Most people accept that we now live in a globalised world but not everyone agrees that this is beneficial. To what extent is globalisation a positive or negative development?

Globalisation is here to stay, driven by advances in information and resulting in scientific, technological and economic progress and increased international trade and investment. It has had wide-ranging positive and negative effects on employment and economic development, scientific research, language and culture, and the environment. One positive result of globalisation is the global distribution of labour. It is now much easier to move to other countries to find work, and

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leads to better employment prospects for individuals and to more diverse workplaces.

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, capital and industrial resources have migrated to developing countries,

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providing local jobs and boosting local economies. It has

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resulted in greater contact between different cultures, as travel has become relatively safer and less expensive than it used to be. Ease of communication has encouraged an unprecedented level of global scientific research and cooperation, and a subsequent explosion of knowledge and information. A downside of

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global economy is that when a catastrophe occurs, as in the recent global financial crisis that started in the USA, it affects the whole world.

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, when a virus emerges in one region of the world, it spreads rapidly, threatening worldwide health. Globalisation affects culture and language, too; minority languages are dying out because of the necessity of learning English for international business, and indigenous cultures are being rejected in favour of

dominant

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the dominant

, often USA-based, culture.

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, levels of pollution are rising as countries strive for economic growth and a competitive edge in the global market. In conclusion, globalisation is a double-edged sword that has created jobs and promoted international

cooperation but

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cooperation, but

has led to cultural losses, more environmental damage, increased health risks and exposure to economic crises.

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, our world will continue to shrink as technology expands, and we need to accept globalisation as a fact of life in the 21st century.