Franklin Foer's allegory of globalization through the depiction of soccer stadiums around the globe portrays an interesting image for what the future of the world will be. As ideas are shared and disseminated, dominant cultures seem to supersede weak ones and destroy cultural identity in the process. States lose themselves to Westernization or become part of something bigger and connected like the European Union, abandoning their currency and combining economic power. Globalization has been a driving force that brought McDonalds to the Middle East and vaccines to sub-Saharan Africa. It bolsters economic growth through free trade and breeds collaboration on the world's greatest problems and emergencies. But at what cost? My original theory would be that people are slowly slipping into a hegemonic culture, but Foer offers an alternative situation. Rather instead of institutions like the EU fostering peace and understanding, a disconnect and distaste is starting to form among member states because of strong nationalistic pride.
The situation in Greece, and the reluctance of member states to aide their economically crippled ally was a sign that the Euro Zone is not something that can remain stable or "business as usual" in the future. Perspective from the United Nation University offers 2 scenarios for the future of the EU: increased fragmentation or increased integration. Fragmentation would fall into Foer's cynical theory that strong "facades" like the European Union will be torn down from within by opposing nationalistic forces and a divide among the rich and the poor states. Integration calls for a unified solution to beat the financial crisis and future crises by removing more of an independent identity and investing in and voting for the other member states. These scenarios however are a glorified example of the Prisoner's Dilemma, in which it would be in the greatest interest to collude, avoid arrest and increase overall benefit, but the threat of lying or going against the group is too great to trust in integration and therefore all states will help themselves. The in-fighting and lack of collusion can be seen by the way the EU handled the E.coli breakout, passing blame from one state to another making inflammatory remarks about who did what. Combine that with the lack of any unified political reform because of the lack of votes going to candidates from other states. Increased integration seems ideal but less likely in the current trend and Foer may be correct.
However states have been making strides towards forcing increased financial independence towards driving a unified Euro Zone by investing in member states infrastructure and public sectors. As of now, the weaker and poorer states like Greece are the ones making the deal unappealing for states like Germany and France, but reform could change that. What is the future of the euro? I don't believe its going away any time soon, but there will never be one European flag to unite them all, just as there won't be one European soccer team in the World Cup. Diverse voices, cultures, and people will make the EU constantly evolve. Opening the door to the Euro Zone only unlocks more doors to be opened, all within the same structure but never the same.
http://unu.edu/news/news/europes-future-fragmented-implosion-or-greater-integration.html
http://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Reden/2013/2013_11_22_dombret.html
Justin, you did a great job characterizing the nationalistic pride that can get in the way of cooperation. You also did a great job tying Foer into your argument. However, despite the EU's internal problems, I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon, as it's the best shot European countries have to cooperate and share the stage with the great powers (U.S. and China).
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ReplyDeleteJustin, I really liked how you tied in the Foer's argument, speaking to the nationalistic pride that the game of soccer displays and the lack of cooperation growing between nations. But does the strong nationalistic pride and lack of cooperation that you speak of stemming from the game of soccer truly represent these countries as a whole?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your critique of the EU and the ways in which you incorporated game theory, globalization and the Foer reading. I think to make your argument stronger you could address the strengths and success that are associated with the EU and globalization.
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