Globalization is one of today's most powerful and pervasive ideas - for some a
welcome dream, for others a nightmare. The term is used in the popular press as
a sort of shorthand for the notion that all parts of the world are becoming more
alike. It is also used as a marketing concept to sell goods, commodities and
services. "Going global" has become the mantra for a whole range of companies,
business gurus and institutions.
John Rennie Short disagrees with this interpretation, arguing that the world
today actually thrives on local differences and that a global polity tends to
reinforce - not repress - the