Globalization to Enhance the Competitive Term Paper

Others (such as most countries of the former Soviet Union) face long-term structural and institutional issues similar to those faced by developing countries (http://www.globalizzazione2000.it/developing_countries.htm,2004 para 3).

In theory, globalization is supposed to be for the good of all. In reality, the developed countries on behalf of their companies and financial institutions designed this concept. Their main purpose is to overcome the regulations set up by developing countries to promote their domestic economy and local firms which had been marginalized during colonialism. In practice, following these policies can bring country new opportunities for wealth creation. But it also brings new risks that can destroy prosperity -- as what we have seen in East Asia and later in Argentina (Mohamad, 2002 para 11).

A country must carefully choose a combination of policies that best enables it to take the opportunity -- while avoiding the pitfalls. That is a task easier said than done. A country that is still poor or developing may find that it is not wise to jump blindly into complete integration with the world economy, for this may open it up to many risks that can damage its local economy (Mohamad, 2002 para 11).

Increasingly, policies that used to be made by national governments are now formulated for developing countries through global processes and institutions, including the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO. The policies tend to favor the agenda of the richer countries that dominate them. Since the policies are usually set in a one-size-fits-all manner, they hinder the ability of the individual country to choose the particular set of policies that suits its own development needs. As a result, developing countries have found it extremely difficult to steer through the turbulent waters of globalization (Mohamad, 2002 para 12).

National policies, therefore, should largely be made by national governments -- and not on their behalf by global institutions or other governments. What is important is that countries be given the right and space to review the impact of globalization. And they should be able to decide which aspects to make use of in future -- and which aspects to discard. This is a rule of thumb that certainly has served my own country, Malaysia, very well in navigating the troubled waters of recent years (Mohamad, 2002 para 16).

Works Cited

Globalization. http://www.globalizzazione2000.it/developing_countries.htm. September 28, 2006

Mohamad, Mahathir. (October 9, 2002). Globalization and Developing Countries. The Globalist. http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/define/1009malaysiamp.htm. September 28, 2006

Stallings, Barbara, ed. (1995). Global Change, Regional Response: The New International Context of Development. New York; Cambridge University Press. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001172615

Williamson, Jeffrey G. (1998). Globalization, Labor Markets and Policy Backlash in the Past. Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 12, Number 4, pp. 51-72. [online available] http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5008753190

World Bank, (1999). Entering the 21st Century, World Development Report 1999/2000. Oxford University Press, New York. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5010850271