will be a time of regional trade blocs and their selfish domination of the
world.
There are a number of political concepts based on this. The USA will
distance itself from Europe. Europe will strengthen its borders with the
East to isolate Russia. Military security will coincide with the borders of
the integrated regions etc.. Such ideas are logical only if the intellectual
horizons of the advocates are no further than the ends of their noses.
Regional isolation within the limits of whatever integrated bloc is an
extremely dangerous prospect. It will lead to a chain reaction within the
whole world and the creation of similarly isolated regions within American
and Asia. While there is little likelihood of this taking place within the
new Asian dragons, or the newly confident Latin American economies or
Australia, this prospect does not look too improbable for Europe. The
European syndrome of "protecting one's achievements" and "strengthening of
one's borders" in order not "to let chaos take over" is still alive and in
real danger of being provoked.
Of all the autonomous economic regions in the world at the moment
Europe is one of the most closed. Its internal exchange of trade is
extremely high it providing between 60 and 80% of the imports into the
larger countries of the Union. While as the European economy is strongly
dependent on Asian markets, its investments in Asia have reduced in
comparison to American levels. Europe cannot profit from this "integrational
introversion". It profits from its own integration but is losing as a result
of its introversion and from the lack of sufficient aggression in relation
to other markets. This is further stimulated by the fact that the share of
national ownership in Europe is significantly higher than in other parts of
the world.
At the end of 1995 there was a meeting in Spain of the leading European
industrialists. I was able to talk to one of the major European
industrialists after the conference, the president of the Swiss company ABB,
David de Puri. The European industrialists understand the simple truth that
"openness is at the root of success". They are in favour of the "more rapid
integration of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe into the common
European market" and also that it is up to the "Europeans to re-discover the
open world economy". I quote the opinion of David de Puri not only out of
respect for his undisputed talent as a global leader but also because of the
significance of his views in general. Each regional integration, including
European integration will be successful if it takes into account the laws of
globalisation and if it finds its place within the open global world. There
is no doubt that if the European Union becomes transformed into a more or
less closed community, if it becomes a closed bureaucratic multi-national
state, this will reduce its prospects. As a Bulgarian politician I am firmly
in favour of the acceptance of Bulgaria as a member of the European Union
and I believe Bulgaria to be part of the European cultural tradition.
However, I am not blind. Europe is the richest part of the world, with the
vast majority of historical and cultural archaeological sites and monuments.
However, it is only one part of the world. In the same way as I cannot
accept the term Americanisation, Westernisation or Japanisation, I cannot
accept the term Europeanisation. I would like to be able to shout out, "Long
Live Europe", "The end of European isolation", "The end of European
introversion" -- "Yes, to the open world!"
This brings me to my main conclusion. The regionalisation of the world
is possible and a probably inevitable stage in world integration, of the
transfer of the authority of the nation states to the supra-national
economic and political institutions. Regional integration is typical of the
transition between the Third and the Fourth Civilisation. It was typical of
almost the whole of the 20th century during which alliances between states
began to take on more long term features. After the Second World War they
took on an economic character. On the eve the new century, however, the
regional processes of integration will become more and more subordinate to
global processes. The globalisation of financial, raw material and
information markets will not permit anyone, including the champions of
integration from Europe to close themselves up from everyone else. This will
just be ineffective and of no benefit to anyone.
The Fourth Civilisation will accept the regionally integrated
formations as a intermediate stage in the framework of the polycentric
organisation of the world economic order. For a certain period of time they
will make up for the absence of global economic regulations without being
able to replace it completely. Thus, step by step, stage by stage the
structures and the institutions of the new human civilisation will be
formed.
6. THE BALANCING OF ECONOMIC LEVELS
The balancing of economic levels of countries is also as important as
their opening-up to the world. Each of these processes is impossible without
the other.
G
lobalisation and regionalisation, economic polycentralism and the
openness of countries, trans-national corporations and global economic
regulation, the new global communications and the reduction of the role of
the nation states, the deregulation and socialisation of ownership -- these
features best describe the economic essence of the Fourth Civilisation. This
could also be called global reconstruction or a new economic order or a
number of other titles. Countries are opening up to each other but this
inevitably requires the balancing of economic levels of development. Each of
these categories is impossible without the other at least at the end of the
twentieth century.
Today there are 1 billion rich people in the world, 2 billion people
with medium income and 3 billion poor people. It may be madness to speak of
the balancing of economic levels in such conditions. However, if there is to
be a new economic order based on the criteria of the New Civilisation this
is not impossible. To ignore the problems of poverty and the widening gap
between the poor and the rich countries is not only amoral but ineffective.
If the world continues to be divided into rich metropolises and a poor
periphery this will lead to further isolation. Sooner or later this will
give rise to further serious conflicts and new utopias and a new return to
totalitarian doctrines. Rich countries will not benefit from this.
Rich people do not like to live next door to poor families since they
feel that this will affect them. In the same way in the global village the
rich countries will be faced with more and more problems from the poorer
countries. Earlier in the book I wrote about the problems of realisation of
poverty by the poor and their possible reactions. Now I am writing about the
slow but inevitable process of realisation of poverty on the part of the
rich.
The balancing out of economic levels of countries and nations will be a
slow and drawn-out process. It is a general consequence, a common result of
all the structural and institutional changes which will accompany the advent
of the Fourth Civilisation. The huge level of imbalanced development between
the countries and nations is caused by the disintegrational processes of
isolated development of nations during the past three civilisations.
Different tribes and later national communities developed in the context of
completely new climatic conditions, resources and socio-political context.
It is entirely logical that certain nations should develop further than
others. First of all the Shumerians and the Egyptians, then the Greeks and
the Romans followed by the Chinese and the Indians. By the 15th century
there was already a clear trend towards European domination over the other
countries of the world. It is only now at the end of the 20th century that
this domination could be said to be coming to an end.
