Our current world is changing at a faster rate each and every day. Changes are continually occurring in the social, economic, political, environmental, as well as cultural aspects of life. In addition, every nation is adapting and progressing to the changes at very different rates, making the possibility of a single scale for comparative study nearly impossible. In an attempt to compare international affairs on the basis of these five aspects, many issues or obstacles prevent there from being a single approach or guideline to comparative study. Global economies have been growing in diversity and altering in what encompasses them from varying angles. Among the above mentioned factors, economic change is, in my opinion, the one aspect which creates the greatest obstacle in developing a single approach to comparative study. Thus geo-economic change will become the focus of this paper in supporting the factors that respond to this essay question:.
In the face of global changes, is it possible to map a single world for study, or must one always develop one's approach to international and comparative studies on the basis of multiple and changing images of international affairs and what the world is? (Franke, Course Outline).
Though, at one point in human history, we may have been able to compare each nation or region on a level field, our post colonial world which has since been divided into individual "nation-states," no longer allows for such comparisons. Perhaps the most influential aspect of change that has modified the definition of the term economy is technology. Technological advancements have improved the human condition from the invention of the wheel, to the creation of fire, and the ability to harness energy. Innovations such as these have continued to grow exponentially. Following the Industrial Revolution and the Second World War, technological progress has continued to grow at an even greater speed.