Making Connections in Our Global Age

Setting the Context

Some will remember those connect-the-dots puzzles, often printed on paper placemats in restaurants, whose purpose is to entertain children until the meal arrives. The goal is to trace lines between a series of numbered dots. If done correctly, an image eventually emerges — a house, a horse, a flower. From what first appears to be unrelated, random points, the lines give visual meaning. Something real and recognizable is created. Children often gleefully respond, "I see it."

Connecting the dots can also be a useful adult skill: finding patterns and relationships between seemingly unrelated ideas or events. The result is a new view, new opportunities or a new approach. The adult response, with equal enthusiasm, might be, "I understand how these pieces relate or fit together — I "get it."

As a society, as a world, we are awash in information. There are so many points of information that it can be overwhelming. However, it is critically important to find meaning. Ignorance is not bliss, it is dangerous. Without understanding relationships and connections, we are forced to only react to isolated events. Without that understanding we can never make decisions or take actions that anticipate — and therefore take advantage of — trends or opportunities. We must each develop the ability to connect the dots.

We know we live in a global age. Newspapers and magazines have convinced us it is so. And we do indeed see sweeping changes in our daily lives. But our responses and our outlooks often fail, or refuse, to recognize the new reality. We sometimes feel secure remaining in the old mindset.

We humans are often fearful of change. We like consistency and the familiar. However, to ignore the changes surrounding us is to be swept over by a tidal wave of immeasurable power and volume.

What's New is the Speed of Change

People speak about globalization as a new force uniting the world. Actually, globalization is a process that started eons ago, when our primitive ancestors began to roam the world. The history of humanity is an ever-growing process of connections. But still there is something new in the air. Simply put, it's the speed of change.

Our new tools and technologies are catching on faster than ever. As Anthony Giddens, at the London School of Economics, pointed out, it took 40 years for radio in the United States to amass an audience of 50 million. Personal computers reached that number of people in just 15 years. And only four years after it was available 50 million people were active on the Internet.

Globalization is altering nearly every dimension of human existence. We see lots of examples of change — new technology, more international connections, new products, new modes of business. But while we race to embrace the tools of the modern era, we are often slow to adopt the new mindset needed to navigate these global waters.

How we view our world — our individual differences and our common bonds — is the fundamental issue and the challenge. How we connect the dots will define your and my future.

If we are to flourish as a global community, if we are to overcome global challenges then we must think and act globally.

We must acknowledge and celebrate differences. We must engage in cross-cultural dialogues and initiatives.

We must answer globalization with and global awareness. In short, to enter the future we must become global citizens and make global connections.

Global Citizenship

What exactly does it mean to be a global citizen? Is it absolutely necessary? Does it mean we must abandon national alignment and identities?

Corporations have seized the opportunities provided by technology for years, and now they look more and more for expansion outside their domestic borders. Their employees are increasingly called upon to operate in different cultures. Those who want to succeed in the global economy increasingly need to learn how to be global citizens.

Even more critically, global crises — ranging from environmental degradation to international terrorism — cannot be combated by people and nations working in isolation.

Global issues require global cooperation. With globalization has come a greater realization that our fates are now linked. A worldview must be adopted with the sense of and sensitivity to today's interconnections and our shared destiny.

Quite simply, becoming a citizen of the world is an economic, practical and moral imperative. It is also an issue of our very survival.

Seeking World Citizenship Characteristics

In 1999, the influential American Educational Research Journal published a fascinating article. The purpose of the multinational study was to identify the most complex global crises facing humanity, and to then identify what skills and characteristics would be needed to face the future.

The problems they identified were not surprising: The growing economic gap among countries and between people within countries, reduction of privacy, access to pure drinking water, environmental deterioration, deforestation, and poverty.

They found that globalization has aggravated and accelerated, if not initiated, many of the pressing problems we must confront in the 21^st century. Particularly regarding the environment, it's clear that many problems are global in scale.

