Our tryst with globalisation

It has been 100 years to the month since the October Revolution (which actually took place in November) ushered in a new Republic based on a new philosophy of governance and economics.

There was hardly a murmur across the world which is surprising as the Revolution triggered a series of further revolutions around the world and divided it into two camps, which sparred for over half a century.

Fast forward to 2016 and on a cold wintery November evening, while sipping PG Tips premium “Ceylon Tea” in our apartment in London, and trying to get a reservation to the newest Indian eatery sensation at London “Dishoom” my coursemate came in to our kitchen parlour.

Raking up the burning topic of the season, he asked me “Do you think it will be a crushing defeat for Trump?” referring to the upcoming American Presidential elections. Apparently he had just visited Ladbrokes and the bets were on the Democratic candidate but the returns promised were tantalizing for her Republican opponent.

Without batting an eyelid, I told him to put his money against popular reason. He was stupefied, but sensing my confidence, he did, and next morning, he came back all beaming while many in the world were aghast.

What happened was not an aberration of history but rather a manifestation. It is a fact that human behaviour had always been affected by needs and desires.

These were simple in the beginning – a cave dweller never thought beyond his meals for the day. Gradually we organized ourselves in clans and groups. Religion, ethnicity and language evolved and contributed to social order and disorder.

The kingdoms of the medieval ages waged wars for riches. As means of transport evolved, the search for gold and spices evolved into a race for colonialism and imperialism.

The ‘discoveries’ of the Indies were contested fiercely and propelled the industrial revolution to harness the marvels of technology for places under the sun – which would never set on their empires. Sun Kings evolved who promoted arts and culture as enlightened despots. As the wealth of nations increased so did the bourgeoisie as well as inequality. The winners may aim to take all but these ended up creating sore losers.

The colossal geographical and economic stakes led to conflicts scaling up to global wars twice. The first was fought on

GLOBALIZATION WAS FETED AND CELEBRATED AS THE PANACEA TO THE TWIN GOALS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

nationalism and ‘equitable’ division of colonies while the second sprung out of the ‘inequity’ of reward and punishment of the first but again with a motive of controlling resources and riches.

This set the stage for a fascinating furious race, which divided the world into two camps, each stroking fearful brinkmanship while the rest of the world watched in morbid excitement and apathy. Weapons of mass destruction brought a lethal edge to this race. The final fifty years of the twentieth century saw the contest between free market and state controlled economy, each claiming to be the optimal solution to provide for humanity. It was still all about needs, the have’s and have not’s.

Eventually, ‘Stateism’ gave way to free market and along with technology revolution, ushered in an era of globalization where capital, both human as well as monetary was not constrained by political boundaries.

Globalization was feted and celebrated as the panacea to the twin goals of growth and development. The collapse of the tiger economies in the late nineties; the saturation of growth in IT sector; and the subprime crises and collapse of global institutions were explained as exceptions and blips in the onward march of globalization.

European Union was a classic case where the wheel had turned a full cycle. The treaty of Westphalia in 1648 heralded the dawn on nation states whereas Maastricht in 1993 made their political boundaries irrelevant. Currency integration in 1999 was the final frontier, which achieved in bringing diverse economies under an umbrella of one policy management.

Dr Neil Jain

The writer is a Civil Servant and recipient of the prestigious Chevening Fellowship in Leadership and Governance )