Temporal Aspects of the Globalization Process

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Temporal Aspects of the Globalization Process

• GBL 250
• Spring MMIX

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Imperium

• During the Roman monarchy, the Roman king
  automatically possessed imperium the right to
  command obedience from anybody, for any reason
  whatsoever. If the kings command was not obeyed,
  he could punish his disobedient subject however
  he wanted. Imperium also gave the king the right
  to command Roman troops in battle, or to
  interpret Roman law.
• By the time of Christ, Rome had become the
  greatest power in the known world. The term
  imperium took on an additional meaning.  The
  term imperium Romanum now described both Roman
  power and Roman space, as applied to all of the
  lands where Rome herself held imperium. Within
  the imperium Romanum (a physical space roughly
  resembling the Mediterranean world), the imperium
  Romanum (the power of the Roman government, as
  wielded by the Emperor) is supreme.

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Imperium Romanum
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Empire

• Imperium Romanum in this second interpretation is
  the source of our English word empire land
  inhabited by people who may or may not look like
  us, may or may not speak our language, may or may
  not like us much - but have to do what we say
  because we have imperium over them.
• The Roman Empire is accounted to be the greatest
  of Western empires because of its sheer size (it
  basically contained the entire Mediterranean
  world at one point) and because of its long list
  of imitators, including the Byzantine Empire,
  the Holy Roman Empire, the French Empire, the
  Spanish Empire, the British Empire, the Russian
  Empire, the Belgian Empire, and so on.
• After the Second World War, the term empire
  became unpopular. The Soviet bloc accused the
  Western bloc of being an empire, and vice versa.
  They were both equally wrong and equally right.

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Manifest Destiny

• Another justification for empire is that a nation
  considers itself divinely or historically
  destined to reach greatness. The term I will use
  in this class is manifest destiny, invented in
  the 1840s to justify the United Statess westward
  expansion into territory held by Mexico and Great
  Britain. Of course, most nations (however bad
  they may have it) believe that God or the gods is
  strongly in their corner. The most rabidly
  atheist nations the Soviet Union and Red China
  have believed just as firmly that history, as
  interpreted by Marx and his intellectual heirs,
  is strongly in their corner.
• Often, this nation needs more natural resources
  to fulfill its destiny, or more room for its
  growing population, or both. The nations
  manifest destiny becomes an excuse to acquire and
  rule territory, whatever the cost. Land which
  belonged either to nobody or to nobody civilized
  was regarded as terra nullius, and could be taken
  at will. Sometimes, though, another nation
  claimed possession of the desired land and then
  war ensued.

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Nationalism

• An important part of belief in "manifest destiny"
  is "nationalism." Nationalism holds that human
  civilization can be broken up into basic units
  called "nations," which basically consist of
  people having a similar origin and unifying
  culture. Each nation, therefore, should have its
  own state this is in fact the rule today. The
  United States is home to the American nation,
  Russia is home to the Russian nation, and so on.
  Theoretically, at least.
• Nationalism claims particular virtues for a given
  nation, and particular responsibilities. Rome
  believed it had a mission to civilize the world,
  Russia believed it had a mission to civilize the
  world, as did the Soviet Union, and as does the
  United States, at least sometimes. I would say
  that nationalism is basically a neutral concept
  nationalistic arguments have been used to start
  countless wars, but they have also held countries
  together.

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My Generation

• I am a child of the Cold War generation. I grew
  up on the side of the world populated by the good
  guys, who followed America's quest for peace,
  prosperity, and freedom. I was taught to hate the
  bad guys on the opposite side of the world, who
  fought alongside the Soviet Union to bankrupt and
  bring down free, peace-loving people like us. The
  gym of every school I ever attended was also
  built to serve as a fallout shelter, just in case
  those crazy Russians dropped an H-bomb on Oak
  Creek, Wisconsin.
• As the 1970s rolled around, I saw the Cold War
  more as a struggle between governments than
  between good and evil. I discovered the USSR was
  just as awful as advertised, and possibly more
  so. But the Soviet people themselves seemed more
  and more to be people just like us. As I learned
  more about American politics and our role in
  world affairs, I became more skeptical about
  American government. I graduated from high school
  in the Age of Malaise. Vietnam, Watergate, the
  energy crisis, the hostage situation in Iran -
  these events made it impossible for me to assume
  that the U.S. government was right, ethical , or
  even competent.