What are the differences in the development of the individual countries
of the world now in the 20th century? If we take as our basis the GDP per
head of population we can divide the countries of the world into three
groups, the rich with a GDP per head of population of more then 10,000 USD,
the medium-rich with a GDP of 2-10,000 and the poor with a GDP of less than
2000 USD.
Table 10
Gross Domestic Product per head of population (US
Dollars)[60].
Wealthy countries
Medium wealthy
Poor countries
Switzerland
Luxemburg
Japan
Bermuda
Sweden
Finland
Norway
Denmatk
USA
Iceland
Canada
Germany
France
Austria
UAE
Belgium
Italy
Holland
U.K.
Australia
Brunei
Qatar
Hong Kong
Singapore
Spain
New Zealand
Israel
Bahamas
Ireland
33,515
30,950
26,919
26,600
25,487
24,396
24,151
23,676
22,560
22,362
21,254
21,248
20,603
20,379
20,131
19,295
18,576
18,565
16,748
16,595
16,554
15,484
13,192
12,869
12,461
12,136
12,092
11,708
10,789
Cyprus
Taiwan
Kuwait
Dutch Antibbes
Saudi Arabia
Malta
Bahrain
Barbados
Greece
South Korea
Puerto Rico
Lybia
Portugal
Macao
Estonia
Gabon
Trinidad
Surinam
Latvia
Russia
Belorus
Fm. Yugoslavia
Brasil
Mexico
Uruguay
Argentina
Czech Republic
Lithuania
Hungary
Cuba
Venezuela
Botswana
Malaysia
South Africa
Kazakhstan
Mauritius
Ukraine
Iran
Moldova
Chile
8,641
8,546
8,520
7,300
7,300
7,217
7,075
6,581
6,498
6,356
6,338
5,842
5,626
5,417
3,829
3,777
3,620
3,585
3,418
3,220
3,111
2,956
2,921
2,874
2,860
2,794
2,714
2,711
2,690
2,620
2,614
2,585
2,503
2,474
2,467
2,429
2,336
2,205
2,176
2,163
Ruanda
Vietnam
Malawi
Laos
Burundi
Bangladesh
Madagascar
Zaire
Chad
Cambogja
Afganistan
Nepal
Buthan
Uganda
Ethiopia
Somalia
Tanzania
Mozambique
Sierra Leone
261
227
227
226
216
216
213
213
211
208
199
195
178
177
164
116
100
86
72
All the countries of the first group are inseparably linked to the
world economy. They have open economies and a relatively stable position
within the international distribution of labour. One part of the second
group has the potential of catching up with the first if they are permitted
to participate in the integrational processes and are provided with
sufficient investments. Greece, Portugal, Mexico, China, South Korea,
Hungary and the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia,
Brazil, Venezuela, Thailand, Malaysia, The Republic of South Africa and even
Kazakhstan have sufficient potential to make serious advances. Table 10
shows a third group of countries whose position is practically hopeless and
whose manufacturing structures are hundreds of years behind that of the most
developed countries.
Of course, the GDP criterion is not exhaustive. It only shows the
actual productivity of the world population. Many countries in the second
group will face problems due to the high costs of servicing their foreign
debts, especially when compared with GNP. Table 11 shows this ratio for 40
countries whose manufacturing industry is not in a position to pay the
rapidly accumulating foreign debts. 15 of them are medium-developed
countries including Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Malta, South Korea and
others. Of course, the foreign debt problem will hamper attempts to reach
the necessary level of economic development.
The paradox of the transition to the Fourth Civilisation is that one
group of countries is already within its embraces, another is standing at
the threshold while a third group is still living within the conditions of
the pre-industrial era. The majority of the population of Tanzania, Kenya,
Mozambique, Nigeria and other countries still live in huts. Large numbers of
children in Somalia, Ethiopia, Ruanda and Congo are dying of starvation.
Given such a situation, are we right to pose the question of the balancing
of economic development? I believe that we are right and that this is the
only way for the New Civilisation to establish itself.
Table 11
Foreign Debt as a percentage of Gross National Product[61]
Syria
Bolivia
Uganda
Oman
Costa Rica
Bangladesh
Pakistan
Bulgaria
Tanzania
Cyprus
Mozambique
Ghana
El Salvador
Kenya
South Korea
Papua New Guineau
Tunisia
Poland
Lebanon
Malta
728,4
426,0
283,4
262,6
250,8
225,3
222,6
221,7
214,7
181,7
167,5
155,9
148,3
142,4
130,2
129,9
118,1
114,5
113,8
109,8
Mauritius
Hungary
Ethiopia
Zaire
Barbados
Zimbabwe
Panama
Sri Lanka
Dominican Rep.
Togo
Gabon
Benine
Jordan
Egypt
Nepal
Nigeria
Uruguay
Laos
Cameroon
Lesotho
109,2
108,8
104,9
95,4
94,8
89,6
88,1
88,1
85,3
85,0
84,6
82,3
81,0
80,0
79,0
77,0
73,6
72,9
72,6
71,5
If the existing world structures and the liberal structures of the
world economy are preserved, the gap between the most develop and the least
developed countries will continue to increase. Only in the last 30 years
this gap measured on the basis GDP per head of population has doubled. If
these policies continue in the future there will be no significant change.
It is true that the economic development of China and the smaller Asian
"dragons" and the expected revival in the economies of Latin America to a
certain extent will fill this vacuum. However, this is not the case for many
countries in Africa or for another fifty or so poorly developed states where
there is little hope .
