ABSTRACT
It has become commonplace to observe that we live in a globalized world. Issues, problems, and people that once seemed remote now appear on our doorstep, both the virtual one created by today’s instant communication and the physical, territorial one. Global and local dynamics interconnect, creating a world characterized by what Rosenau (2003) terms “distant proximities.” Globalizing forces penetrate down to the local level through a variety of pathways, and local forces diffuse upward to the global level. For instance, lack of access to economic opportunities leads individuals in poor local communities to migrate to other countries in search of a better life; the aggregation of these individuals into vast transnational flows of people has global impacts. Localized political instability can engender social tensions, ethnic conflict, and dislocation. In some cases, these pressures in weak and fragile states lead to collapse, creating negative spill-overs for their immediate neighbors, and opening up a haven for illicit activities, such as the drug and arms trade or terrorism, which affect nations and people who are geographically removed from those troubled localities.