The common element for all, as with problems like international terrorism, AIDS, global warming and ozone depletion, is that their effects do not stop at national borders.

It is no surprise that the team found that the most important characteristic for dealing with these challenges is "the ability to deal with serious worldwide problems as a member of a worldwide society."

The researchers suggested the skill set necessary to succeed and solve problems in a globalized world:

• Ability to work with others in a cooperative way
• Ability to understand, accept, appreciate and tolerate cultural differences.
• Critical thinking skills
• Willingness to resolve conflicts nonviolently,
• Willingness to participate in politics,
• Willingness to change one's lifestyle and consumption habits to protect the environment" and
• The ability to be sensitive toward and to defend human rights

In sum, what emerged as a necessity was the critical theme of global citizenship.

We cannot discount the importance of a national affinity, but at the same time we need to recognize that individuals must be comfortable with more than one identity. "The challenges of the 21st century transcend national boundaries . . . Persons and groups who are going to face those challenges together must be able to think and act flexibly within multiple community affiliations."

The example they use is a person whose citizenship is Canadian, whose culture is Japanese-Canadian, whose faith is Catholic, whose race is Asian, but who above all is a mother.

Multiple identities in this environment are not a sign of schizophrenia. Rather, they mean you are normal. They are an inherent part of a complex world. Where we stand is how we see.

The ability to recognize and acknowledge your multiple identities might be the first concrete step toward attaining global citizenship. The ability to acknowledge simultaneous identities — ethnic, racial, gender, occupational, social — leads away from the traditional notion of a citizen as one who has membership in a political entity and toward the concept of a "world citizen."

Developing a Global Point of View

We all have certain points of view — certain outlooks, attitudes, perspectives and opinions that frame our world. Some are optimistic, others are pessimistic, some are parochial and others have broader scopes. Our point of view is shaped by those closest to us: parents, friends, teachers. But should the development of a point of view stop there? How many of us consider that our point of view should also be impacted by a peasant farmer in Peru or a little girl working in a sweatshop in China? Confucius wrote that those who take no thought about what is distant will find sorrow near at hand.

That sentiment is even more true because the gap between what is distant and what is near at hand is growing smaller and smaller. Developing a point of view without an appreciation of those distant from us is sure to result in a very limited perspective. And that is a prelude to failure or even tragedy.

Not only do we have to learn from others in considering our viewpoint, we must take the time to understand their points of view, their perspectives, especially when they directly contrast with our own.

Global citizenship encourages you to connect the dots of your contemporary world, with attention to the global as well as the local. Failing to do that leaves you in a myopic, mystifyied state. We need to understand the links between people and events in a globalized environment. Understanding how to put it together, combined with the skill to continually adapt and to adjust multiple views, positions you as a global citizen. And once those connections are made mentally, then the real connections — the personal bonds between peoples and across cultures — can blossom.

Global citizens are able to not only make connections among pieces of information, they are able to cross boundaries and make connections with people from different backgrounds who have different worldviews. These connections represent the only way to effectively respond to international opportunities, challenges and crises. These connections represent the best hope for a future marked by peace and tolerance, rather than violence and prejudice.

While featuring many dimensions and implying a number of rights and responsibilities, global citizenship fundamentally will consist of two simple characteristics:

1. The awareness that just because someone is different from you, that does not make them wrong, just different; and
2. The understanding when you need to work with others, that you must learn to look at the problem through their eyes. Not expect them to see it through yours.

Conclusion

H.G. Wells' once said, "Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe."

If we understand what globalization entails, learn to develop global viewpoints and embrace our role as global citizens, the future is truly in our own hands. And, no matter how forceful the current of globalization flows, there are ways — united across borders — we can sail peacefully and with prosperity.

Our hope for peace in our world is through education and global citizenship. Our hope for peace lies in discovering the connections that link our greatest problems and challenges and then reaching out and joining forces with those so different but yet with so much in common. Our hope — our destiny — lies in global solidarity.

Bibliography

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