The pure market approach will not guarantee balanced development for
another reason. 8-10 of the first group of the most developed countries will
for some time to come continue to "rule the world" and to aspire to the role
of an independent economic regulator. I am not saying that the global market
will not impose limits on this trend but the intense competition for
investments in the developed countries will give the poorer countries a
chance and will force investors to take risks. However, this will not be
sufficient. I believe that the decisive factor will the combination of
market trends with global regulation which will stimulate a significant
increase in investments from the wealthier to the poorer nations. Of course,
each of them will have to take additional responsibility for the
establishment of stability, order and the fight against corruption and
crime. For the moment things have been left to the interest of the
multinational groups. With certain notable exceptions this has not
stimulated the improvements to infrastructure in the poorly-developed
countries which they need for further economic development.
The problem of world poverty and in a broader context -- the balancing
out of economic levels will be resolved at a global level. This will be
accomplished by the United Nations, the IMF or the World Bank but above all,
by changes in the world economic order and the creation of institutions of
global economic regulation. Certain statesmen, including the late President
of France, Francois Mitterand, believed in the need for a comprehensive
agreement between the North and the South, between the rich and the poor
states. This was a good if not realistic idea. I believe that it would be
much more effective to develop specific economic programmes for individual
countries aimed at the stimulation and guaranteeing of private investments
via specialised funds and the integration of the poor states in the world
economy. Only about 2% of the global military budget would be sufficient to
carry out such programmes, or about 10-12 billion US dollars. This would
give a powerful impetus to the process of resolving the problems of hunger
and illness, the reduction in the birth rate and the creation of more
sustainable forms of income for specific populations.
The balanced development of the world requires a change in direction
from charity and hand-outs to policies aimed at changing the economic
infrastructure of the least developed nations in the world. It is true that
this will not at all be easy and that the reduction of military budgets does
not mean the sudden release of huge funds for investments. In many cases
these funds will "sink" out of sight as a result of corruption, the lack of
organisation and the desperation of the hungry. However, these are
inevitable difficulties which should not stop the process.
If humanity and especially the wealthiest nations do not take serious
steps to change the trends in the development of the poorest nations, this
will lead to the appearance of new utopias, open the way to religious
fanaticism and confrontation and incite new local, regional and even world
wars. If humanity finds the strength within itself to begin the processes of
resolving this matter this will lead to a change in the face of the earth.
New opportunities will be opened up not only to the people of the poor
countries but to all. What seems impossible and too expensive as an approach
to the struggle against poverty in actual fact will save money in the long
run because future generations will not have to pay the bill. Such are the
laws of the mutually dependent global world.
Chapter Nine
THE CULTURE OF THE FOURTH CIVILISATION
1. THE BEATLES, MICHAEL JACKSON AND
THE BULGARIAN CAVAL
Some of the strongest driving forces of the Fourth Civilisation are the
new global communications. They permit not only the simultaneous
distribution of information products all over the world but also promote
cultural images and standards, universal models and styles. With every
passing day the world is being taken over by a new universal culture.
W
hen I heard the Beatles for the first time in 1966 I was 12 years old.
This was in Sofia at a time when television, radio and the newspapers
divided the world into the "good" (socialism) and the "bad" (capitalism) in
the most terrible and primitive manner. The Beatles came into our small,
closed country via the radio. I remember that first of all, one or two of my
classmates and then almost everyone began to swap information about them --
who they were, where they came from and we began to learn off by heart the
titles and the melodies of their songs. The popularity of the Beatles began
to worry some of those responsible for education in Bulgaria I remember one
day our teacher saying to us, "Even if we like their music, the way in which
they dress and their behaviour is unacceptable".
This fact alone demonstrates that the Beatles were much more than just
music and that they were much more than just another pop-group. From their
appearance in Liverpool and their first concerts in Scotland in 1963,
Germany and Britain the Beatles transformed their music into a world
cultural and social phenomenon. The entire youth of the 1960's and 1970's
took John Lennon, Paul Macartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star to their
hearts.
In 1964 and 1956 the Beatles conquered Europe, North American,
Australia and New Zealand. In 1966, much to surprise of the sceptics, they
took Japan and the Philippines by storm. Their concerts in Tokyo and at the
national stadium in Manilla were no less successful than their concerts in
Europe and America. The sensation was undisputed. It was a new global
phenomenon for which there were no borders or, perhaps, which destroyed the
existing cultural barriers and prejudices. Beatles' records went all around
the world and their songs were sung in Africa, Asia and in Latin America.
The Beatles were a phenomenon of special cultural value. For the first
time a pop-group had achieved such universal global fame. This is, however,
not to underestimate other such famous performers such as Elvis Presley or
Edith Piaf or Caruso. Although each of them was a part of the cultural
treasury of the 20th century, the Beatles phenomenon was an expression of
and the beginning of something entirely new.
The undoubted reason for their success was the talent of the musicians
from Liverpool. However, if they had been born 30 years earlier with even
greater talent they would have not achieved such colossal success. The
Beatles appeared at the moment when the electronic media had just begun a
global revolution. This was not only a matter of electric guitars but the
new means of information transfer and the speed and methods of disseminating
new cultural images. The Beatles were the first swallows of the new era and
heralds of our current civilisation. The process of the globalisation of
world culture began with the Beatles. New musical styles began to appear
within a given country, in a particular town or bar but as a result of the
electronic media they became international and lose their local and national
significance.
The language of music is a language equally understandable in all the
corners of the world. It was logical to expect music to be the main and most
natural channel for the dissemination of universal cultural symbols and
images and that music would be the starting point for the process of
globalisation of culture.
Moreover, together with the dissemination of cultural images created
within one individual state the 1960's were also a time of the intensive
intermixing of cultural styles and the search for points of intersection
between formerly autonomous national and cultural traditions. The Beatles
looked to the cultures of India and Japan for some of their motifs. In the
1970's many African and Latin American musicians gained significant
popularity.
