Globalism has become something of a politically charged term. From an economic perspective, globalism is the movement towards world-wide free trade, or the erosion of protectionist barriers between nation-states. For any trade to be "free" it needs to exhibit 4 properties: 1. Free movement of goods 2. Free movement of capitol 3. Free movement of labor 4. Legal enforcement of contracts. The trend towards these free markets, indeed globalization, has indisputably been lifting millions of people out of poverty and has been responsible for decades of economic growth. Yet with all of the benefits of globalization, there is an increasing movement away from and regression towards protectionism. How can this apparent contradiction be possible in a rational world?

The simple answer is that the world is not rational. While free trade brings with it greater personal and national prosperity, it tends to bring with it a host of other things such as the free flow of ideas, economic and social liberalism, and demands for accountability from government and societal elites. These forces can be very positive if you are poor and are given the opportunity to climb into the middle class. At the same time, they can be very destabilizing for the entrenched ruling classes in many countries. Leaders who are used to ruling through the subjugation -- both political and religious -- of their people, see the forces of globalization as a threat to their power and prosperity. They counter this threat through age old tools of persecution, fear, piety, and bigotry.

The United States is unrivaled as the world's largest and most prosperous economy. How did we get here from our fragmented, isolated, colonial past? In joining together to counter eighteenth century British tyranny, American colonists unwittingly created the world's largest free trade zone. For the first time, goods, capital, and labor could flow freely between states and an effective legal system was built to unify the system. America could have easily gone down the European route and formed 50 small nation-states rather than one United States. Instead, the power of free trade and the free market encouraged innovation and developed into the world's preeminent economy.

During the cold war, political scientists divided the global map into three worlds: The first world were the free Western, capitalist counties. The second world were communist countries and those allied with the old Soviet Union. Finally the third world were the poor, undeveloped countries that were largely unaligned with Cold War politics. Ever since the cold war, the "second and third worlds" have been trying to catch up to the first. Some have managed this process rather successfully: Singapore, South Korea, Israel, Brazil, and others have all created largely Western markets that have vaulted their economies and people into modern prosperity. Some of the world's most populous countries such as China and India are quickly trying to do the same and in the process are transforming the world's economy.

Ask most people in any of these countries and they are bound to tell you that the opening up of markets for their products has been almost universally positive. Paradoxically, use the term Globalization and you will likely be met by frowns. The reasons for this lie mostly in the periphery of what was once the third world. The countries most poised to join the prosperity of globalization are also often the most repressed politically. The convergence of modern technologies and liberal ideologies with entrenched monarchies and theocracies has often led to violent turmoil.

As globalization is far from complete, the 4 requisite properties are highly unevenly distributed in many countries. Even in the United States where goods and capital flow freely within a strong legal framework, labor flows from Mexico and elsewhere have led to much political friction. In severely restricted economies such as those of most Arab countries, petro-dollars have created markets with fairly free flowing goods and capital, however labor (people) are highly restricted and the legal system is often at the whim of the local dictator. This uneven distribution necessarily leads to new "have's" as well as "have-not's."

In the US and Europe, labor unions threaten anarchy as many manufacturing jobs move to Asia where labor is much cheaper. In the Arab world, riots and "jihads" are called to prevent pluralist ideas and religious diversity from "tainting" conservative populations. Populist fury at corrupt officials and lack of political expression are often violently redirected to perceived enemies, such as Israel. In China, Communist ideology slowly erodes as Capitalism booms in local economies, while increasingly anxious government officials still rule with an iron fist.

All over the world, the effects of globalization can be felt. As we increasingly become tied together in one, interdependent economy, those that learn to work with the system become increasingly prosperous. Those that can't deal with the new reality are increasingly marginalized, and often lash out violently. As with technology, the forces of economic globalism can hardly be turned back. Now that the world has begun to trade with each other, they are not simply going to stop.

Trying to stop globalism is like trying to re-close Pandora's box. People who have seen how Western societies live are not likely to abandon all that the West has to offer. This is not to say that every Western ideal will be embraced -- far from it. Freedom and prosperity, however, are human desires, not just Western desires. As long as freedom and prosperity are denied people by despots, autocrats, and theocrats, the more they are likely to rebel. Perhaps today they rebel against the West, however eventually their anger will turn inward. Globalism may be increasingly considered problematic, however the world is desperately in need of more.