Globalisation’s imperative

Globalisation is defined as worldwide integration and development. It has resulted in the loss of some individual cultural identities, according to the same dictionary characterisation.

As such, it created some problems for countries used to strict territorial sovereignty and sacred borders. But its sudden descent left most of us with not much choice but to submit to or block the impact of the new phenomenon simply because it is hardly possible to remain isolated while inter-state dependence is vital for national survival.

In former times, movement of people and goods across national borders, which had been practised throughout history, was easier to control because it was limited; the numbers of people who travelled was no more than a very small fraction of the sizes in constant motion these days.

That also applied to goods. Transportation facilities were also very slow and quite inefficient. A trip that takes few hours now used to take months and involve serious risks in the past.

The development of transportation facilities, the speed and the affordable cost of travel by land, sea or air is encouraging more people to travel for all kinds of purposes and motives: education, trade, medical help, tourism, adventure and even curiosity.

People are naturally adventurous and the tendency to find out what is happening beyond the little world in one’s immediate vicinity has always been a strong human instinct.

The open-border policy, however, or even relaxed controls on states’ borders to cope with increasing traffic offered room for undesirable elements to cross easily.

The choice between stringent border measures that could create impractical crowd buildups and, obviously, problems and relaxed border controls with the risk of allowing dangerous newcomers in has been steadily difficult.

Globalisation did indeed create advantageous conditions, as well as enormous benefits, for millions around the world.

It continues to improve chances of integration and cultural understanding; it enables the less developed regions’ populations to share the great benefits of scientific discoveries of the more advanced nations in all areas of human activity; and it brings people closer to each other, thus enhancing a sense of constructive togetherness.

But at the same time, globalisation offers the same facilities to those that move for totally different purposes: thieves, smugglers, criminals, outlaws, sick-minded, misfits and outright terrorists.

As it has been hard for any border authority to successfully screen and exclude the bad elements from the good ones, strict controls ended up hurting the innocent traveller most and, worse, barely succeed to keep bad people out.

Terrorists sometimes cross many borders before being detected, and often after they commit the planned crime.

The rise of ultra nationalist ideologies in some European countries, and others, could not be totally separated from the antipathy generated by the presence of undesired foreign elements — in some cases dangerous elements — among the concerned countries’ citizens.

The right of every country to protect itself and its citizens from dangerous elements is incontestable. 

The problem is mainly with the trend of stereotyping, racial profiling and generalisation; with calls for a ban on all Muslims because some Muslims committed deplorable acts of terror.

The other, even more serious, problem is when such calls drift in the direction of border closures, building walls and isolation. This runs against the course of history and history is not reversible. 

There is no point in blocking the flow of water after the flood. 

The mix of people around the world is much too complex for any separatist trend to reverse or even to stop further inflow. Walls can be built, but no amount of barriers will be able to block peoples’ movement.

A better course of action is to create better opportunities for genuine integration so that immigrants’ sense of belonging is nourished.

Only then will they join host communities in fighting the bad elements, regardless of who they are.

Demonising entire communities for wrongs committed by some individuals from among them will turn entire communities into passive, indifferent, groups, if not altogether hostile.

Unfortunately that is what is happening these days.

This ought to stop. The war on terror requires joint action by all good people, regardless of their origins or their religious affiliations, of whether they are immigrants or nationals.

Globalisation has a negative side, for sure. The answer is to try to enlarge the benefits and to deal with the negative consequences, because no force can stop the inevitable. And globalisation is inevitable.