ABSTRACT
The most remarkable characteristic of globalization is the integration of national economies into a global economy through the instrumentality of information technology, especially electronic communication. Globalization involves trade, capital flows, mobility of human resources and diffusion of knowledge and technology across national borders. Czenter identifies two levels of globalization. The first is the political and economic level, which is the process of ‘denationalization of markets, politics and legal systems’ (Czenter, 2002: 7). At this level, globalization reduces barriers between countries, encourages integration of economic and political activities, and accelerates the interdependence of countries, with the result that events in one country tend to have an impact in other countries. For instance, a reduction in the production of petroleum due to the vandalization of pipelines or an attack on oil workers by the militant groups in the oil-rich delta region of Nigeria has an immediate impact on global oil prices. The implication of globalization is that no country can operate like an island.
