Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment Example For Wright, globalization brings some order in the world while for Kaplan it is a source of chaos but both agree that it is not a new phenomenon as traces of it can be found in history. Kaplan and Wright view globalization as a growth in interdependence among nations enhanced by commerce and improved technology. The expansion of commerce began in the prehistoric period driven by improvements in transport, roads, wheels and boats. These improvements were meant for facilitating wars but when there was no fighting, they were used to do deals (Wright). Even today, trade is enhanced by improved transport and communication making it accessible to cross boarders and trade with other nations. The building of ships, planes, trucks, and railway has connected many countries to the rest of world thereby enhancing globalization. According to Kaplan, the geographical location of a country is vital in determining its success in commerce. America has been able to rise in the global scene due to adva ncement in transport and its strategic position where it can connect to the rest of the world. It can connect to Europe through the Atlantic Ocean, Asia through Pacific Ocean and other countries through the Indian Ocean. It is thus able to exchange with those countries through its shipping lines. Information technology has also been attributed to the spread of Globalization. According to Wright it started in early days when writing was discovered in Mesopotamia as a way of keeping records. It was later used in the form of contracts that enhanced international trade. The discovery of print also accelerated globalization. In Wright’s words, it makes it cheap to transmit information thus giving power to the powerless groups. He gives an example of the rise of Protestantism from the Roman Catholic Church that was facilitated by the emergence of print media in the 15th century. People like Martin Luther used the print to their advantage to spread ideas and attract masses. Today, i nformation technology also helps to advance the terrorism ideals as people from all over the world watch news of terrorism activities through televisions, internet and other social media. The events of 9/11 attacks were broadcast all over the world and Osama bin Laden became a local name thus globalizing the world through media. Technology advancement has also resulted in development of nuclear weapons necessiting the governments to unite against such activities by forming a global security watch bodies. Globalization over time has led to both positive and negative consequences. According to Wright, globalization has led to expansion of governments thereby forming global governance. This is due to increasing interdependence among nations; what happens in one country affects other countries thus creating the need for a world body such as World Trade Organization to regulate commerce and trade. The United Nations is also a world body that ensures security among nations. America being a pertinent player in the global scene therefore has a duty to protect its interests and this makes it necessary for it to intervene in the affairs of other nations to ensure they are stable. This is due to the fact that if trading nations are unstable, then America will be affected due to interdependence. This explains America’s interest in ending Iraq war. Globalization also leads to growth of morality. According to Wri

Major Oil Isssues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Major Oil Isssues - Essay Example However the supply of crude oil in the international market has been rigid. This creates the pressure on the prices of the oil. This fundamental theory of the international market as well as the economy of the world provides the explanation for the process or the trend of the fluctuation in the price of crude oil. Within the period 2004 - 2006 the capacity of the production of the global oil had not been able to keep in pace with its demand that had been increasing rapidly. The demand for oil had been on an increase more for the emerging economies of the continent of Asia, China, and also the United States of America. The demands for oil have an increase of 1.4 million barrels per day for the year 2005 as compared to 2.7 million barrels per day increase in 2004. This increased demand of oil had been accompanied by a continuous increase in the price of the same. According to the market specialists the price of oil is expected to remain jumpy and almost volatile. Moreover the price of this particular resource is expected to face a continuous rise rather than decrease. There is a high probability that the price will remain above the expected mean value of the price. (Krichene, 2006, pp 3- 4: Gautier, 2008, p 110) However predictions about the persisting trend of oil price vary among scholars. In the words of Xu, Chen and Han the main obstacle that arises in the prediction of the price of the crude oil is uncertainty. The various models along with the methods for computation that are present help to forecast the price trend in literatures. However most of the methods have not been able to predict the existing and the future variability of the prices of crude oil in the most effective way. For the betterment of the methods of computing the variations in the price econometricians have made several attempts and they have suggested different methods that are suitable for measuring and predicting the volatility. (Huynh, 2008, p 353) The paper aims at studying the expect ed trend of the oil price in the recent future with special emphasis to Australia. Peak Oil Phenomenon and Discussions around the World The past century had experienced a major growth of population but lesser instances of food shortages. The material requirements of the people had also surged. All this was achieved due to the growth of production of oil. The immense growth of oil production hugely benefited the food productions, wiped out the occurrence of famines, and made other daily human activities simpler (Hall & Day, 2009). The huge oil production made oil cheaper and the civilization moved forward based on oil-based energies. However, this also led to a huge depletion of oil reserves and ecologists predict that Peak Oil is not far away. Peak Oil is a phenomenon by which the global oil production will reach its highest stage and then it will start to fall at a very fast rate (Cork, 2010). M King Hubbert, a geologist working with Shell predicted a bell like life span of petrole um production in United States in 1956. According to Colin Campbell, the peak of discovering new fields had reached during the 1960s. He gives a fair assessment of the situation. According to him, the peak depends on the discovery of new fields, which has slowly decelerated, and the extraction rate of oils, which depends on the nature of the reservoir (Campbell, 2002). Presently the world consumes about four times the oil that is