To what extent is globalisation a relatively new process in world politics

The first 200 words of this essay...

To what extent is globalisation a relatively new process in world politics?

Globalisation is an intensely contested and often misunderstood concept. There are many debates concerning globalisation however one debate will be looked in particular. The debate of whether globalisation is a relatively new process in world politics.

Globalization is not a new phenomenon. To state that globalization is a new concept is to state that international trade is a new phenomenon. It has been a concept, and a major precept of Classical economists, ranging from the physiocrats to David Ricardo. He talked a lot on Mercantilism. Mercantilism was a prevalent economic strategy during the sixteenth century and up till the seventeenth century, because it supported the political structure and the economic circumstances of that time. Mercantilism is an economic strategy that makes the assumption that wealth is finite. To become wealthy, a country must colonize to search for new sources of species (precious metals), take other countries' wealth, and maintain a favourable balance of trade. This meant the government must dictate economic activities, internally and externally, making the country into a closed economic system. However, the physiocrats believed that government intervention not only artificially inflates prices; government