“The Future of Latin American and Philippine Nations, Institutions,

and Communities under Globalization”

The dictionary defines globalization as "a process by which businesses or other
organizations develop international influence or begin operations on a global scale." So, what
does the future hold for Latin American and Philippine countries as a result of globalization? Is
globalization paving the way for a brighter future for these countries?
For more than a decade, globalization and governance have been two of the most
pressing issues in the international stage. Communication, information, and technology have all
advanced dramatically. Transportation has resulted in a greater degree of economic
internationalization and interdependence. Nations' increasing economic integration is causing
changes not only in the economic environment, but also in political structures and processes.
Governments all over the world are under pressure to comply with globalization and governance
demands in order to remain competitive and achieve their developmental objectives. All
countries face enormous challenges as a result of these economic and political forces. It is
especially relevant in Latin America and the Philippines. Both the Philippines, which is part of
Asia, and Latin America are large countries with a great deal of internal diversity; their economic
performance has also fluctuated over time. Nonetheless, depending on the level of abstraction
used, the two regions can be seen as typifying different developmental paths, particularly since
the 1980s, when Latin America embraced the "Washington consensus" on development more
enthusiastically than most Asian countries. Major Asian economies grew faster than Latin
American economies even before the "lost decade" of the 1980s. The puzzle of contrasting
regional development patterns has gotten a lot of attention from academics. For example, in the
1980s, a popular argument held that Asian countries' superior ability to generate economic
growth and avoid the debt crisis that engulfed Latin America at the time was due to their export
prowess.
The mixing and exchanges that occurred during and after World War II caused Latin
American culture and society to become a blend of the West and traditional aspects. The Cold
War in Latin America, defined either as more than a century of conflict between capitalism and
socialist alternatives, or as a forty-year period of US-Soviet competition, had significant
consequences for the region's political and economic evolution. The global economy has gone
through at least three waves of globalization; the fourth wave is currently underway, sweeping
away old certainty. The Philippines, which has reaped the benefits of the third wave of
globalization so far thanks to a functioning democracy, monetary stability, trade liberalization,
and other market reforms. In a fast-changing world, previous strategies may need to be
fundamentally rethought in order for the country to survive and thrive in a period of global
transition.
Overall, Asian countries have created economies with high domestic savings rates,
careful channeling of foreign investment into priority areas, significant capacity to export
manufactured goods, and limited foreign debt - and I am fully aware that I am treading
dangerous ground here, generalizing about regions that are quite diverse internally. These
economic trends arose from the well-thought-out activities of effective national governments,
and they aided in the stimulation of economic growth. Many Latin American countries that
embraced the "Washington consensus," on the other hand, have lower domestic savings rates,
smaller roles for national capital, higher reliance on foreign capital to supplement limited
mobilization of domestic resources, exports focused on lower value-added commodities, and
relatively high levels of foreign debt. These trends are also the result of policy choices made by
different types of states in Latin America, which are less effective, have large elite-mass gaps,
and are more globally complicit. Each of these points needs to be explored further, particularly in
terms of how these characteristics may have influenced economic performance.