Globalisation: Friend or Foe?
Globalisation today has become synonymous with the term ‘development’. Various factors have propelled the era of globalisation. Gone are the days when we believed in non-alignment and the concept of remaining independent. ‘Inter-dependency’ is the new mantra of the present age.
True, globalisation is the means for emancipation, for removal of poverty, illiteracy and the promise of a better, brighter and a liberated world. The question then to be asked is “has the promise been fulfilled?” To find the answer to this major question we need to look away from the western world and move towards the Third world countries.
Major regions of the third world countries have adopted the practice of globalisation and some have emerged as winners and many as losers. Looking into the developed countries among the other still developing countries there is maybe just a small hope that all may achieve victory one day.
The ‘Little Tigers’ of South Asia namely
Due to this, the South Asian region today holds an important place in the foreign policies of the Western World. Globalisation as we can see then leads to Intra-Firm trade, rise of world exports in the G.D.P, increase in the foreign direct investments and a major role in the international politics.
However, globalisation in not all encompassing, and some countries still have to face the challenges it poses. The major area of concern is the increasing inequality between the rural and the urban sectors. The disparity continues and grows and the need therefore is to readdress the pattern of growth to remove such disparities.
One has to remember South Asia comprises not just of the little tigers but there are players like
Globalisation in many of these countries could not succeed because of the imitation of the pattern in the Western World. Each country has its own set of Political systems but the rapid pursuation of globalisation based on the pattern of the Western model maybe led to a structural crisis. This, in my opinion is one of the serious flaw in the aspect of globalisation in the developing countries.
The concept of ‘neo-colonialism’ is what follows globalisation where the country’s policies are altered to favor the interest of MNC’s and TNC’s. This leads to political hegemony and monopoly of power as such resulting in a threat to the sovereignty of a state.
The need of the hour then is to take the opportunities provided by globalisation and use it for the benefit of one’s own country.
Deepti Tamang