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Expansion of Rome
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Rome and Us

• Periods of Roman History
• Monarchy (751 BC-509 BC)
• Republic (509 BC-31 BC)
• Empire (31 BC-284 AD)
• Dominate (284 AD-476 AD)
• Byzantine (476 AD-1453 AD)
• Some famous imperial imitators
• Holy Roman Empire (est. 800 AD)
• British Empire
• French Empire
• Spanish Empire
• Russian Empire
• German Empire

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Rome and Us

• The influence of Rome can be felt all around
  America to this very day. Just start with our
  government our nation's Founders were very well
  read in Greek and Roman classical literature, and
  particularly their political thought. While the
  Greeks undoubtedly established democratic
  traditions long before the Romans did, the Romans
  actually made democracy work on a consistent
  basis. Our Founders recognized this Roman
  tradition when they claimed America's right to
  life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They
  recognized it even further when they invented the
  American government. The senior house of the
  United States legislature is named the Senate,
  the same as the Romans' senior legislative body.
  The chief executive of the United States is the
  president, a term derived from the Latin verb
  praesidio, "to sit at the front." The chief
  executive of each state is the governor, derived
  from the Latin noun gubernator, itself derived
  from the Greek noun kubernetes, or "steersman."
  The democratic ideals developed (even if they
  were not always actually practiced) by the Romans
  and ancient Greeks form the basis of American
  citizenship.

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A.G. Hopkins on Globalization

• Globalization involves the extension,
  intensification, and quickening velocity of flows
  of people, products and ideas that shape the
  world. It integrates regions and continents it
  compresses time and space it prompts imitation
  and resistance. The results alter and may even
  transform relationships within and among states
  and societies across the globe
• Globalization is better thought of as a process
  or set of processes requiring exploration rather
  than as a hypothesis awaiting refutation.

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Processes of Globalization

• Security
• Social/Political
• Cultural
• Ethical
• Technological
• Economic

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Roman Globalization?
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Hitchner on Roman Globalization

• 01. The Roman Empire ruled the entire known world
  in its day
• 02. Roman governance provided the world with
  stability
• 03. Rome had a geographic advantage in
  maintaining its empire
• 04. Rome converted individual states into
  provinces
• 05. Rome maintained a huge professional military
  Pax Romana
• 06. Rome maintained a huge infrastructure of
  roads, aqueducts, etc
• 07. Better transport and communication united the
  Roman economy
• 08. Local vs. global dichotomies arose around the
  empire
• 09. Negatives occurred greed, aristocracy,
  slavery, cheating
• 10. Collapsed under its own audacious weight

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Security

• Security is a precondition for globalization
• First Globalization 1500 AD after Hundred
  Years War
• Second Globalization 1815 AD after Napoleonic
  Wars
• Third Globalization 1945 AD after World War
  II
• Roman conquest tended to leave security in its
  wake
• Romans bragged about Pax Romana Roman peace
• Part result of military skill, part result of
  Roman government skillz
• Pax Romana involved military bases on ALL
  frontiers (see map)
• Pax Romana was hideously expensive
• So is the Pax Americana

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Frontiers and Urban Centers
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Ethical

• Romans had unwritten mos maiorum (way of the
  elders)
• Stayed true to it when they needed to
• Deviated from it when they needed to
• Rome originally one of 50 cities in Latium (see
  map)
• Came to see themselves as having a Manifest
  Destiny
• Ethical quality of democracy during the Republic
  was uneven
• Ethical quality of emperors during the Empire was
  uneven
• Even so, people in the Roman Empire were proud to
  be Romans

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Italy ca. 300 BC
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Social/Political

• Roman Republic was a work in progress
• Roman Republic was sustainable to a point
• Cannot rule an empire with a mayor and aldermen
• Followed by Roman Empire (after 31 BC) bent the
  mos maiorum
• Came to believe in Romes manifest destiny hard
  not to
• Rich got richer, poor got poorer but still
  benefited from Empire
• People in the provinces took pride in being
  Romans regardless
• Western Empire became Latin speaking part
• Eastern Empire became Greek speaking part
• Eastern Empire later survived as the Byzantine
  Empire
• Western Empire broke up into barbarian nation
  states

