Essay 1: Political and economic integration

Globalization is the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence as a result of interchange of world views, products and other essential cultural and social aspects. Over the years, the world has experienced increased connectivity mainly due to advanced technology which has made the flow of money, ideas and products across borders an easy task. It is prudent to point out that political and economic globalization is the major spheres of globalization and has variety of impacts. Nevertheless, it has been difficult distinguishing between political and economic globalization. Although they have varying impact, it is imperative to note that the two concepts are quite distinct.

To start with, economic globalization refers to a situation whereby the all national economies are in one way or the other members in an interlocking global economy. It refers to a situation where no a single economy in the world that fails to integrate with other world economies or remains an autonomous isolated entity. The situation ensures free and timely flow of financial capital, labor and products across borders. Nevertheless, this free flow of capital and product should not be confused with internationalization. Although the two concepts are somehow inter-related, the two are distinct in different ways. For instance, internationalization holds that increased cross-border transactions leads to intensified interdependence between national economies. On the other hand, globalization marks a qualitative shift towards heavy integration that allows massive production, distribution and consumption of goods and services freely across borders. Economic globalization advocates for increased economic relations among states. For instance, the increased number of MNCs is a good example of the benefits of economic globalization.

While economic globalization is concerned with movement of capital, goods and services across borders, political globalization is concerned with decision making at the international level. It advocates that global decision making should be a prerogative of international organizations. It is nevertheless prudent noting that these international organizations may have regional jurisdiction, such as EU, or global jurisdiction like the United Nations. Although globalization emphasizes on importance of these international organizations, the sovereignty of individual states is however guaranteed (Friedman, 2006). Members of these international organizations are always at liberty to conform with the provisions of these entities while they maintain their sovereignty.

Although political and economic globalizations are distinct in several ways, it is also worth to note that the two concepts are interrelated in some ways. For instance, in most cases, political globalization is seen as a means of managing or regulation economic globalization. The existence of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank explains the connection between the two concepts. IMF and World Bank are international organizations with both economic and political influence to the global players. The two institutions have the mandate of laying out policies that will enable effective economic integration between countries. In addition, political globalization may be instrumental in major aspects of economic integration especially when members want introduction of single markets and single currency.  It should also be noted that political globalization have the role of ensuring global spread of political ideas such as issues on human rights and promotion of democracy.

Essay 2: validity of the concepts of universal human rights

The concept of human right has been an essential aspect since the famous Universal Declaration of human rights. It is prudent noting that the declaration was more concerned with the dignity of all members of the family which is foundation of freedom, justice and global peace. The doctrine declared human rights as universal and was supposedly to be enjoyed by all despite their place of origin or their way of life (Huntington, 1993).  The concept outlined major rights such as political rights, right to life, liberty of speech and privacy just to mention a few. Nevertheless, it should also be noted that the declaration is not a treaty and hence does not create a legal obligation for the countries. In addition, there has been a major difference on this concept between the counties of the west and those of the east. The concept has also become a debatable subject especially in Islamic countries. There are attempts to draw a line between western and Islamic human rights.

There has been a debate on whether or not human rights are merely a construction of the western culture. It is prudent to note that the Universal Declaration of Human rights is based on the philosophical part of the western culture. Most of the rights in the declaration, those related to civil and political rights, are of western origin (Bielefeldt, 2000). For instance, the right of a person to take part in the government of his country directly or through freely chosen representatives is merely a western ideology. The western influence is accelerated by the fact that the drafting and formulation of the declaration was led by an American citizen and thus representing the west.

Although there are elements that may seemingly endorsing western political and civil ideologies, there are elements in the provisions that are universally acceptable. For instance, every person has the right not to be subjected to torture, cruel or any inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Such provisions should be entitled to all human races irrespective of their palace of origin, faith or their way of life. In essence, the social and economic rights as outlined in the universal declaration were mostly championed by the socialist bloc of the UN and hence cannot be exclusively classified as of western origin.

References

Heiner Bielefeldt, “‘Western’ versus ‘Islamic’ Human Rights Conceptions?: A Critique of Cultural Essentialism in the Discussion on Human Rights Political Theory”, Political Theory, Vol. 28, No. 1. (Feb. 2000), pp. 114 and 116.

Richard Higgott and Simon Reich, “Globalization and Sites of Conflict: Towards Definition and Taxonomy”, University of Warwick Centre for the Study of Globalization and Regionalization, Working Paper No. 01/98 (March 1998), pp. 6-9.

Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 73, No. 3 (Summer 1993), pp. 40-41.

Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (London: Penguin Books, 2006), p. 8.

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