Download docx CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO THEORIES OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
NAME: RACHAEL WANGARI
QUESTION

Discuss the causes of conflict in Africa and its remedies.
Abstract
This paper is about the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and
governments of different nations, this process is driven by international trade and investment
and aided by the information technology. The effects of this process are felt in different aspects
of the human life including on the environment, on our culture, on the political systems in
different countries, on the economic development and prosperity, and also on human physical
well-being in different societies around the world (Zhu, K., Kraemer, K. L., & Xu, S. 2006). The
benefits of globalization for example migration and remittances can be useful for economic
development in the short run while their long term economic impacts in the society can be
negative especially in the areas that deal mostly with industry and export. Moreover, it can
have a negative effect in the future creating a loss in the human capital and distorting
traditional forms of the social structures within our societies.
Globalization is a multidimensional phenomenon which not only
touches political, economic, social and the cultural spheres of any society but also tries to
reshape the traditional way of studying the “social world and human nature” (Robinson, 2005).
Globalization is mostly associated with “intensification of the worldwide social relations”, global
economic integration, the de-territorialization and also the time-space compression (McGrew,
2008). To determine its extensity and impact on a particular society, an analysis of each of
these aspects should be done separately. Taking into consideration complexity of the
phenomenon I would like to concentrate only on socio-economic effects of globalization on
socio-economic development for proper explanation of my arguments.
The main idea is to examine how some of the countries that are still in
the transitional process are respond and adapting to the rapidly spreading conditions of
globalism as represented by integration into the world economy, elimination of most trade
barriers, extraordinary mobility of the human capital, goods and services as well as by
interconnectedness of both ideas and norms that reshape not only the understanding of
existing social and political institutions but also transforms them into new socio, political and
economic entities (Bhandari and Heshmati, 2005). The transformation can be observed by the
adoption and implementation of the western political and economic models that include
democratization of political regimes and the liberalization of the economies.
Both financial and industrial globalization has increased substantially
and it is creating new opportunities for both industrialized and also the now developing
countries. The largest of its impacts has been on developing countries, who now are able to
attract foreign investors and foreign capital. This both positively and negatively effects those
countries. There is an increase in the standard of living as the economic globalization gives
governments of the developing nations an access to foreign lending. When these funds are
used on infrastructure which include roads, health care, education, and other social services,
the standard of living in that country increases. If the money is used only selectively, however,
only a few citizens will participate in the benefits.
Many cultures in developing countries have been changed through
globalization. It is now common to find that the developing countries are now immitating
America and European countries’ culture. Before globalization, it would be so hard and time
involving or even impossible to know about other countries and their cultures. Sophisticated
technological tools of globalization like televisions, radios, satellite and internet, it is now
possible today to know what just happened in any country soon after someone captures the
event and shares it. Moreover, people worldwide can also know each other better through
globalization. It is now common to see more Hollywood stars showing the cultures different
from America. In addition, the young people in the different poor nations among who are
mostly the teenagers wearing Nike T-Shirts and Adidas footwear, playing Hip-Hop music, using
Apple iPad and iPhone and eating at MacDonald, KFC and Domino's Pizza . The only way to
distinguish them is never by their culture but rather, their language. One the other hand, many
developing countries are concerned about the rise of globalization because it might destroy
their own culture, traditional, identity, customs and their language. Many Arab countries such
as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, as developing countries have been affected negatively in
some areas. Their cultures and traditions have been changed, they wear and behave like
developed nations, only a very small percentage wear their traditional cloths that they used to
before globalization. Furthermore, globalization leads to disappearing of many words and
expressions from local language since many people now use English and French words. In
addition, great changes have taken place in most family life, young people trying to leave their
families and live independently when they are 18 years old, and the size of the former large
extended family tends to become smaller.
Globalization helps developing countries to deal with the rest of the
world so as to increase their economic growth and solve their poverty problems. In the past,
developing countries were not able to tap on the world economy due to trade barriers. They
cannot share the same economic growth that developed countries had. However, with
globalization the World Bank and International Management encourage developing countries
to go through market reforms and radical changes through large loans. Many developing
nations began to take steps to open their markets by removing tariffs and free up their
economies. The developed countries were able to invest in the developing nations, creating job
opportunities for the poor people. For example, rapid growth in India and China has caused
world poverty to decrease (Soubbotina, T. P. 2004). It is clear to see that globalization has made
the relationships between developed countries and developing nations stronger, it made each
country depend on another country. Developing countries depend on developed countries for
resource flows and technology, but developed countries depend heavily on developing
countries for raw materials, food and oil, and as markets for industrial goods (Porter, M. E.
2011). One the most important advantages of globalization are goods and people are
transported easier and faster as a result free trade between countries has increased, and it
decreased the possibility of war between countries. Furthermore, the growth in the
communication between the individuals and companies in the world helped to raise free trade
between countries and this led to growth economy. However, despite globalization having
many economy and trade advantages in the developing countries, it is also observed that there
are many disadvantages that globalization has created for the poor countries. One reason is
that globalization increases the inequality between the rich and poor, the benefits of
globalization are not universal and the richer are getting rich while the poor are becoming
poorer. Many developing countries have benefited from globalization but then again, many of
such nations do lag behind. In the past two decades, China and India have grown faster than
the already developed nations. However, countries like most in Africa still have the highest
poverty rates, in fact, the rural areas of China which do not tap on the global markets also
suffer greatly from such high poverty levels. On the other hand, developed countries set up
their companies and industries within the developing nations to take advantages of the low
wages and this causes pollution in the foreign countries with poor regulation on the issues of
pollution. Furthermore, setting up both companies and factories in the developing nations by
developed countries affect badly the economy of the developed countries and also increase
unemployment by the introduction of technology and machines in the production processes.
In conclusion, the process of globalization has involved all the countries
in the world. Developing countries like India, China, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Africa and Jordan have
been affected by globalization either negatively or positively. The economy of the above
countries have improved under the influence of globalization. The size of direct foreign
investment has also increased and a lot of bad habits and traditions erased. Despite the very
many advantages, globalization has brought many drawbacks to these countries as well. Most
customs and cultures have disappeared such as traditions clothes and some initially valued
language and expressions have changed. In addition, the violence and drugs abuse cases have
increased and a lot of deadly diseases now spread faster under the influence of globalization.
However, although globalization has many disadvantages than its advantages, we believe that
globalization has brought into the developing countries more benefits than the detriments. For
example, there is an increased market opportunity for people in both developed countries and
developing countries to sell as many goods to as many people as the tariff allows. This is a
golden age for business, commerce and trade in general.
Reference
Zhu, K., Kraemer, K. L., & Xu, S. (2006). The process of innovation assimilation by firms in
different countries: a technology diffusion perspective on e-business. Management science,
52(10), 1557-1576.
Appelbaum, R. P., & Robinson, W. I. (2005). Critical globalization studies. Psychology Press.
Soubbotina, T. P. (2004). Beyond economic growth: An introduction to sustainable
development. World Bank Publications.
Porter, M. E. (2011). Competitive advantage of nations: creating and sustaining superior
performance. Simon and Schuster.