ABSTRACT
Globalization is an increasingly important area of investigation within international relations. Studies of globalization examine the causes and effects of rapidly increasing integration across the world. Globalization can be defined as an uneven and contested set of processes – a widening and deepening of economic, social, cultural, and political relations that intensifies connections between states and societies even as the speed of these connections accelerates. A revolution in communication and transportation technologies has increased the scale and scope of human interaction, linking places and people around the world and emphasizing both commonalities and differences. All of this has important repercussions for international politics. Knowledge of events happening on the other side of the planet is shared via international news and the internet; people, goods, and capital travel across state borders with implications for economy, security, public health, and identity, as people struggle to make sense of place and belonging in an increasingly globalized world.