Generally speaking, in culture as in economics there were two types of
phenomena which could no longer be defined as purely national either in
terms of their significance nor in terms of their specific legacy of
cultural traditions. Some symbols appeared in a local context and then
gained global recognition. Other appeared as a result of cultural
intermixing and the creation of cultural models and styles which organically
combined or synthesised individual national cultures.
What national and cultural style is expressed today by the music of
Michael Jackson? The Anglo-Saxon cultural tradition? Hardly. The culture of
black America? Yes, to a certain extent. As he grew more independent and
more creative, his music became more primal separated from local concepts
and traditional criteria of beauty and aesthetics. Michael Jackson's style
and his songs have been influenced by a number of cultures. However, his
primal attraction and personal musical energy are products of a time which
does not recognise national borders and which forms global cultural and
aesthetic standards of beauty and values.
In previous centuries cultural influences were imposed mainly by
coercion and they tended to effect only individual parts of the world. Today
modern global communications and the global media do not only disseminate
the best manifestations of global culture but also require the creative
artists to observe the new cultural criteria and requirements of the new
world art. Anyone who wishes to achieve world fame must be allowed access to
the hearts and souls of people in the different parts of the world. The
Beatles and Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen as well as many other
musicians have created works of music and artistic influences which owe
their success to a hitherto unknown musical style and to the unique
combination of dynamism and expressivity which knows no national boundaries.
There have been similar phenomena in the other art forms. Television
and video, and advertising have begun to penetrate the whole of world
culture. First of all they penetrate a local culture and then in conjunction
with other less culturally specific products form a part of global culture.
I recently listened to an interview given by the world famous designer
Lacroix in which he was describing his attempts to combine influences from
different cultures, "Intermixing -- this is the essence of things". This is
the essence of the new and it is a logical consequence of the opening-up of
the world and the influence of global communications. The intermixing of
cultural traditions is an expression of the same synthesis which is now
apparent in global economics.
It was his death from AIDS which elevated Freddy Mercury to a status
perhaps greater than he was in life. However, Queen's music was not purely
English or European but a more universal music of the future world as an
integrated community. Who does the music of Jean Michel Jarre belong to? It
has nothing in common with the powerful tradition of the chanson. The music
of Jean Michel Jarre is a product of the electronic society not only in
terms of technology but in terms of its historical significance and the
beginning of the new age. The main result of this process is the formation
of a universal spiritual and cultural content of the world. This is above
all manifested in the appearance of a growing number of cultural products
which have no national borders and limits. Music was the first of these but
now similar processes are taking place in the cinema, fashion and art
resulting in the appearance of millions of new bonds between the people of
the whole world.
I live in a country with rich and ancient cultural traditions. I am
saddened by the destruction of traditional culture which has been taking
place since 1992. However, I am encouraged by certain new and important
phenomena -- the combination of the global culture with national traditions
on the one hand and the adaptation of national traditions to global trends.
Few people would recognise the Bulgarian folk instrument, the Caval. There
are similar looking wind instruments in other countries of the world, but
the Bulgarian Caval in terms of its construction and sound is unique.
Theodosi Spasov has used it to win many significant international awards and
has conquered the hearts of many people. His performances have little in
common with the traditions of the Bulgarian Caval. His improvisations are
filled with the spirit of the new and his compositions are a symbol of
modern musical philosophy. For this reason he is understandable anywhere.
There is no chronological distinction between his art and that of the
greatest modern composers.
This is only one example. Many others could be drawn from the various
areas of art. Most significantly even the smallest of world cultures can
produce global culture. All they need to do is to find the link between
their own identity and the universal global cultural processes. Between
1984--1995 the famous Bulgarian folk-singer Stefka Subotinova recorded a
number of Bulgarian folk songs with a modern arrangement which achieved
enormous popularity. Other famous Bulgarian pop singers such as Lili Ivanova
and Georgi Hristov also combine Bulgarian and global cultural elements.
There are similar processes at work all over the world.
The most important conclusion which I draw here is that after the
1960's together with the appearance and the spread of new global
communications and the media there also began a new process of the
globalisation of world culture or in other words, the creation of a culture
with a supra-national character. This culture created global criteria and
values, overcame national, cultural and religious prejudices and is
undoubtedly an element of the coming Fourth Civilisation which the 21st
century will bring us. This culture is creating the future. It is a bridge
to it and a bridge to the unification of new generations from all over the
world.
This new culture became possible as a result of the mass influence and
cultural mixing born by the world media. Satellite television made possible
the removal of borders without tanks and violence without the dissemination
of militant ideology and doctrines. The world is united with new
communication networks -- a process which will clearly continue with growing
intensity into the coming century. This is the greatest guarantee for the
continued globalisation of world culture. A shining example of this is the
creation of television networks which cover the entire globe. It can be
easily predicted that such global television networks will continue to
penetrate all the corners of the earth. Part of them will carry information,
some of them will broadcast art, while other will show sports. However, they
will all be the most powerful integrational factor in the world.
While the collapse of the Eastern European totalitarian systems was a
political revolution, the first part of the collapse of the Third
Civilisation, the new communications will be the material manifestation of
the new age. Microchips, computers and satellite televisions spell death for
bureaucracy, partocracy and the restrictions of human rights. The Beatles,
Freddy Mercury, Jean Michel Jarre and Theodosi Spasov are all directly
linked. They are but different manifestations of one and the same global
phenomenon, the globalisation of art and new cultural dimensions which will
combine the strongest national traditions with a new, hitherto unknown
global culture which will belong to no one single nation.
