The Farce that is Globalization

USA Today had an interesting piece concerning the many myths surrounding Globalization. What's possibly most interesting are not exactly the arguments being made, but who is making these arguments. It's none other than Ralph Peters, a man not usually known for intelligent discussion. His book Fighting for the Future is of little value in terms of military analysis, and largely is a rehash of overly jingoistic rhetoric about how America will defeat anybody and everybody. To be fair, this is quite a common theme among much of the literature dealing with military affairs (pathetic if you ask me), but somehow Peters manages to be that much more annoying. Even David Icke is able to give a well thought out critique of his essay "The New Warrior Class", in which Peters outlines the potential future enemies of the United States (it should be noted that "Patriots" are mentioned among them). For those who don't know, David Icke is a conspiracy theorist who believes the world is ruled by a secret caste of alien reptilian-human hybrids, and that doesn't even include his Dan Brown style rants about Catholicism and Christianity in general. This certainly should tell you something.

Well anyways, this time around Peters manages to get things right. His two main arguments are 1) Globalization is not new and 2) it does not bring perpetual world peace. Bingo!

The notion of a cosmopolitan world order goes all the way back to the days of Alexander the Great. As his phalanxes marched across the then known world, Greek culture followed in their path, giving rise to the Hellenistic age. The same can be said of the Roman Empire, when the legions helped spread Latin culture far and wide (the Pax Romana). Likewise today, American pop culture has followed the Marine Corps into Iraq. Although it certainly can be debated if the spread of the latter will be as beneficial as the spread of Greek and Latin cultures were.

It's often argued that Globalization will be bring world peace. Well one would only have to look at the outbreak of World War I in 1914 to prove this assertion wrong. As Charles A. Kupchan argues:

"Trade and investments inside Europe were, in relation to the size of national economies, greater one hundred years ago than they are today. Germany was Britain's second-most-important trading partner (after the United States), and Britain was the top market for German exports...Borders in the early 1900s were permeable. Europeans moved freely from country to country, without passports and without having to bother with border controls. Such intense levels of interdependence, however, did not avert Europe's rapid descent into World War I."
-- The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-First Century page. 103

So despite all the rhetoric from the media and politicians, Globalization is not new and it does not bring peace. It's really sad how much the establishment seems addicted to this farce!