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Globalization And The World Trade Organization

Decent Essays

Globalization is a very broad topic; a sweeping term established in the minds of individuals primarily over the past quarter-century. It describes the widespread global integration of economic, political, social, and cultural systems that is shaping the world we live in today. Marked by the establishment of trade liberalization movements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), globalization has greatly accelerated over the past twenty-five years, indeed, "world exports have grown at an exponential rate of 6.0 percent in volume [annually]" (Tremblay, 2015). Depending on the angle in which we choose to look at it, we may define and interpret it differently: good or bad, positive or negative. As Jan Aart Scholte describes, "knowledge of globalization is substantially a function of how the word is defined" (Scholte, 2000). Initially, the topic of globalization touched primarily on local and global issues such as poverty and world peace, homogenization, and cultural, economical, and political convergence. Now, it is understood to be a far more complex subject that is "contingent, ambiguous, contradictory, and paradoxical" (Stromquist et. al., 2014). Regardless of whether one chooses to take a positive or negative standpoint on globalization, the fact remains that this process is taking on an increasingly global scale and has profound effects on individuals, nations, governments, and businesses every day. Moreover, it is

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