Globalisation has become a very cliched term because this revolution has affected how every single thing in the world operates. It has its effects on social, cultural, economics, political, technological and numerous other aspects of a country. For this paper we will define globalization first. Next its effects on East and Southeast Asia will be discussed in detail.Discussion Globalisation is something that is heard of so commonly that everyone from all ages knows what this term means. One source calls globalisation a now ubiquitous term which means something that is ever present and everywhere.
This can describe the degree to which globalisation has become common. We will now move on to a formal definition and explanation of Globalisation. Globalisation The formal definition of Globalisation is as following. “The inexorable integration of markets, nation-states, and technologies to a degree never witnessed before-in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before.
It can also be considered as the spread of free-market capitalism to virtually every country in the world (Friedman, T. L. , 1999). ”If we look at the above definitions, the main idea of globalisation becomes very clear. The first important part of the definition is the word ‘integration’.
This one word is the main idea behind the phenomenon of Globalization. It integrates markets, technologies and nation-states as a whole. The next part of the definition makes it clear that it is integration on individual, corporate and international level and this integration enables us to reach around the world quickly and cheaply. The last part of the definition sounds unusual.
It is referring to the spread of free markets which the result of the failure of the communist block of the world during the world war. This failure can therefore be considered as a very important wave of globalization. In simpler and more concise words, globalisation basically is a common phenomenon which refers to the idea of increased linkages between all the countries on the globe. Because of these linkages, the world has become like a village. The question is why a village? A village is a place where everyone knows each other and everyone is in close contact with one another.This is the reason why one major effect of globalisation is that it has made the world a global village.
Everyone now knows each other and everyone is on close contact with one another. This close contact affects the different aspects a country which include the social, political, economical, technological and cultural factors. The main reason behind globalisation is largely the spread of good infrastructure and information technology throughout the world. In these days, traveling has become so easy, be it road, train, ship or plane.In addition to this the increase in internet use and people access to this technology helps in e business and close contact with people all around the world. Hence we have globalisation.
Globalisation and Southeast Asia and East Asia As mentioned above globalisation has had impacts on almost every aspect of every country. These aspects include social, culture, political, economical, technological etc. We will now study how it has affected these aspects of Southeast Asian and East Asian Countries. However, before we can begin our discussion, we need to have a clear idea of what is the geographical position of these regions.Southeast Asia consists of Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and East Timor while East Asia consists of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan (World Atlas, 2008).
It is important to study the effects of globalization on these regions of the world because these regions have a very high and important role to play in the globalisation debate and also because these regions consist of very strong countries like China, Japan, Hong Kong and weak economies like Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Burma.It will be interesting to study how all these economies deal with each other (Kim, 2000). Besides this, the trend in Southeast Asia has changed. The globalization has positive effects on this whole region but recently the economies of the countries in this region are getting worse. This is another reason why I feel that it is necessary because we can investigate what can be the cause of this change in trend (Pangestu, 2001).
According to a source, the impact of globalisation on Southeast Asia has been one the most prominent.We witness open markets, trade and capital flows there. However, this all is affecting the economy of many countries in Southeast Asia negatively. For instance the excitement that globalisation once brought with it is fading away in these areas.
It has been depending on globalisation and this has put it in a very vulnerable position. For this reason countries in Southeast Asia feel that its time that new ways of economic strengthening is found. Now the question remains how has globalisation put Southeast Asian region in a vulnerable position?The answer to this is simple. As mentioned above, the stronger economies are taking over the weaker ones. For instance, the competition with China in terms of trade and investment is too strong for countries like Malaysia. The tourism, goods market and outflow of capital of China have replaced Southeast Asia which was once the focus from where the local market was served.
The smaller and less developed countries compared to China are suffering because the foreign investment that was once attracted is now fading away (Bowring, 2002).On the other hand, the same situation is beneficial for China because China’s economy is now improving in terms of high exports and foreign investment. Their position has become very strong because they already had the resources but their market was restricted. Now because of the improvement in infrastructure and e commerce, the businesses in China have a larger market to cater to. The standard of living of people in general can also be said to improve to some extent.How is this so? By standard of living, we are not only talking about the people having a wide range of choices and being able to buy better and more imported consumer goods.
By a better standard of living, we also mean that the people of Southeast Asian and East Asian Countries will have more access to medical, health care and educational facilities because of collaboration between the governments of these countries and various international organizations. However once this is implemented, it becomes the responsibility of different governments of states to ensure that everyone equally gets this benefit.If some specific groups are let out and their standard of living is not improved for any reason, this becomes a responsibility on the government’s part. In poorer countries like Myanmar and Cambodia, societies will break apart as a result of participation in the international commercial environment. They will break apart because different societies will have different rates of growth. Take for example of the time when the Friendship Bridge was built which linked Vientiane with the Thai border, the nature of economic activity changed to a great extent.
