The globalization phenominon
The globalization phenominon are characterized by nations trading goods, services, information, culture, threats, alliances, influences world wide from great distances with high speed. Consumers are ordering products from faraway places. Manufacturers are acquiring raw material world wide and shipping products international. Films are made by international teams in several countries and released simultaneously in many nations. Instant messages carry information to the other end of the world in a flash. Internation conferences of over hundred thousand attendees are held everywhere, exchanging ideas globally. Armed forces are stationed in faraway places conducting missions in foreign land, or participate in joint exercises. Television programs are sold worldwide, if not shipped through electronic networks.
These were not possible just a few decades ago. When airfreights are too expensive, goods are ship by ships, trains, trucks and other slow transportation modes. Goods took weeks if not months to arrive, and so did raw material. Manufacturers needed months, if not a year, to fill orders, necessitating long lead time for retailors to anticipate market trends. By the time retailors received goods, they were a year, if not two, out of fashion, using two year old material. Shipping perishable goods to distant customers were expensive due to long refrigeration time in freight, or just impossible for goods with short shelf live. The advance in transportation technology, in land, sea and air, allow much quicker delivery of goods, using less fuel, and less expensive. This made globalization possible.
Transportation advances also made global travel more accessible, even to those with limited means. In the good old days, intercontinental travel would cost a year, if not two years, of salary for a middle income earner. Right now it would cost only a few weeks salary. Thus enable much more international travelling by the masses, making global exchange of ideas and culture more readily.
