Sometimes I ponder whether our movements for homelands and the protection of our ethnic-cultural identity will bear fruit in the backdrop of unstoppable wave of globalization. Today our children are watching Korean TV serials, enjoying Pokémon hunting and listening to Justin Bieber. They are more committed to their smart phones than to their parents. Students feel Google or Wikipedia is more intelligent than their teachers. GPS has become more convenient and reliable than the printed maps.
How long our diversities and parochial sentiments can resist the inevitable process of globalization? How long identity politics, municipal laws, national sovereignty etc. act as bottlenecks to globalization. If we seriously try to comprehend the powerful paradigm of globalization perhaps we may find the answer.
Human civilization certainly moves from one stage to another; from one level of development to another level. We all know how we proceed from cave-crimes to cyber-crimes. This is the unending process of human civilization. Globalization is a natural product of human civilization. It is a propagation of human advancement in ideas, technology and material. The process of globalization may be retarded by some forces but how long?
The process of globalization had started long ago. In the ancient, medieval or even in the modern times the kings and countries tried to expand their territories. In fact they built empires. These empires fell because they were built by force against the will of the people. However these empires made the foundation for globalization by establishing people to people contact and by exchanging ideas, culture and language amongst peoples. Again the major religions have universalized the world to a great extent. Some may argue that religions are also creating conflicts. A profound understanding of the religions will give us the idea that they create more unity and harmony. What fanatics do in the name of religion are aberrations? But the truth is two third of humanity is integrated by religions.
Europe is integrating through the Europe Union. The walking away of the United Kingdom from the Union is no doubt a setback. Many believe that they will come back to the Union. The Latin Americans are coming together. ASEAN is doing well. Despite Indo-Pak differences SAARC has made some progress. Commonwealth nations are making endeavours to find some common goals. BRICS is getting stronger. The Germans have come together; the USSR had broken; as of now the Koreans are unwilling to unite; Cuba and the USA have patched up. These are confusing trends but the mighty clock of globalization is ticking nonstop.
We can’t deny the humongous globalization effects through the robust globalizing agents like the WWW (World Wide Web) the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, World Bank etc. Today international trade, business and interactions are out of question without these institutions and platforms. Now-a-days no nation and people can live in isolation.
Inequalities between the developed-world and under-developed world, lingual, racial and cultural diversities may block the wind of universalization and globalization for a while. But the gravity of globalization is too strong that any resistance to it will not last long. In course of time the idea of identity and the notion of nationalism, will wither away. Ultimately they will merge with the global identity and system.
Some years ago I had an argument with a Professor on the issue of nationalism & sovereignty. He said, ‘these concepts are very old; the idea of nationalism and sovereignty are as old as 18th century; these ideas needs to be replaced; novel ideas must be brought in’. That time I was not fully convinced by his contention. Today I realize that the idea of global village has become a reality and globalization is virtually taking place. Still some people believe in nationhood and sovereignty when the world is fast globalizing.
After a few decades (if not centuries) from now the idea of nationalism and sovereignty will become infructuous and irrelevant. The forces of globalization will swallow them. We all will become world citizens – one world, one citizen, one currency, no requirement for passport or visa; you can travel anywhere you want without restrictions; your mobile phone will be your guide and advisor; there will be no army but police to help the citizens; there will be no war but a defense mechanism for this planet.
Then, why are we wasting time struggling for expansion (for lebensraum), sovereignty and nationhood when these ideas are becoming redundant? Shall we continue to fight for homelands when the whole world belongs to us?
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