naba An Al-Waba; A Translation Of A Major Source For The History Of The Black Death In The Middle East (American University of Beirut),444. 6 Jean Birdsall, trans, The Chronicle of Jean De Venette (New York Columbia University Press 1953), 51.

Silk Road helped the spread of the horrific disease the benefits of trade and the social connection outweighs the rare situation when our trade networks fight against us by spreading disease. Contemporary global trade has impacted this planet in a variety of ways. Global trade networks have been modernized with shipping centers around the world and new ways to transport these goods. With massive shipping containers loaded up on ships the size of a few city blocks, these goods reach a global population. The downside of this convince is the massive consumption of natural resources. A worldwide consumption of goods effects not only the large nations that use most of these resources, but a smaller country struggling to modernize will feel the struggle of climate change and a shortage of natural resources. This negative side effect of globalization causes the debate over if globalized trade, which consumes our planets resources is worth it. Yet the saving grace of a modern trade and economic system, is the supporting of others who may need help. When nations have natural disasters global aid pours in. Other nations send their help and resources. Without a global trade network none of this would be possible. Positive effects of global trade networks outweigh the negative, however the tipping point will be in this century and once the resources expire the world must adapt or it will fail. Technology has helped our civilization globalize faster with each new revolutionary idea. With each new invention that helped nations expand and colonize the world they would bring the globe closer together. Civilizations around the world would create their own technology that would soon spread along the established trade routes. China would develop black powder that would be exported and used around the globe. However with the new black powder technology, soon warfare would take an even uglier and brutal turn with the development of guns and cannons. Nations would use this new technology to start conquering other nations and expand their empires at a rapid pace. European nations used their superior weapons to conquer the continent. This effect can be seen today with the United States wars in the Middle East. Flying ten thousand feet in the air an attack helicopter can support ground troops with inferred and heat seeking missiles, while insurgents must resort to homemade explosives. In South America and Africa they were late to develop adequate defense technology they were defeated by the European powers. During the pre-modern period China would develop numerous technologies that would help kick off globalization in a positive way. Using the Silk Road and the port of Manila.7 China would share the compass, hydraulic engineering, as well as setting a standard of weight and measurement systems. Along with a standardization of carts and axels, traders could figure out how many goods to travel with and sell.8 These technologies would have lasting effects that would be the foundation for global expansion. The Contemporary Period from the 1980s and onward would have technologies that would have a massive impact on the globe. Steger believes that the Information and Communication Technology Revolution caused globalization to accelerate to on a pace unmatched in human history. With the Internet the world would be forever linked. Small nations in the South America could talk to Europeans instantly. Trade would become faster and more efficient. Knowledge could be shared instantly on a global scale. While our abilities to destroy have improved, good technology has helped humanity far greater and our success as humans can be attributed to the globalization of technology. Culture has helped shape the world in many different ways. The most notable is religion in its large global presence. Religion can influence politics, the economy and can start conflicts between nations. With multiple competing ideals the religions had a race to spread their beliefs.
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Spanish silver galleons and the making of the global economy, 8/30 Manfred B. Steger, Globalization; A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2013), 25

This would cause long military conflicts that would be the death of millions of people. It would also expel religious ethnicities such as in 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain signed the Edict of Expulsion, designed to rid Spain of its Jews.9 Yet religion brings hope to the unfortunate. Its messages of peace would be heard by the majority and with the beginning of a globalized world ideas could be shared across continents. Using trade routes and new technology to spread their gospel religion would be shared with the entire world. Another faucet of culture is consumerism. The material goods would have large influences on many nations. Goods would travel on the Silk Road to nations far and wide to get exotic materials such as silk to the populace. Currently consumerism has taken the globe by storm. With the internet and quick shipping nations send and receive their products, however a new side effect of this globalized consumerism is a term called Mcdonaldization coined by George Ritzer. Ritzer states that Mcdonaldization of the world amounts to the imposition of uniform standards that eclipse human creativity and dehumanize social relations.10 An opposing voice to this theory is Sociologist Roland Roberston, he believes that global cultural flows often reinvigorate local cultural traditions.11. Globalized culture has had a profound effect on the spiritual growth of our world. Numerous different conflicts and the argued loss individualism makes the globalization of culture a deadly human trait that has not had a positive effect on the world. Steger defines Political globalization as the intensification and expansion of political interrelations across the globe.12 Today we have many different examples of this such as the United Nations, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Examining the past we can find the beginnings of the modern nation-state system goes back to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Peace of Westphalia was the end of bloody religious wars during the Protestant Reformation.13 The change would be from small local politics that still followed a larger imperial authority, to the beginnings of international law where nations and states had an equal right to selfdetermination. Early international politics also included President Woodrow Wilson who after The Great War went to found the League of Nations. The League of Nations had flaws that would be exposed by radical countries who were set on another world war.14 It wouldnt be until the founding of the United Nations in 1945 when there would be a solid foundation of international communication. Other important entities are Doctors Without Borders and Greenpeace. These global non-governance agencies require working cross national communication. These are made up of citizens who wish to help and require a unified governmental structure. Global connections with nation-states and governments who can be persuaded to work together will help our civilization advance to a more unified globe. Connected nation-states and worldwide government organizations have, while sometimes tenuous, worked to ensure global peace. While there can be some negative aspects of globalized governmental agencies the benefits of connecting our leaders had been beneficial to humanity.

Mahmood Mamdani, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim (Random House, Inc. 2004), 5. Manfred B. Steger, Globalization; A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2013), 76. 11 Steger, 77. 12 Steger, 60. 13 Steger, 61. 14 Steger, 62-63
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