Will national traditions and cultures disappear? Will cultural
differences not become a reason for the new division of the world? Is not
global culture a covert form of media dictatorship? These questions will be
answered later.
2. THE TRAVELLING PEOPLES
Until only fifty years the majority of people travelled only to the
neighbouring town or village and foreign travel was a privilege of only a
select few. Each subsequent generation bears within itself the spirit of the
global world. Today millions and billions of people travel around the world.
Travel has become a bridge over which the peoples of the world can get to
know one another and exchange their cultures.
T
he globalisation of world culture has lead to a particular form of
cosmopolitanism which has flourished as a result of new technologies and
communication. Cosmopolitanism, however, is not characteristic of all
countries and peoples nor is there any direct link between cosmopolitanism
and the level of technological and economic progress which a given country
has achieved. Switzerland is one of the most advanced countries in the
world. However, they are more conservative than cosmopolitan. They
acknowledge and service the cosmopolitanism of others without accepting it
for themselves. Everything depends from an historical point of view on the
development of a given nation, its openness to the world and at the same
time its ability to preserve its integrity. Many peoples exiled from their
native lands over the centuries have dissolved into foreign ethnic groups or
have been simple either enslaved or annihilated. Therefore the decisive
factors are not only national openness and mobility but also loyalty to one
roots.
Those nations in history which were the first to master new forms of
communication were able to spread their culture to other states. I like to
refer to these nations as the "travelling nations". In this process they
achieved significant historical advantages and became leaders in the
processes of integration. The modern world is now dependent on those
"travelling nations". Joel Kotkin calls them the "global tribes". For Kotkin
these global tribes combine a strong feeling of loyalty to their family
roots, observe the principles of national fidelity and despite being spread
all over the world identify with one specific geographical area. According
to my analyses these global nations are not only a continuation of an
historical tradition but are, above all, a powerful integrating element of
the modern world. In the same way that the ancient Greeks spread their
culture to Scythia and Rome, today the global nations are amongst the most
effective bridges for the dissemination of capital, technology and culture.
Each of these peoples left their native land and later established positions
of strength in dozens of other countries and created an invisible network of
families, relatives or national ties or channels for the dissemination of
economic and cultural values. A typical feature of these "travelling
nations" is their facility to become naturalised successfully in different
countries amongst varying ethnic groups at the same time preserving their
national roots and traditions. There are several reasons for this: the
absence of a homeland state; colonisation of cultivable lands; migration as
a result of wars and natural catastrophes; political, ideological and
religious conflicts. These are the most common reasons which instill the
spirit of the pioneer and traveller.
The Jewish people are a typical example of this. The modern world
economy and world corporations were founded by Jews. Expelled as a result of
persecution and the lack of their own homeland, as early as the 18th century
the Jewish people began their own processes of economic integration. At the
time when everything functioned within narrow national borders, the Jews
exploited the differences between national manufacturing conditions and
today it is no accident that their representatives are amongst the richest
people in the world. The religious prohibition against Christians lending
money with interest allowed them to master the secrets of banking. The lack
of their own state institutions and land made them into the best traders in
the world. Perhaps their greatest strength was the close network of
connections and their efforts to preserve the traditions of the old Jewish
families.
Today the Jews, the oldest travellers, are not alone. One might go so
far as to say that their trans-national monopoly has been taken from them.
There is another group of peoples who are keenly following the achievements
of world communications and are gradually catching up with, and in certain
cases overtaking, the achievements of the Jews. The British, the Armenians,
the Chinese, the Indians and more recently the Americans and Japanese are
gradually becoming global nations or in other words, people who are links in
a complex chain spanning the world with millions and millions of other
links.
Many of these global peoples have specialised themselves in significant
parts of world manufacturing and trade. For example the Jews from generation
to generation have expanded their influence in the entertainment industry,
the world of finance and the diamond trade. The Japanese are the world
leaders in precise engineering, in the production of high powered computers
and computer technology. The Indians are amongst the world leaders in
software, the British in banking and communications, the Americans in
telecommunications, aerospace engineering and the Chinese in textile
manufacture etc..
Perhaps, the most important factor is while preserving their relative
specialisation and making their own contributions to the global cultural
treasury, these travelling nations have helped greatly in the removal of
borders between the nations of the world. Thanks to them the world today is
closely integrated and the intermixing of their cultures has reached
tremendous levels. The global world would be impossible without these
"travelling peoples".
The preservation of national cultural traditions and tolerance to other
cultures has allowed them to become some of the leading architects of the
new world. At the opposite extreme those who are isolated and intolerant to
other cultures have no chance. They will either remain at the tail-end of
world progress or they will incite conflicts which will have serious
consequences for themselves. The totalitarian regimes were typical examples
of this. Totalitarianism can flourish only in isolation. The Russians,
Czechs, Bulgarians and Poles were isolated from progress and the new
technological revolution which embraced the world in the 1960's. Today they
are having to redouble their efforts to make up for lost time.
On the other hand, there is the example of the eternal Jews. They have
occupied key positions in the economic, cultural and political life of
France, Russia, the United States and the Republic of South Africa. Members
of the same families can be found in London, Paris, New York, Capetown and
even Hong Kong. It is these families and clans which have been the major
channels for the explosion in world trade over the past 30--40 years.
Another similar example is that of the Indians who apart from operating
within their own country exert strong influences in London, Los Angeles,
Chicago or Lagos. If you visit Nairobi the capital of Kenya, you will be
amazed to see how many Indians there are in the financial and commercial
sectors. As a result of their powerful navy and great colonial empire in the
19th century, the British have very strong global positions. The influence
of the British financial networks is particulary strong in Sidney,
Singapore, Toronto or San Francisco.
