The term "globalization" has acquired considerable emotive force and it provoked a clash of viewpoints. Some view it as a process that is beneficial, a key to the future world economic development. It knits together the world and creates unity out of great diversity. On the other hand, some regard it with hostility and even fear, believing that it increases inequality within and between nations. To them, globalization threatens employment and thwarts social progress. It also destroys the environment, sweeping away all that is healthy and meaningful to human existence. So, what actually is globalization?.
Globalization is considered by many to be the inevitable wave of the future. It is primarily an economic phenomenon and involves the increasing interaction and integration of national economic systems through growth in international trade, investments and capital flows. The word "integration" derives from "integer", meaning one, complete or whole. Integration is combining into one whole. Since there can be only one whole, it is logical that national economies disintegrate and develop into one global economy. However, one can also point to a rapid increase of cross border social, cultural and technological exchange as the phenomenon of globalization.
In addition, globalization promotes free movement and exchange of ideas over vast distances. A young Asian professional may drinks Australian wine from Austrian glassware, listens to Beethoven on a Japanese audio system, surfs the internet to buy Persian rugs from a dealer in New York, watches Hollywood movies funded by foreign capital and filmed in Europe, swipes his charges on an American Express credit card, and goes for vacations in a French owned resort in Pulau Langkawi. All these are happening because of globalization, the integration of national economies into one "global village".
Globalization boosts the economic growth for developing Third World countries.
