Comparing the Impact of Globalization on the Industrialized and Non-Industrialized World Vis-À-Vis Achieving Sustainable Development

Globalization is all around us and it is here to stay, so we had better work towards recognizing it as an influence in today's world. Also, globalization may be one of the moderating variables towards achieving sustainable development, which is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). That is, the more globalization is embraced the better our chances of reaching the goals of sustainable development. If less globalization (and more protectionism) is supported, the worse are our chances.With the fall of Communism, culminating with the end of the Soviet Union, with the Soviet leaders voting Communism out of existence in 1991; the Berlin wall being dismantled in 1989, further spurring the breakdown of the world's trade barriers; bonding together of countries (EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, etc.); and, now, social media, there have been resulting increases in international business, multinational business, and globalized pursuits. Globalization can be seen as: “global competition characterized by networks that bind countries, institutions, and people in an interdependent global economy” (Deresky 2003).Will the benefits of globalization for the industrialized and non-industrialized world aid in the ultimate quest to achieve “sustainable development”?