The majority of the travelling nations became established in the 19th
century and the first half of the 20th. They opened the way for the
globalisation of the world. They not only gave birth to this process they
were also its children. Today the "old travellers" are accompanied by new
"travelling nations" who are more dynamic and will perhaps make up for what
they missed out on.
One of the newest travelling nations are the Japanese. They have the
biggest banks in the world, the most progressive world technologies and
their own "settlements" within all the world economic and cultural centres.
I would say that from the 1960's onwards the Japanese have spread all over
the world. Some people consider that this is a planned invasion with a view
to conquering new economic influence and living space. Others say the
opposite, that the Japanese economy is like a balloon which if it is to
avoid bursting needs first to be deflated.
I do not believe that from an historical point of view any one given
nation can dominate the rest and by the same token I do not believe that
international Japanese invasion has reached its apogee. The Chinese and the
Indians will have a hard job to try and take their place. At least until the
beginning of the next century the Japanese global diaspora will continue to
exert a strong influence on the formation and development of the whole
world. The strong Japanese influence on the American economy, their
penetration into European economic structures and their strong overtures to
Latin America and some African countries demonstrate that the Japanese will
continue to be one of the leading travelling nations. Only one example is
sufficient. Each year the Japanese economy invests huge amounts of free
capital into real estate in the USA and Europe. According to some analysts
almost 40% of the property in the centre of Los Angeles in Japanese. The
same can be said of the huge skyscrapers in New York. There are thousands of
Japanese enterprises in the USA some of which occupy leading positions in
technology. One of the most prestigious world resorts, the Hawaiian islands
are owned to a large extent by the Japanese. If you walk along the coastal
boulevard at Waikiki beach you are more likely to hear Japanese than any
other language and you will see that the majority of the marvellous hotels
by the beach are Japanese. What the Japanese were unable to achieve with
their attacks and their bombs against Pearl Harbour they have achieved by
hard work, money and consistency. Today only a few kilometres from the place
where in December 1941 Japanese bombers inflicted their most serious blow
against the American Pacific Fleet there is a chain of luxury Japanese
hotels.
The Japanese have two amazing features. They have a tremendous ability
to adapt and to achieve progress quietly and consistently. Take a look at
the streets of any of the world's large cultural, financial or tourist
centre. Practically everywhere you will see Japanese tourists taking
photographs, taking notes and they are always in little groups. They are
soaking everything up. They will later analyze the information they have
taken away with them and then they will come back, this time with
investments and specific ideas for entering the market, quietly, slowly and
unnoticed.
The other new global travellers who can be seen everywhere are the
Chinese. According to some statistics, the Chinese who live outside the
border of China control the larger part of the hard currency reserves of the
world. There are "Chinatowns" in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Toronto and
New York. They are becoming more and more influential and add their own
colour and new cultural phenomena to the countries in which they live. There
is a growing Chinese influence in Japan and Australia. Clearly the reform
government of China is trying to emulate the experience of Japan to create
conditions for new world domination on the basis of traditional Chinese
domination. If the current rate of Chinese economic growth persists to the
end of the century and the hard currency reserves of the Chinese living
outside China continue to increase then within 10--15 years they will become
the most dynamic "travelling nation" in the global world. With new
simplified procedures, an ethnic economy, strong national links, extreme
hard work and consistency -- these are the characteristics which guarantee
great chances of success for the Chinese. The Indians and the South Koreans
whose economic elite are becoming more and more self-confident will also
direct their attention to a similar global approach. It can be expected that
the Asian economies will not only experience an ardent renaissance but that
their development will have a colossal global effect. The example of South
Korea and a number of smaller Asian states is indicative that it is not
necessarily only the larger peoples which become "travellers" and take on a
global significance. Perhaps their example will be infectious.
The collapse of the bi-polar model and the destruction of the Berlin
Wall gave the Eastern Europeans a chance to discover the advantages of the
open world. Very soon after 1990--1991 the Slavs and in particular the
Russians began to re-settle all over the world. Although it is too early to
make any sort of conclusion, the Russians seem to be turning into one of the
new "travelling nations". The large export of capital (according to the
Russian official figures -- over 40 billion dollars between 1991--1994) and
the creation of a Russian suburb in New York, the purchase of real estate in
London, Paris and Madrid, these are all features of the new, long-term
Russian presence in the global world.
When I speak of the "travelling nations" I am not emphasising the
leaders of this group. I mean the general trend towards the re-settlement of
people, people travelling for the purposes of business or leisure. People
are no longer restricted to their own states as they once were. They do not
only travel to neighbouring countries. Younger generations are losing their
feelings of loyalty to the country in which they were born and are more
capable of living anywhere where there is a chance of good work and decent
world.
There are a number of political concepts based on this. The USA will
distance itself from Europe. Europe will strengthen its borders with the
East to isolate Russia. Military security will coincide with the borders of
the integrated regions etc.. Such ideas are logical only if the intellectual
horizons of the advocates are no further than the ends of their noses.
Regional isolation within the limits of whatever integrated bloc is an
extremely dangerous prospect. It will lead to a chain reaction within the
whole world and the creation of similarly isolated regions within American
and Asia. While there is little likelihood of this taking place within the
new Asian dragons, or the newly confident Latin American economies or
Australia, this prospect does not look too improbable for Europe. The
European syndrome of "protecting one's achievements" and "strengthening of
one's borders" in order not "to let chaos take over" is still alive and in
real danger of being provoked.
Of all the autonomous economic regions in the world at the moment
Europe is one of the most closed. Its internal exchange of trade is
extremely high it providing between 60 and 80% of the imports into the
larger countries of the Union. While as the European economy is strongly
dependent on Asian markets, its investments in Asia have reduced in
comparison to American levels. Europe cannot profit from this "integrational
introversion". It profits from its own integration but is losing as a result
of its introversion and from the lack of sufficient aggression in relation
to other markets. This is further stimulated by the fact that the share of
national ownership in Europe is significantly higher than in other parts of
the world.
