Introduction
Many people assume that what is taking place today was not anticipated in the past. What is happening today is a result of the effort put in place by several people who had not yet discovered the force behind international institutions. Has the globalization of the world today differed from the past? Well-informed observers say that what is taking place in today’s globalization is new. Over the last half-century, things have changed at a rapid speed, hitting new levels in technology that have never been seen before. Not only in technology, have things changed but also international institutions have helped in developing the world over the past half-century. This paper will focus on international institutions that have proliferated in the past half-century.
Impact of globalization in international institutions
Globalization has a strong impact on institutions and it cannot be ignored. Globalization did not start yesterday but rather it is a long-term historic process that keeps on developing. It has brought about subsidized costs in the world of communication and transport. This has helped and made it easier for institutions to grow at a rapid pace in the past half-century. For instance, in the 1950s telegrams were used to communicate but the world of communication has evolved to the use of telephones and the Internet. Ships were used in the transport sector and now aircraft are a favored way of transport. This does not mean in the 15th – 18th century there was no development but rather the developments that have taken place in the past half-century have been rapid and exceeded the pace at which the earlier had taken place.
International institutions have to organize and give discipline to the international face of national policy. In the past half-century, these institutions have grown, for instance, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank and the North Free American Trade. In the 1950s, the international institutions were a unilateral policy and over the past half-century, it has evolved to a multilateral policy (Wolf n. d).
The increasing role of international institutions in higher learning
Universities provide the personnel who are in charge of running international institutions. Over the past half-century, universities recorded a high number of male students but that has changed over the years. With no higher education, no institution can run effectively thus, a decline in the development would have been recorded. Not only have institutions grown but also they can now accommodate a larger number of students than they did in the past. If this rapid improvement of development continues, then in the coming years it will hit the high numbers.
Education that is commercialized involves many risks: by shifting attention from the classical realm of higher education, by accumulating benefits in the really advanced countries and most benefited international institutions that lead to discriminating the least fortunate and creating a brain drain in developing countries. The expansion of new learning economies is the force behind globalization. Higher education’s main role to play in the development and renewal of the education system in general. Due to this role and the influence, it brings on international institutions it programs on all social activities that take place.
The increasing number of students in the universities has caused an increase in the number of institutions. With the knowledge these students get from the universities, they come back to start institutions that are key to the development of society. Higher education is a major role in playing renewal of the development and education system in general, because of this role and the influence of the programmers and institutions of all the social activities (Hernes 2006). Graduates mainly form the international institutions that help the community in dealing with poverty that is developing rapidly in the world.
The effects of growth caused by the international institutions
Increasing poverty has also triggered the proliferation of institutions. These international institutions have put strategies in place in order to deal with the evolving global poverty that has been there over the past half-century. The global rate of poverty has undergone several stages hence enhancing the agenda that promotes economic growth and subsiding severe global poverty. Even though we have experienced high global economic progress, the level at which human poverty prevails is still a priority in the international arena. Unless antipoverty plans reach the next level, nothing is likely to change in the next coming years.
During the 1950s and 60s, Growth alone was the dominating factor that would lift all institutions. That has since changed and growth alone is not the determining factor hence involving with it different aspects that boost development. Industrial development, periodic infusions, urbanization and capital development were the fundamental key for the developing countries that the international institutions came up with. Developing countries imitated various growth plans that were built around favorable currency exchange rates, trade policies and low-interest rates. This makes one wonder whether growth alone is sufficient to get rid of economic poverty. Growth alone does not deal with the issue of poverty and that is where the international institutions come in place to help.
Developed infrastructure has contributed to the proliferation of institutions. For the institutions to work effectively, they had to rely on infrastructures that would enable them to expand. This infrastructure was a necessary tool for them to go to the rural areas and develop them. Due to this factor, institutions in the past half-century have caused infrastructure to develop rapidly because of the need of the rural people. Many communities have benefited from the advanced infrastructure in the sense that they can now be able to access the marketplace in good roads and better electricity.
International institutions have also helped in creating jobs in the past half-century. The jobs these institutions create have seen poverty decreasing rapidly. International institutions do not discriminate when hiring their employees which in turn has caused development. The number of increase of women in careers can witness this development over the past half-decade. These institutions have also managed to minimize the level of discrimination of race at the workplace (Clark 2005).
The part played by international institutions in international politics
International institutions give focus on international politics. We cannot ignore the fact that these institutions play a major role in politics. One cannot understand the politics of a country without putting into consideration the institutions in the government is involved. The infrastructure that has developed in communication makes it easier for international institutions to operate. When these institutions take root in a country, they become a definite source of communication for the country’s politics. International institutions surpass country boundaries making them have a distinct impact on transnational and governmental actors that are composed in them.
For an institution to exist, the notable density of interactions, involvement of each element, at an acceptable intensity that results in both in some consistent effect on the behavior of the elements and the emergence of properties for the system as a whole. This means politics make a difference in the governance of that particular country. In some instances, like the international NGO and Commonwealth of Independent States that networks the people who have not physically, their level of interacting is so weak that it could be said the institutions are not involved in politics (Martin & Simmons 1998).
On a general note, international institutions have founding documents that define their goals, how to carry themselves around that leads to their behavior, secretariats who choose to be committed in their work and identifying the career path of the institutions. Decisions made previously provide goals for the future policy and new participants that socialize interaction processes. The feature mentioned above explains the political behavior of its members and making the political outcome not be determined by the goals of the members of the international institution only. International institutions form systems that are politically significant and in turn, international politics cannot have relations that instate them.
International institutions form structures for political communication. These structures guard the behaviors of the employees in the institutions. Once the structures of communication are put in place, the transnational and government actors jointly put in place an international institution (Willets 2001). International politics also involves international institutions that play together interacting with the governments. For these institutions to be well equipped, they have to have the know-how in various political issues and that is why knowledge is needed.
Knowledge has always been a key instrument in development that is necessary for governments and markets to function well. A definite example of the application of knowledge and development in a wide range of international institutions is that of South America and Asia staple crops that yielded double through the green revolution that made a significant impact on the poor. The average small-scale farmer in Asia increased by 90 percent between 1973 and 1994. The successful increase in the use of knowledge is a key factor that has been used in East Asia to see a rapid increase in the past half-century. The same can not be said about Africa because it has seen a stagnation in its growth that has been brought about by a lack of embracing knowledge. For instance, Ghana and the Republic of Korea were at the same level of income 40 years ago but right now Korea is about six times richer than Ghana. Korea’s success can be attributed to its use of knowledge (World Bank, n.d.).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the international institutions and policies that put it together have the principal aspect of the level and pace at which development takes place. Over the past half-century, international instaurations have been at the forefront ensuring countries, communities and politics proliferate. Globalization is chosen and not predestined therefore any country that lugs behind is a choice that the international institutions choose to make in not embracing the knowledge that is necessary for growth.
References
Clark, R. F., 2005. Victory Deferred: The War on Global Poverty (1945-2003). Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.
Hernes, G., 2006. The Medium-Term Plan. In S. D’Antoi, ed. 2006. The new century: societal paradoxes and major trends. pp 10-11.
Martin, L. & Simmons, B., 1998. Theories and empirical studies of international institutions. International Organization 52, 4. pp 729-757
Willets, P., 2001. Transnational Actors and International organizations in Global Politics.
In J. B. Baylis and S. Smith, ed. 2001. The Globalisation of World Politics. pp 16-18.
Wolf, M., n.d. Is today’s globalization different from what has gone before? Financial Times, n.d.
World Bank, n.d. Information and Communication Technologies: a World Bank Group strategy. New York: World Bank Publishers. Web.