However, the only people who benefited comprised of only a small group of merchants (Phil, n. d). Globalization has also affected another industry of many countries within the Southeast Asia and East Asia. This is the tourism sector or the industry (Buzzle, 2008). There are many countries whose tourism industry has flourished in the recent years.
Because of so much exposure through the internet people have become curious regarding other cultures and other countries. For example, Thailand is a country whose tourism industry has prospered and a lot of this can be because of globalisation.Similarly, Malaysia has also become a tourist spot for many people. The government of Malaysia is concentrating on this industry a lot because this is a number one source of foreign exchange (Sadi & Bartels, 1997). Another contribution that globalisation has towards the flourishing tourism industry is that through media and internet, countries can promote their countries and attract people from all over the world. Tourism then benefits the host country by increasing the revenue that is brought in the country.
Also, a lot of people are given employment in countries that have a good tourism industry. Besides this, different organizations of all sorts within Southeast Asia and East Asia get to have bigger markets for themselves. Before globalisation, they were restricted to carry out their activities within their countries only but now a manufacturer in Japan can be producing for a retailer in the United States hence the business size can be large. The businesses will improve and hence the economies will ultimately benefit. The businesses have more opportunities.For example the clothes industry in Thailand has become very popular worldwide.
It was once known to only people who lived there but now because of more exposure, people know where to get cheap clothes from and the businesses in Thailand have benefited from it. Other industries in other countries have benefited in similar fashion. However, this is all possible if there is free trade. But we must understand that free trade can also be harmful for countries.
The small scale industries or the cottage industries get affected negatively by free trade.When the larger companies like multi nationals come into a country and start trading there, they take away the market of the small scale industries. Since these are small, they are not able to compete with these multinationals and hence they suffer a lot. Governments can tackle this problem by implementing and imposing some sort of regulations, import duties, embargoes, tariffs etc. Besides the economic side, because of its multi dimensional nature, globalisation also has its impacts on the social, political and cultural spheres of Southeast Asian Countries.
These include both positive and negative impacts. As a result of globalisation, people from different cultural backgrounds can change their lifestyle for the best as a result of better communication and information. Besides this, people from different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds have started to cross the Southeast Asian mainland because of which economic systems of different languages have started to exist there. One negative impact of Globalisation is the spread of unwanted and dangerous contagions and diseases like HIV/AIDS.Prostitution, drug trade and other serious issues have become even more serious than what they were before. As a result of globalisation, there is also an increased threat of international military intervention in areas like Myanmar as instability in these areas is now considered as a threat to the rest of the world because of the close integration that we now witness.
Loans from international organizations come with externalities. Thailand borrowed money from International Monetary Fund and this loan came with certain negative externalities or strings.As a result of these strings, the unemployment level is increasing, the future of the labour market is not looking bright anymore, drug trade is increasing and migrant workers are sent back (Phil, n. d). Similar international organisations like WTO have said to behave controversially and by being biased towards some states of the world. This puts the weak economies in an unfair position (Shah, 2006).
In addition to this, the events of 9/11 have had very negative effects on countries like Bali.The war against terrorism resulted in attacks by the international forces there. The countries of Southeast Asia feel that because of Globalization this is happening (Bowring, 2002). The culture of a country also gets affected because of globalisation. This impact can be for the best or can also harm the country’s identity. For example many Muslims in Muslim countries like Indonesia have adopted the western style of dressing because this style of dressing is comfortable and more convenient.
This therefore has made their lives simpler.On the other hand, when one gets too much influenced by another culture, they tend forget their own values and history. This is acculturation becomes a problem. We can take an example of a situation where celebrities and other stars from another country become popular in other countries. When this happened in made states in the Southeast Asia, many state governments avoid replacing their own local stars with Thai pop stars and other popular personalities because they felt that their culture will eventually get lost (Phil, n.
d). ConclusionIn conclusion I would say that globalisation is a term that is often heard but we do not understand how serious a phenomenon this is and how it affects a wide range of countries. It can be compared to a wild horse. If the rider knows how to control the horse, the rider has an opportunity to win the race however if the rider is not aware of tactics and tricks of taming a wild horse, he will fall off and might even get crushed by the horse. Therefore everyone who gets affected by globalisation in any way must also be aware of various strategies and facts of how to avoid the negative factors that this phenomenon brings along with it.
This can be used to distribute wealth more equally between rich and poor countries. The developed economies should strive to help the less developed ones in sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience without any strings attached (Yeoh, et al. , 2003). This is the only way how the best can be made out of this ubiquitous term and this world can become a better place for all. International organizations are now concentrating on making the impact of globalisation good for all (World Bank, 2008).