At the end of 1995 there was a meeting in Spain of the leading European
industrialists. I was able to talk to one of the major European
industrialists after the conference, the president of the Swiss company ABB,
David de Puri. The European industrialists understand the simple truth that
"openness is at the root of success". They are in favour of the "more rapid
integration of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe into the common
European market" and also that it is up to the "Europeans to re-discover the
open world economy". I quote the opinion of David de Puri not only out of
respect for his undisputed talent as a global leader but also because of the
significance of his views in general. Each regional integration, including
European integration will be successful if it takes into account the laws of
globalisation and if it finds its place within the open global world. There
is no doubt that if the European Union becomes transformed into a more or
less closed community, if it becomes a closed bureaucratic multi-national
state, this will reduce its prospects. As a Bulgarian politician I am firmly
in favour of the acceptance of Bulgaria as a member of the European Union
and I believe Bulgaria to be part of the European cultural tradition.
However, I am not blind. Europe is the richest part of the world, with the
vast majority of historical and cultural archaeological sites and monuments.
However, it is only one part of the world. In the same way as I cannot
accept the term Americanisation, Westernisation or Japanisation, I cannot
accept the term Europeanisation. I would like to be able to shout out, "Long
Live Europe", "The end of European isolation", "The end of European
introversion" -- "Yes, to the open world!"
This brings me to my main conclusion. The regionalisation of the world
is possible and a probably inevitable stage in world integration, of the
transfer of the authority of the nation states to the supra-national
economic and political institutions. Regional integration is typical of the
transition between the Third and the Fourth Civilisation. It was typical of
almost the whole of the 20th century during which alliances between states
began to take on more long term features. After the Second World War they
took on an economic character. On the eve the new century, however, the
regional processes of integration will become more and more subordinate to
global processes. The globalisation of financial, raw material and
information markets will not permit anyone, including the champions of
integration from Europe to close themselves up from everyone else. This will
just be ineffective and of no benefit to anyone.
The Fourth Civilisation will accept the regionally integrated
formations as a intermediate stage in the framework of the polycentric
organisation of the world economic order. For a certain period of time they
will make up for the absence of global economic regulations without being
able to replace it completely. Thus, step by step, stage by stage the
structures and the institutions of the new human civilisation will be
formed.
6. THE BALANCING OF ECONOMIC LEVELS
The balancing of economic levels of countries is also as important as
their opening-up to the world. Each of these processes is impossible without
the other.
G
lobalisation and regionalisation, economic polycentralism and the
openness of countries, trans-national corporations and global economic
regulation, the new global communications and the reduction of the role of
the nation states, the deregulation and socialisation of ownership -- these
features best describe the economic essence of the Fourth Civilisation. This
could also be called global reconstruction or a new economic order or a
number of other titles. Countries are opening up to each other but this
inevitably requires the balancing of economic levels of development. Each of
these categories is impossible without the other at least at the end of the
twentieth century.
Today there are 1 billion rich people in the world, 2 billion people
with medium income and 3 billion poor people. It may be madness to speak of
the balancing of economic levels in such conditions. However, if there is to
be a new economic order based on the criteria of the New Civilisation this
is not impossible. To ignore the problems of poverty and the widening gap
between the poor and the rich countries is not only amoral but ineffective.
If the world continues to be divided into rich metropolises and a poor
periphery this will lead to further isolation. Sooner or later this will
give rise to further serious conflicts and new utopias and a new return to
totalitarian doctrines. Rich countries will not benefit from this.
Rich people do not like to live next door to poor families since they
feel that this will affect them. In the same way in the global village the
rich countries will be faced with more and more problems from the poorer
countries. Earlier in the book I wrote about the problems of realisation of
poverty by the poor and their possible reactions. Now I am writing about the
slow but inevitable process of realisation of poverty on the part of the
rich.
The balancing out of economic levels of countries and nations will be a
slow and drawn-out process. It is a general consequence, a common result of
all the structural and institutional changes which will accompany the advent
of the Fourth Civilisation. The huge level of imbalanced development between
the countries and nations is caused by the disintegrational processes of
isolated development of nations during the past three civilisations.
Different tribes and later national communities developed in the context of
completely new climatic conditions, resources and socio-political context.
It is entirely logical that certain nations should develop further than
others. First of all the Shumerians and the Egyptians, then the Greeks and
the Romans followed by the Chinese and the Indians. By the 15th century
there was already a clear trend towards European domination over the other
countries of the world. It is only now at the end of the 20th century that
this domination could be said to be coming to an end.
What are the differences in the development of the individual countries
of the world now in the 20th century? If we take as our basis the GDP per
head of population we can divide the countries of the world into three
groups, the rich with a GDP per head of population of more then 10,000 USD,
the medium-rich with a GDP of 2-10,000 and the poor with a GDP of less than
2000 USD.
Table 10
Gross Domestic Product per head of population (US
Dollars)[60].
Wealthy countries
Medium wealthy
Poor countries
Switzerland
Luxemburg
Japan
Bermuda
Sweden
Finland
Norway
Denmatk
USA
Iceland
Canada
Germany
France
Austria
UAE
Belgium
Italy
Holland
U.K.
