Globalization in the Middle East

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Many modernization theorists tend to affiliate globalization with the rise of Europe and the capitalist world system. Globalization is defined as the flow of ideas, goods, innovations and structures from one region to another. If we review history under the context of the world system’s theory, we find that ‘centers’ and ‘peripheries’ existed long before European centers rose to global dominance. In order to fully understand the way in which globalization has advanced and developed over the course of history, we must review the power dynamics and take all factors into consideration. Globalization has always been present throughout history as a general concept, as we can see the flow of ideas and culture around the world dating back to the ancient empires. The modern structure that we use to analyze globalization today started to form as trade routes and relations started developing from East to West. Globalization in its modern understanding did not begin to fully develop and mature until the second half of the thirteenth century. In the seventh and eighth centuries Europe, China and The Middle East were all rising powers with minimal indirect contact with one another. It was under the spread of Islam and the unification of the region between Europe and China that solid relations and trade routes began to connect the regions. Globalization has always followed an imperial discourse of hegemony, in which the rise of an empire to power due to political, economic and cultural advancements allows that empire to become a global center providing the less developed peripheries with ideas, technology and culture. Hegemonic relations are often viewed in the modern sense of developed versus non-developed. But it was religion that led to the unification of Arabia and the Middle East, connecting Europe and China. With the spread of Islam towards the east, west and north, the established Islamic caliphate allowed for increased economic and cultural interaction between the...
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