Editing First World (section)

==Globalization==
The [[United Nations]]'s [[ESCWA]] has written that [[globalization]] "is a widely-used term that can be defined in a number of different ways". Joyce Osland from [[San Jose State University]] wrote: "Globalization has become an increasingly controversial topic, and the growing number of protests around the world has focused more attention on the basic assumptions of globalization and its effects."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Osland |first=Joyce S. |title=Broadening the Debate: The Pros and Cons of Globalization |journal=Journal of Management Inquiry |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=137–154 |publisher=Sage Publications |date=June 2003 |url=http://jmi.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/12/2/137 |access-date=27 May 2017 |doi=10.1177/1056492603012002005|s2cid=14617240 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> "Globalization is not new, though. For thousands of years, people—and, later, corporations—have been buying from and selling to each other in lands at great distances, such as through the famed [[Silk Road]] across Central Asia that connected China and Europe during the Middle Ages. Likewise, for centuries, people and corporations have invested in enterprises in other countries. In fact, many of the features of the current wave of globalization are similar to those prevailing before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914."{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

===European Union===
The most prominent example of globalization in the first world is the [[European Union]] (EU).<ref name=aucoin>{{cite web |last=Aucoin |first=Danielle |title=Globalization: The European Union as a Model |url=http://www.international.ucla.edu/euro/teachers/article.asp?parentid=23564 |year=2000 |access-date=27 May 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924035737/http://www.international.ucla.edu/euro/teachers/article.asp?parentid=23564 |archive-date=24 September 2015 }}</ref> The European Union is an agreement in which countries voluntarily decide to build common governmental institutions to which they delegate some individual national sovereignty so that decisions can be made democratically on a higher level of common interest for Europe as a whole.<ref name=guide>{{cite web |title=The European Union: A Guide for Americans |url=http://www.eurunion.org/eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=43 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531020012/http://eurunion.org/eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=43 |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 May 2008 |pages=2–3 |access-date=27 May 2017 }}</ref> The result is a union of 27 Member States covering {{convert|4233255.3|km2}} with roughly 450 million people. In total, the European Union produces almost a third of the world's gross national product and the member states speak more than 23 languages. All of the European Union countries are joined together by a hope to promote and extend peace, democracy, cooperativeness, stability, prosperity, and the rule of law.<ref name=guide/> In a 2007 speech, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner for External Relations, said, "The future of the EU is linked to globalization...the EU has a crucial role to play in making globalization work properly...".<ref>{{cite web |title=Managing Globalization |url=http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/503&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en |pages=1–2|access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref> In a 2014 speech at the European Parliament, the Italian PM [[Matteo Renzi]] stated, "We are the ones who can bring civilization to globalization".<ref>[http://sanfranciscoitaly.com/post/90601178974/europe-as-an-expression-of-the-soul-prime-minister Europe as an expression of the soul, prime minister of Italy]</ref>

Just as the concept of the First World came about as a result of World War II, so did the European Union.<ref name=guide/> In 1951 the beginnings of the EU were founded with the creation of [[European Coal and Steel Community]] (ECSC). From the beginning of its inception, countries in the EU were judged by many standards, including economic ones. This is where the relation between globalization, the EU, and First World countries arises.<ref name=aucoin/> Especially during the 1990s when the EU focused on economic policies such as the creation and circulation of the [[Euro]], the creation of the [[European Monetary Institute]], and the opening of the [[European Central Bank]].<ref name=guide/>

In 1993, at the Copenhagen European Council, the European Union took a decisive step towards expanding the EU, what they called the Fifth Enlargement, agreeing that "the associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe that so desire shall become members of the European Union". Thus, enlargement was no longer a question of if, but when and how. The European Council stated that accession could occur when the prospective country is able to assume the obligations of membership, that is that all the economic and political conditions required are attained. Furthermore, it defined the membership criteria, which are regarded as the Copenhagen criteria, as follows:<ref>{{cite web|title=European Commission |url=http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/enlargement_process/accession_process/criteria/index_en.htm |access-date=27 May 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060828071626/http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/enlargement_process/accession_process/criteria/index_en.htm |archive-date=August 28, 2006 }}</ref>

* stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities
* the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union
* the ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union

It is clear that all these criteria are characteristics of developed countries. Therefore, there is a direct link between globalization, developed nations, and the European Union.<ref name=aucoin/>

===Multinational corporations===
A majority of [[multinational corporation]]s find their origins in First World countries. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, multinational corporations proliferated as more countries focused on global trade.<ref name=mnc1>{{cite book |last1=Barnet |first1=Richard |last2=Cavanagh |first2=John |title=Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations and the New World Order |url=https://archive.org/details/globaldreamsimpe00barn_0 |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/globaldreamsimpe00barn_0/page/250 250]|isbn=9780671633776 }}</ref> The series of [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]] (GATT) and later the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) essentially ended the protectionist measures that were dissuading global trade.<ref name=mnc1/> The eradication of these protectionist measures, while creating avenues for economic interconnection, mostly benefited developed countries, who by using their power at GATT summits, forced developing and underdeveloped countries to open their economies to Western goods.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnet |first1=Richard |last2=Cavanagh |first2=John |title=Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations and the New World Order |url=https://archive.org/details/globaldreamsimpe00barn_0 |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/globaldreamsimpe00barn_0/page/354 354]|isbn=9780671633776 }}</ref>