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Cultural

• Rome was one of 50 Latin speaking towns in Latium
  (central Italy)
• Etruscans to the north, Samnites to the west,
  Greeks to the south
• Roman culture deeply influenced by those of its
  neighbors
• Romans became more self aware as Rome acquired
  empire
• Romans came into contact with High Greek
  (Hellenistic) culture
• Rome was captured by her captor
• Educated Romans had to know Latin and Ancient
  Greek
• Vernacular languages remained, but Latin was the
  language of rule
• Plenty of Roman colonies or military camps served
  as seedbeds
• Civis Romanus sum I am a (fill in the blank)
  AND a Roman citizen
• Even though the Byzantines spoke Greek they were
  still Romaioi

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Mediterranean after 476 AD
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Technological

• Technological advances crucial to modern
  globalization
• Ancient world, obviously, not so much
• Greeks were inventors simple machines, etc
• Romans were engineers built roads, aqueducts,
  infrastructure
• Romans major contribution was expediting land
  and sea travel
• Land travel improved through roads and military
  security
• Sea travel improved through harbors and wiping
  out pirates

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Rome and Us
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Economic

• Mostly an agrarian economy in ancient world
• Mostly subsistence farming, with very few major
  urban centers
• Idealized Roman small farmer family American
  pioneers
• Manufacturing household items, very few luxury
  items
• During the Republic, the Romans were finding
  their way
• By the first century BC, Romans had their act
  together
• One overall Roman gold coinage (local coinages
  still existed)
• Free flow of capital and goods around the Roman
  Empire
• Rule of law throughout empire (depended on
  quality of Emperor)

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Thats Nice, But Was it Globalization?

• Yes It Was
• One World culture acquired Roman ethic
• Network of roads and safe sea routes
• Province system world as one government
• No It Wasnt
• No killer app like the compass, the steam
  engine, or telephony
• Did not actually shrink the world to any great
  extent
• Pax Romana was more a military/political
  construction

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More Fun In The New World
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The World ca. 1500 AD

• European World
• 1453 Fall of Constantinople
• 1453 End of Hundred Years War between England
  and France
• 1462 Ivan III of Moscow begins developing the
  Russian Empire
• 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas divides world between
  Spain and Portugal
• 1505 Machiavelli writes The Prince
• Voyages of Discovery
• 1487 Bartolomeo Diaz reaches southern tip of
  Africa
• 1492 Cristobal Colon reaches Hispaniola
• 1497 Giovanni Caboto reaches Newfoundland
• 1498 Vasco da Gama reaches India
• 1500 Pedro Cabral reaches Brazil
• 1520 Fernando Magellan rounds his famous Straits

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The World ca. 1500 AD
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Early Voyages of Discovery
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Later Waves of Exploration

• Exploring the Americas
• 1519 Hernando Cortez takes on the Toltecs
  (Aztecs)
• 1521 Francisco Pizarro takes on the Incas
• 1534 Jacques Cartiers first expedition to the
  East Coast
• 1539 Hernando de Soto goes looking for gold
• 1540 Francisco de Coronado goes looking for gold
• 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh establishes Roanoke
  Colony
• The Latecomers
• 1624 The Dutch establish New Amsterdam (New
  York)
• 1638 The Swedish establish settlements in what
  is now Delaware.
• 1724 British take over Dutch and Swedish
  colonies

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How? Why?

• What made exploration possible?
• Compass and other navigational aids
• Better, faster ships
• Cannon (great for wiping out indigenous people)
• What made exploration necessary?
• Supposedly to Christianize and civilize the world
  (manifest destiny)
• Access to resources, especially gold and later
  slaves
• Access to markets for manufactured goods
• Desire to keep up with European competitors
• Desire to found the next reincarnation of the
  Roman Empire

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Globalization ca. 1500

• Europe as center of world economy
• Spanish and Portuguese Empires are big movers
• French, British, others are latecomers
• Desire for gold and military/economic supremacy
• Kings fight, businessmen interact
• Processes of globalization
• Exploiters and the exploited
• Specialization within Europe (especially smaller
  nations)
• Flow of new ideas (democracy) and technologies
  (printing press)
• Agricultural technologies important key to
  developing the New World
• Big business gets richer and demands political
  concessions
• World financial system begins to grow