James Sonn

Mr. Klar
World History
May 22. 2019

Question: Do the cultural, economic, political forces of globalization make empire obsolete or
stronger?

Empire. Where one strong central government controls variety of lands and cultural, economic,
political of other countries. From the ancient time until the end of the World Wars, strong central
governments existed as form of Dynasty, Empire, Nation-state, etc. However, after the creation
of the United Nations and regulations to protect countries’ sovereignty, countries like the Great
Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal started the decolonization process and gave them a freedom.
Countries started to accept the idea of Capitalism and mixed Capitalistic ideas with its own
culture, economy, and politics. It started the globalization, a process in which countries and
companies work around the globe to interact and gain benefits. Undoubtedly, globalization has
created more wealth and consumerism than existed at any other time in the past. However, it has
contributed a new economy winner and loser; It widened the gap between the rich and the poor.
Not only individual’s wealth gap, countries’ wealth gap has widened as well, strengthening the
‘Modern Empire’. Although the old empire concept has been abolished in the world, it still exists
and affects its neighboring countries’ cultural, economic, political ideas, strengthening the
‘Modern Empire’.

As more foods were produced at the factories and new vaccinations have been created, human’s
life expectancy has extended throughout the history. According to the Human Drama page 266,
“The population of the world did not reach one billion people until 1825. It then took only
another century for the earth to have two billion inhabitants. In 1960, only 35 years later, the
world population totaled three billion. By 1975, there were four billion, and by the later 9180s,
another billion had been added.” As human’s life expectancy has extended, the population of the
world has proliferated as well. With massive number of populations, not all of them were able to
get a job other than industrial working and servants. According to the Human Drama page 266,
“At the end of World War II, another period of massive migrations occurred. About 12 million
migrants, mostly from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the Philippines, sought employment
in Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. Many Indians and Pakistanis migrated to the oil-rich countries
in West where they worked as servants and laborers.” After the end of the World War II, many
countries that has been disrupted migrated into rich countries such as the United States.
However, by migrating into those countries and working as a servant, their rights were limited
than other people in the countries. Those migrants learned and adapted to those countries culture,
eventually spreading it when they go back to their country. Therefore, migration to the rich-
countries strengthened the cultural influence of the ‘Modern Empire’ countries. According to the
page 267, “Each of the nations that welcomed immigrants had its own policy toward the
newcomers. The British government, following its colonial policy, encouraged cultural
pluralism, and helped develop separate ethnic institutions such as mosques, temples, and
language schools. France, on the other hand, following its traditional colonial policy, expected
immigrants to act like French people. The French Parliament even banned Muslim girls from
wearing head scarves in school.” Just like the servants working at the rich countries, France
forced people to follow their culture. On one side, it could be the suppression of cultural identity,
however, it strengthens the cultural identity for France and its people. According to the Human
Drama page 269, “The Disney invasion” this is a drawing of micky mouse invading other
countries where Native Americans lived with other ships with the American companies’ flag
such as Microsoft and McDonalds. According to this drawing, it is clearly shown that the strong
companies in the America is affecting other countries’ culture to strengthen their cultural
influence.

Wealthy elites in countries invested millions and millions of dollars, creating advanced
technology. Eventually, they created the Computer Age. According to the Human Drama page
228, “Although computers have been used since the 1950s, several recent inventions radically
improved their effectiveness. One was the integrated circuit that replaced separate transistors,
resistors, capacitors, and all the connecting wiring with a single crystal. Another was Intel’s
invention of the microprocessor. The 2009 Noble Prize in physics was awarded to Charles
K.Kao, who discovered how to transmit light through fiber optics, and to Willard S. Boyle and
George E. Smith, who designed the first digital-imaging sensor.” Without the globalization
creating cheap working labors in other countries, Intel would not have been able to create a
microprocessor. Intel is an American company owned by a American. The creation of the
microprocessor created more efficient computers, and computers created something called
‘internet’. The internet has spawned millions of personal website and blogs. Whether or not the
information people post is accurate, it competes with the results of investigative reporting and
information based on scholarly research. Intel has changed people’s style of living, but it also
affected the global economy. Many people around the world bought laptops and computers with
intel microprocessor, and Intel has dominated the microprocessor economy since then.
Therefore, globalization has strengthened the ‘Modern Empire’, dominating the market
economy. Also, according to The China Reckoning article, “Greater commercial interaction with
China was supposed to bring gradual but steady liberalization of the Chinese economy. U.S.
president George H. W. Bush’s 1990 National Security Strategy described enhanced ties with the
world as “crucial to China’s prospects for regaining the path of economic reform.”” As the result
of China and the U.S. economic interaction, trade in goods between the United States and China
exploded from less than $8 million in 1986 to $578 billion in 2016. Two strong ‘Modern
Empire’ have both gained benefits and strengthened their economy by the process of the
globalization.

At the end of the World War II, several other nations, including Iran, are believed to be
developing the nuclear weapon. The proliferation of atomic weapons has made the twenty-first
century even more vulnerable than when only five nations possessed nuclear weapons.
According to the Human Drama page 248, “A dramatic increase in the use of terrorism is also
contributing to deep seated anxiety worldwide. Several small but determined individuals and
groups have acquired deadly weapons or perfected their bomb-making skills. These groups can
severely damage property and kill substantial numbers of people. Terrorist also hijack airplanes
that they then use as bargaining ploys in getting their demands.” The increasing use of terrorism
has posed a dramatic new challenge. It created further strict policies that protect their country,
and those terrorist attacks have benefited their political strength and strengthen their opinion,
even though it did kill massive number of innocent lives. Growth was supposed to bring not just
further economic opening but also political liberalization. According to an article,The China
Reckoning, “Development would spark a virtuous cycle, the thinking went, with a burgeoning
Chinese middle class demanding new rights and pragmatic officials embracing legal reforms that
would be necessary for further progress. This evolution seemed especially certain after the
collapse of the Soviet Union and democratic transitions in South Korea and Taiwan.”
Globalization has further strengthened the legal policies and rights for middle class in China. The
introduction of the democracy to the Chinese people caused the crackdown on pro-democracy
protesters in Tiananmen Square. Globalization strengthened the United States’ democratic
system, influencing other communism country. According to an article, the China Reckoning, At
the end of the World War II, the United States built institutions and rules that helped structure
global politics and the regional dynamics in Asia. Widely accepted norms, such as the freedom
of commerce and navigation, the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the international
cooperation on global challenges, superseded nineteenth-century spheres of influence.” Due to
the globalization, the United States gained power over other countries, and they enhanced their
political control outside of the United States. Therefore, globalization strengthened politics of the
‘Modern Empires’.

At the end, a question came up to my mind: What is the Empire? Definition that we have on the
dictionaries are one strong central government controlling another region. However, none of the
strong countries nowadays are controlling or own another region. According to an article Where
in the World is the U.S. Military? By David vine, “Despite recently closing hundreds of bases in
Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States still maintains nearly 800 military bases in more than 70
countries and territories abroad–from giant “Little Americas” to small radar facilities. Britain,
France and Russia, by contrast, have about 340 foreign bases combined.” U.S. has the largest
number of military bases in foreign region. The numbers are almost greater than the old empire’s
militaries. We are not sure if they are equal as the old empires, but globalization has strengthened
‘Modern Empires’ culturally, economically, and politically.