Globalisation. International Organisations: OPEC, APEC, WTO, EU.

Globalisation is considered a natural historical process, which has evolved into its current form due to the interconnectedness of the world that has made national borders irrelevant. In economic terms, globalisation refers to the growing integration of the world, as trade, investment and money increasingly cross international borders. Economic "globalisation" is also described as the result of human innovation and technological progress. The world acts as one global village. Rapid growth and poverty reduction in China, India, and other countries that were poor 20 years ago, have been positive aspects of globalisation. But globalisation has also generated significant international opposition over concerns that it has increased inequality and environmental degradation.

The World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund play a crucial role in promoting the concept of globalisation across the nations of the world. The World Trade Organisation was created so that the trade disputes between various countries could be settled amicably in the presence of the leading nations of the world. This international agency also administers trade agreements, organises trade negotiations, and provides technical assistance and training for developing countries. The International Monetary Fund was created to help the countries in times of distress.

Globalisation promotes the following initiatives:

1) free trade; 2) reduction or elimination of tariffs; creation of free trade zones with small or no tariffs; 3) reduced transportation costs, especially resulting from development of containerisation for ocean shipping; 4) reduction or elimination of capital controls; 5) reduction, elimination, or harmonisation of subsidies for local businesses; 6) creation of subsidies for global corporations; 7) harmonisation of intellectual property laws across the majority of states, with more restrictions; 8) supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions (e.g. patents granted by China would be recognised in the United States).

Nations engage in regional economic agreements to foster economic growth among member nations. The European Union (EU) is a successful exampleof regional co-operation. It is a political, economic and social union established in 1993.The EU is the largest single unified market in terms of population and output. It doesn’t have any internal barriers regulating the flow of workers, financial capital, or goods and services. Citizens of member nations have EU passports. Many member nations share a single currency, the Euro, introduced in January 2002.

Countries that produce the same goods can make economic agreements as well. A cartel, for example, is a group of sellers or producers acting together to raise prices by restricting the availability of a product. In 1960, several oil-producing nations formed the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a cartel with the purpose of driving economic development by inflating oil prices. Although OPEC’s efforts have directed trillions of dollars away from industrialised countries to OPEC member countries, corruption, war, and other factors have prevented OPEC member countries from rapid development.

APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) is a trade organisation of nations on the Pacific Rim – those that are adjacent to or within the Pacific Ocean. It includes developed nations such as Australia, Japan, and the United States, transitional economies such as Russia and China, as well as less developed countries such as Thailand, Papua New Guinea, and Chile. The group has set ambitious goals for trade liberalisation throughout the region by 2020. However, since all APEC decisions require a unanimous vote, progress toward its goals has been slow.

Multinational (transitional) corporations (TNC) cross many borders and must deal with tariffs and labour restrictions and taxes in different nations. They often bring jobs and technology to developing nations, while boosting overall levels of international trade – something that benefits everyone involved. The United Nations has justly described these corporations as “the productive core of the globalizing world economy.” Their foreign affiliates account for most of the world's industrial capacity, technological knowledge, international financial transactions, and ultimately the power of control. Through mergers and acquisitions corporations have been growing very rapidly and some of the largest TNCs now have annual profits exceeding the GDPs of many low and medium income countries.

Although some thought about the desirable fallout of globalisation persists, it also has some ill effects like erosion of sovereignty, the emergence of cross-culture, the accommodation and assimilation of a large number of immigrants to the developed countries of Europe and the USA, inequality in the world-wide distribution of income and environmental degradation. With globalisation, ecological concerns such as climatic changes, global warming and excessive fishing of oceans can be addressed jointly and effectively by all the nations.

As a strange outcome of the process of globalisation, English might be replaced by “Chinglish” (China-English) or “Spanglish” (Spanish-English) and Chicken Curry and Rice may become the staple diet of Britain.

VI. Speaking

A. Giving your opinion

1. Do you share the following point of view: ‘Today we have started hearing about globalisation and the economic issues that are a major component of it much more than ever before?’ Why?/Why not?

2. What would happen if Belarus decided to go alone and withdrew from the global economy, limiting its consumption to goods and services now produced within the country’s borders?

3. Is this saying connected with globalisation: ‘And if the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, or on the other side of the border, is it any wonder that more and more people go there to graze?’ How?

B. Discussion