Developments In Globalisation

How important have the developments in transport and communication technology been in causing the rapid increase in globalization?

Since the dawn of time, the human species in confronted to a complex phenomena, intrinsically linked to evolution: Globalisation.

Globalisation is well known as a recent and modern phenomenon, and can be defined as the process of international integration between people, companies, and governments of different nations, driven by the internalisation of trade and investment, and through the rapid diffusion of technology. Yet, globalisation is not a recent process. We can therefore distinguish three distinct globalisations: Archaic, early modern and modern. For thousands of years, people, and, later, corporations,

In fact, many of the features of the current wave of globalization are similar to those prevailing the 20th and 21th centuries. Our point of focus in this essay will be the modern globalisation. Several causes can be identified in order to understand the origins of globalisation. Humanity entering the Information Age, but also the fall of Soviet communism and widespread of liberal democracies are plausible causes for the development of globalisation in the 20th and 21th centuries. Nevertheless, two major areas of development caused the rapid increase of globalisation during the 20th and 21th centuries: Transportation, and communication. In other words, material and immaterial movement of goods, services, people and ideas.

In a globalized economy, no entity is self-sufficient. Adam Smith’s International Labour Division is now a day a reality. On a worldwide scale, production is fragmented, and divided between countries thousands of kilometres away from each other. Today, in 2014, few countries could obtain an decent standard of living without being part of the globalised economy. With only domestic resources,

Both fields contributed to notion of time-space convergence, and the reduction of friction of distance. Trains, car, but also air and sea transport modes constantly increased in size, speed and reliability. These technical improvements logically serve the notion of globalisation, which consists by definition in increasing international contacts and integration. It contributes to economic globalisation, through causing economies of scale for companies around the world, and diversifies supply and demand. Transport and communication greatly encourages social globalisation in the cyber world, with social networks, but also tourism, immigration and acts therefore as a cultural blender. On a political point of view, new methods such as video conferences expands the role of diplomacy, and recent innovation in the field of satellite TV and the world wide web brings unbiased information to recluded or persecuted population. However, this great influence would not be a fact without some external factors, such as the development of free trade zone and the abandon of autarkic policies, which make the use of new transport and communication