As the world starts to globalize, it is accompanied by criticism of the current forms of globalization, which are feared to be overly corporate-led. As corporations become larger and multinational, their influence and interests go further accordingly. Being able to influence and own most media companies, it is hard to be able to publicly debate the notions and ideals that corporations pursue. Some choices that corporations take to make profits can affect people all over the world. Sometimes fatally.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The third industrial revolution is spreading from the developed world to some, but not all, parts of the developing world. To participate in this new global economy, developing countries must be seen as attractive offshore production bases for multinational corporations. To be such bases, developing countries must provide relatively well-educated workforces, good infrastructure (electricity, telecommunications, transportation), political stability, and a willingness to play by market rules.<ref name=MNC2>{{cite web |last=Thurow |first=Lester C. |title=Globalization: The Product of a Knowledge-Based Economy |url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/auth/checkbrowser.do?rand=0.5902949670045176&cookieState=0&ipcounter=1&bhcp=1 |access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref>

If these conditions are in place, multinational corporations will transfer via their offshore subsidiaries or to their offshore suppliers, the specific production technologies and market linkages necessary to participate in the global economy. By themselves, developing countries, even if well-educated, cannot produce at the quality levels demanded in high-value-added industries and cannot market what they produce even in low-value-added industries such as textiles or shoes. Put bluntly, multinational companies possess a variety of factors that developing countries must have if they are to participate in the global economy.<ref name=MNC2/>

===Outsourcing===
[[Outsourcing]], according to Grossman and Helpman, refers to the process of "subcontracting an ever expanding set of activities, ranging from product design to assembly, from research and development to marketing, distribution and after-sales service".<ref name=OSC1>{{cite journal |last1=Grossman |first1=Gene M |last2=Helpman |first2=Elhanan |title=Outsourcing in a Global Economy |journal=The Review of Economic Studies |year=2005 |jstor=3700687 |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=135–159|doi=10.1111/0034-6527.00327 |url=http://papers.nber.org/papers/w8728.pdf }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=This source is a working paper.|date=February 2023}} Many companies have moved to outsourcing services in which they no longer specifically need or have the capability of handling themselves.<ref name=OSC2>{{cite web |last=Quinn |first=J. B. |title=Strategic Outsourcing |url=http://www.decon.unipd.it/info/sid/materiale9/bel_eat_letture_ottava_settimana/quinn1.pdf |access-date=27 May 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722065135/http://www.decon.unipd.it/info/sid/materiale9/bel_eat_letture_ottava_settimana/quinn1.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2011 }}</ref> This is due to considerations of what the companies can have more control over.<ref name=OSC2/> Whatever companies tend to not have much control over or need to have control over will outsource activities to firms that they consider "less competing".<ref name=OSC2/> According to SourcingMag.com, the process of outsourcing can take the following four phases.<ref name=OSC3>{{Citation | contribution = Outsourcing – What is Outsourcing? | title = Sourcingmag.com | contribution-url = http://www.sourcingmag.com/content/what_is_outsourcing.asp}}</ref>

# strategic thinking
# evaluation and selection
# contract development
# outsourcing management

Outsourcing is among some of the many reasons for increased competition within developing countries.<ref name=OSC4>"http://www.international.ucla.edu/media/files/GlobalUnequal_10_252.pdf"</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=This source is a draft.|date=February 2023}} Aside from being a reason for competition, many First World countries see outsourcing, in particular [[offshore outsourcing]], as an opportunity for increased income.<ref name=OSC6>{{cite book |last1=Kansal |first1=Purva |last2=Kaushik |first2=Amit Kumar |title=Offshore Outsourcing: An E-Commerce Reality (Opportunity for Developing Countries) |date=January 2006 |publisher=Idea Group Inc (IGI) |isbn=9781591403548 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4zJOECe_tAC&q=%22outsourcing%22+%22developing+countries%22&pg=PT133|access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref> As a consequence, the skill level of production in foreign countries handling the outsourced services increases within the economy; and the skill level within the domestic developing countries can decrease.<ref name=OSC5>{{cite web |url=http://admin.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/about/director/documents/labour1996.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623001353/http://admin.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/about/director/documents/labour1996.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-23 |title=U.S. Trade with Developing Countries and Wage Inequality}}</ref> It is because of competition (including outsourcing) that [[Robert Feenstra]] and [[Gordon Hanson]] predict that there will be a rise of 15–33 percent in inequality amongst these countries.<ref name="OSC4"/>{{Better source needed|reason=This source is a draft.|date=February 2023}}