Introduction
Increased economic integration due to movement of people, goods, capital and ideas has led to a global economy. A global economy presents many and unique challenges to various countries. The bigger the markets the bigger the profits; leading to an availability of greater wealth and capital to invest in development (Globalization 2011).
The perceived effects of a global economy however excite strong feelings, tempting many people to see it as a potential genesis of global insecurity. Unhealthy competition for resources in the third world, illicit drugs trade, a thriving black market and military competition are perceived as some of the negative influences of the global economy.
The Case of China
Towards the end of the past decade, China experienced a steady economic growth. China was the fastest growing country in Asia since the beginning of economic reform in 1979; between then and 2001, China’s growth averaged at 10% per annum (Lawrence 2002). China was an upcoming superpower, its fast and steady growth attracted speculation that if China became a superpower, it would pose a threat to the global security.
This formed the basis of the China threat theory that came up in the beginning of the 1990s. However, Chinas growth plummeted from the average to 10% per annum to less than 6% per annum towards the end of the past decade; this was predicted to impact on the world economy negatively (Hosking 2010).
The world’s superpowers (i.e. USA and Japan) were worried by China’s growth since such a direction meant competition for world markets, resources, funds, ability to acquire weapons and expand military. It can be argued that economic competition is often related with military competition (Waltz 1993). Oftentimes Ideologies crash too. It worries many that China: a traditional aggressive communist, has powerful weapons at its disposal.
China’s past and recent aggression has undoubtedly confirmed these fears. China’s government has been using assertively strong language in its sovereignty claim over stretches of international waters near its shores that have been disputed. This has resulted in mounting tension between China and the USA; which stepped in to ensure a fair resolution of the South China Sea disputes, but China dismissed this as an attempt by the USA to contain China (Wasserstrom, 2010).
Before branding China a threat, considerations should be made that the military superiority sought maybe for different reasons other than war. For many years, China was a powerful country; it built a civilization that was marked by rich innovations and culture.
After its fall, China was left impoverished with civil unrest among many other problems. In spite of a fast growing economy, China is expected to direct its energy at solving the internal problems that it faces instead of playing the menace in global security.
Conclusion
Competition and sometimes a crash of ideologies are characteristic of globalization. The recent rapid expansion of China’s military coupled with China’s recent aggressive activities on the high seas left little if no doubt that China could be a threat to the security of other nations, including her (China) neighbors. But one should also not forget that China has the right to develop its military capacity (like any other country for protection) should they feel threatened.
However, it is greatly feared by western powers that as the influential power of China Increase, communist ideologies could expand worldwide. In several respects, communist ideologies are immiscible with some aspects that western societies average as irreducible human rights.
The core principle behind such a conflict between communist and capitalist ideologies lies in the fact that while capitalism has primarily focused on a person; communism seems to consider a country as more important in priority to a person.
Reference List
“Globalisation.” Global Education. 2011. Web.
Hosking, Patrick. “World Economic Forum says China slowdown is a Global Threat.” Business with the Wall Street Journal. 2010. Web.
Lawrence, Lau. China in the Global Economy. Stanford: Stanford University, 2002. Web.
Waltz, Kenneth. Emerging Structure of International Politics (MIT press, 1993). Web.
Wasserstrom, Jeffrey. “China’s Aggression and Insecurity.” Taipei Times. 2010. Web.