The best of times or the worst of times?

Introduction What is globalization? Theorists, the media, and people have discussed this phenomenon for decades. What does the future hold for a global world? People advocating a global world and those who are against it debate the pros and cons of the globalization process. Globalization is ubiquitous and when globalization is discussed, everyone has different images. Here, it is defined as the increasing rates of trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and the flow of ideas across porous borders. This paper and this author posits that globalization is a phenomenon that exists (arguably as it has existed since the 1920s), but that it has increased since the end of the Cold War. The fall of the Berlin Wall simultaneously ended the bipolar structure of the world while conditions formed for further globalization. This leaves many questions for people and nations alike. Globalization affects everyone’s lives. Although, many may think that the financial and socioeconomic factors of some countries may not affect a person in Omaha, Nebraska; the global market has proved otherwise. The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 proved to many political scientists and economists that the world was more globally integrated than previously thought. Also, books abound with theories of globalization in the fields of International Political Economy (IPE) and International Relations. In studying why some countries prosper more under globalization than others, this paper examines how the world develops under the increasing pace of our world. Some countries are winning the “game” of globalization while others are not. Porous borders increase the flow of imported and exported goods, and a country’s access to financial markets, and migration.