Which World
... Moussly Which World ? ... /Covelo, California Copyright 1998 by World Resources Institute Which World? Allen Hammond envisions three different scenarios for each region of the world after dividing the world into developing, transitional and developed countries as they geographically form different regional blocks. He speaks about three possible paths the world might take in the 21st century: Market World, Fortress World, or Transformed World. In the Market World progress is driven by the power of a free market and human initiative. The Fortress World is caused by increase of social and environmental problems resulting in diminishing progress and development, and the rise in conflicts, fundamentalism and violence. The third option that the world might take is the Transformed World where everybody enjoys a better life and all humans have access to the latest developments. ... The book is relevant to current international relations, allows the reader to look at the different regions of the world through a magnifying glass, therefore; the reader concludes the problems and solutions in broad lines for each region in summary. If I were to find a link between this book and “The Ends of the Earth”, I would say that while Kaplan’s book dealt with problems of the developing world told through the eyes of a travelling reporter, Hammond’s book is an analysis of three scenarios for the future of all the regions of the world as imagined by the author. Which World? would have been a great asset to the reader to offer a vision and guide into the future of the world. ... Yes by the end of the last century the countries of the world were racing to welcome the Market World and one would have thought that a Transformed World could have been possible in the near future with all the new inventions and the fast development in various sectors of technologies. Unfortunately, things have changed tremendously; globalization started to present itself to people in developing countries as Americanization, fundamentalism has left the biggest mark on history since the event of 11th September 2001, oil lords in the west can only view the world through the parameters of oil and natural gas reserves and interests they have in the different regions and the best way to control the resources. ... On one hand we can see the spread of democracy in some parts of the world and market economies have been implemented, as well as the rapid advance of new technologies and biotechnology, and an increase in literacy levels. ... We have witnessed peaceful evolution in South Africa, the introduction of semi democracy in China and the rapid spread of economic reform in Latin America; all of which could be an indication of positive changes towards achieving a Transformed World. The question that imposes itself is: Will the world’s wealthy nations accept the challenge of open economies and global leadership? ... The wealthy nations consist of North America, Europe and Japan whom stand to lose a great deal if the rest of the world becomes desperate, polluted and unstable. This is strongly emphasised by the fact that the world has become closely interlinked and no one country or region can be separated from the others in every aspect. The close connection of the different regions was very obvious during the financial crisis of Southeast Asia, which triggered a crash in stock markets around the world. Global warming has become a worry for all the countries of the world. Energy is yet another linkage as the world is depending more and more on the oil reserves of the Middle East. The world is watching the area for the tensions that are putting the global energy supply at risk. ... The world is connected as well through human movement and immigration. Illegal immigration has become a big issue and worry for the world wealthy nations, however the lack of efforts to problem solving issues in the less advantaged nations of the world would continue to trigger more illegal immigration to the west.