Global Systems and Governance

• Asylum Seeker - People who have left their country and are seeking asylum in another, waiting to be granted residency and to become a refugee.
• Core Region - Wealthier, industrially developed countries that benefit and control global markets, making periphery regions depend on them.
• China's Open Door Policy - 1978 - China allows foreign industry and TNCs in to promote a modern and thriving China.
• Containerisation - A logistical system of transporting large amounts of goods in steel containers (each carrying 25000kg of goods).
• Diaspora – ‘To scatter about’ - People displaced from their homeland, voluntarily or forced.
• Cumulative Causation - Like a multiplier effect, "Success breeds Success". As the core regions increase in prosperity the periphery regions will too due to their links with the core.
• Cultural Diffusion - The spread of cultural beliefs and social activities into different cultures. Cultural Erosion - The reduction of a culture due to globalisation.
• Deindustrialisation - A reduction in industrial capacity, leading to social and economic change within a region
• Economic Migration - Movement of migrants to improve financial income or standard of living.
• Downward Transition Zones - A country or city with predicted economic decline, industrial reduction or switched off from globalisation (e.g. Scotland, Turkey, Brazil).
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) - An investment by one country or business with an interest in another country.
• Economies of Scale - The concept of increasing profits by producing a larger amount of products, as overall the average price to manufacture each product is lowered.
• Global Common - An area that does not belong to one country, but instead belongs to everyone, including: the atmosphere, international waters, outer space, and Antarctica.
• Global Governance - The process of global management, where multiple nations act together in matters that affect the entire world.
• Global Hubs - Cores that demonstrate connections to the world (through trade, ideas, migration, etc). TNCs and foreign direct investors will show an interest to base here.
• Globalisation - The growing interdependence of countries through cross-border transactions (capital, technology, migration, knowledge, culture, etc).
• Glocalisation - The adaptation of a good offered by a TNC to suit a local market.
• High-Level Service - Services that require skilled employees and can have complicated processes e.g. financial services.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF) - A fund of 189 member countries with the aim to aid each other to achieve financial stability and provide loans for development.
• KOF - Index of Globalisation which takes into account the social, economic and political globalisation of a state.
• Liberalisation – A reduction in government control within industry, creating opportunity for greater participation from private businesses and TNCs within an industry.
• Low-Level Service - Services that require little training or skills that can be easily learnt e.g. customer service call centres.
• NGOs - Non-government Organisations - these organisations usually have a weaker influence over global governance.
• Offshoring - Company moves parts of its operations to another country, often to save money.
• Merger - TNCs join to form one larger company, helping to form foreign links if the TNC is from a foreign country.
• Periphery Region - Less wealthy, developing/ less developed countries that have less power over global markets.
• Potential Areas of Growth - Regions where future economic development are predicted due to their undeveloped resources (e.g. Canada, Qatar).
• Sovereignty - Control over a country's own laws and regulations.
• Special Economic Zones (SEZ) - Regions where the government offer incentives to attract industry.
• Trade Bloc - A group of countries that act together to promote trade and a free movement of goods/services between member states.
• Transnational Company (TNC) - A company which operates in different countries to where they are originally based.
• Transformationalist - This is the belief that globalisation won’t lead to the formation of a homogeneous culture. Instead, the flow of culture is two-way.
• Upward Transition Zones - A country or city with predicted industrial and economic increase (e.g. Mexico, Iceland, “The Asian Tigers”).