Hopes for a More Prosperous World

Globalization "has enriched the world scientifically and culturally and benefited many people economically as well," claims Nobel Prize winner in economics, Amartya Sen.  The Human Development Report 1999 likewise points out that globalization "offers enormous potential to eradicate poverty in the 21st century."  The reason for this optimism is the dramatic increase in its wake.  The average family in the world today has three times more income than it did 50 years ago.

Some analysts see another advantage to economic integration:  They feel  it will make countries more reluctant to go to war.  Thomas L. Friedman, in his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree, asserts that globalization  "increases the incentives for not making war and it increases the cost of going to war in more ways than in any previous era in modern history."

More interaction among people also has the potential for improving global solidarity.  Some human rights organizations have been able to tap the resources of the Internet to promote their causes effectively.  The 1997 international treaty outlawing land minds, for example, was achieved in part by using electronic mail to mobilize diverse support groups throughout the world. this grass-roots approach was hailed as "a new way of conducting 
international diplomacy, with governments and civil society working together closely to tackle a global humanitarian crisis." 

Despite these positive results, many people still fear that the harmful effects of globalization outweigh its benefits. 

Next time: Fears of a More Divided World

From Awake! magazine, 2002