It is a small world after all...

“…how globalized and yet how unglobalized CULTURE has become.” (136 Abu-Lughod)

Besides the fact that “Going Beyond Global Babble” was short and easy to digest, I liked the way the author approached the culture clashes brought on by the ever increasing globalization. As I.R. students I think it is safe to assume that we all understand how different the various cultures of the world are and how easy it is for one to misinterpret another in our expanding global village. A perfect example being “The West versus the Rest” (as mentioned in the Dallmayr article)…these culture conflicts are constantly growing and//or evolving. I had never heard of the “Rushdie affair,” but its mention in the global babble article caused me to research it further. Basically, a British-Indian writer heavily, heavily criticized (…I mean, Iran (the country) put a hit on his life.) for his narrative about versus in the Qur’an. It is just fascinating how connected our world is becoming, and how one small even can impact the entire globe. What someone wrote in Britain angered Muslims all over the world. It was banned in multiple countries and the United Kingdom basically broke ties with the Iranian government because of a controversy over free speech and one man’s book. That just amazes me..a book written in Great Britain shook up the entire nation’s relationship with Iran…all over its content…it was a fictional book too. It is true…this only demonstrates how small the world has become; yet how far we still have to go in our quest for cooperation and understanding. The world is only going to keep getting smaller and its not that we need to conform to the new cultures, just become more aware and understanding of them.