Every day, we knowingly
or unknowingly experience globalization, the worldwide movement of people,
ideas, money, goods, data, drugs, weapons, computer and biological viruses,
greenhouse gases and more. This isn't new. People and goods
have always moved around the world. The Silk Road, a network of trade routes
stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to East Asia, facilitated
the spread of fabrics, spices, art, weapons, technology, ideas and disease
over thousands of years. What is new,
however, is the scale, velocity and range of these flows across borders. Think about the speed
at which an infectious disease like Ebola
or Zika can spread around the world, or the reach of a financial contagion
like the crisis of 2008. Look at your smartphone
and think about the global coordination it took to produce. The interconnectedness
of the modern world allows ideas, behaviors, styles, products
and news to spread more quickly and broadly
than during any other period of history. But globalization's effects are complex. What represents an upside for some people
might represent a downside for others. Technology, for example,
allows billions of people to contact friends and access
news from around the world. International supply chains, the networks that turn raw materials
into finished items, produce and distribute goods
more quickly and cheaply than ever. But the pace of technological innovation
has also led to the automation of manufacturing processes,
which eliminates jobs. Trade is another example. Between 1970 and 2015 global exports and imports of goods
each multiplied more than 50 times more. Imports lead to increased consumer choices
and reduced prices and more trade can strengthen ties between trading partners
and promote peace, security and growth. But more trade opportunities
and technological advances mean many corporations choose
to ship their operations to countries where the labor and natural resources
are cheaper, and individuals and companies that can take advantage of international
resources experience outsized gains, which widens the growing gap
between the rich and the poor. The effects of globalization,
both negative and positive, are a reality.
No one can opt out entirely, but governments
have many options for responding. They can choose how open or closed
they want to be towards trade investment. Visitors, immigrants,
refugees, Internet traffic and more. Governments
can also contend with globalization through collective
rather than national responses. A set of international institutions
and other arrangements has emerged to manage globalization. Although some countries view globalization
as a threat to local identity, culture or social and political norms, no
country can be entirely self-sufficient. The challenge is for individual
governments and the world collectively to promote
globalization's benefits while effectively helping the individuals and countries
that globalization hurts the most.