Australia
Brunei
Qatar
Hong Kong
Singapore
Spain
New Zealand
Israel
Bahamas
Ireland
33,515
30,950
26,919
26,600
25,487
24,396
24,151
23,676
22,560
22,362
21,254
21,248
20,603
20,379
20,131
19,295
18,576
18,565
16,748
16,595
16,554
15,484
13,192
12,869
12,461
12,136
12,092
11,708
10,789
Cyprus
Taiwan
Kuwait
Dutch Antibbes
Saudi Arabia
Malta
Bahrain
Barbados
Greece
South Korea
Puerto Rico
Lybia
Portugal
Macao
Estonia
Gabon
Trinidad
Surinam
Latvia
Russia
Belorus
Fm. Yugoslavia
Brasil
Mexico
Uruguay
Argentina
Czech Republic
Lithuania
Hungary
Cuba
Venezuela
Botswana
Malaysia
South Africa
Kazakhstan
Mauritius
Ukraine
Iran
Moldova
Chile
8,641
8,546
8,520
7,300
7,300
7,217
7,075
6,581
6,498
6,356
6,338
5,842
5,626
5,417
3,829
3,777
3,620
3,585
3,418
3,220
3,111
2,956
2,921
2,874
2,860
2,794
2,714
2,711
2,690
2,620
2,614
2,585
2,503
2,474
2,467
2,429
2,336
2,205
2,176
2,163
Ruanda
Vietnam
Malawi
Laos
Burundi
Bangladesh
Madagascar
Zaire
Chad
Cambogja
Afganistan
Nepal
Buthan
Uganda
Ethiopia
Somalia
Tanzania
Mozambique
Sierra Leone
261
227
227
226
216
216
213
213
211
208
199
195
178
177
164
116
100
86
72
All the countries of the first group are inseparably linked to the
world economy. They have open economies and a relatively stable position
within the international distribution of labour. One part of the second
group has the potential of catching up with the first if they are permitted
to participate in the integrational processes and are provided with
sufficient investments. Greece, Portugal, Mexico, China, South Korea,
Hungary and the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia,
Brazil, Venezuela, Thailand, Malaysia, The Republic of South Africa and even
Kazakhstan have sufficient potential to make serious advances. Table 10
shows a third group of countries whose position is practically hopeless and
whose manufacturing structures are hundreds of years behind that of the most
developed countries.
Of course, the GDP criterion is not exhaustive. It only shows the
actual productivity of the world population. Many countries in the second
group will face problems due to the high costs of servicing their foreign
debts, especially when compared with GNP. Table 11 shows this ratio for 40
countries whose manufacturing industry is not in a position to pay the
rapidly accumulating foreign debts. 15 of them are medium-developed
countries including Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Malta, South Korea and
others. Of course, the foreign debt problem will hamper attempts to reach
the necessary level of economic development.
The paradox of the transition to the Fourth Civilisation is that one
group of countries is already within its embraces, another is standing at
the threshold while a third group is still living within the conditions of
the pre-industrial era. The majority of the population of Tanzania, Kenya,
Mozambique, Nigeria and other countries still live in huts. Large numbers of
children in Somalia, Ethiopia, Ruanda and Congo are dying of starvation.
Given such a situation, are we right to pose the question of the balancing
of economic development? I believe that we are right and that this is the
only way for the New Civilisation to establish itself.
Table 11
Foreign Debt as a percentage of Gross National Product[61]
Syria
Bolivia
Uganda
Oman
Costa Rica
Bangladesh
Pakistan
Bulgaria
Tanzania
Cyprus
Mozambique
Ghana
El Salvador
Kenya
South Korea
Papua New Guineau
Tunisia
Poland
Lebanon
Malta
728,4
426,0
283,4
262,6
250,8
225,3
222,6
221,7
214,7
181,7
167,5
155,9
148,3
142,4
130,2
129,9
118,1
114,5
113,8
109,8
Mauritius
Hungary
Ethiopia
Zaire
Barbados
Zimbabwe
Panama
Sri Lanka
Dominican Rep.
Togo
Gabon
Benine
Jordan
Egypt
Nepal
Nigeria
Uruguay
Laos
Cameroon
Lesotho
109,2
108,8
104,9
95,4
94,8
89,6
88,1
88,1
85,3
85,0
84,6
82,3
81,0
80,0
79,0
77,0
73,6
72,9
72,6
71,5
If the existing world structures and the liberal structures of the
world economy are preserved, the gap between the most develop and the least
developed countries will continue to increase. Only in the last 30 years
this gap measured on the basis GDP per head of population has doubled. If
these policies continue in the future there will be no significant change.
It is true that the economic development of China and the smaller Asian
"dragons" and the expected revival in the economies of Latin America to a
certain extent will fill this vacuum. However, this is not the case for many
countries in Africa or for another fifty or so poorly developed states where
there is little hope .
The pure market approach will not guarantee balanced development for
another reason. 8-10 of the first group of the most developed countries will
for some time to come continue to "rule the world" and to aspire to the role
of an independent economic regulator. I am not saying that the global market
will not impose limits on this trend but the intense competition for
investments in the developed countries will give the poorer countries a
chance and will force investors to take risks. However, this will not be
sufficient. I believe that the decisive factor will the combination of
market trends with global regulation which will stimulate a significant
increase in investments from the wealthier to the poorer nations. Of course,
each of them will have to take additional responsibility for the
establishment of stability, order and the fight against corruption and
crime. For the moment things have been left to the interest of the
multinational groups. With certain notable exceptions this has not
stimulated the improvements to infrastructure in the poorly-developed
countries which they need for further economic development.
The problem of world poverty and in a broader context -- the balancing
out of economic levels will be resolved at a global level. This will be
accomplished by the United Nations, the IMF or the World Bank but above all,
by changes in the world economic order and the creation of institutions of
global economic regulation. Certain statesmen, including the late President
of France, Francois Mitterand, believed in the need for a comprehensive
agreement between the North and the South, between the rich and the poor
states. This was a good if not realistic idea. I believe that it would be
much more effective to develop specific economic programmes for individual
countries aimed at the stimulation and guaranteeing of private investments
via specialised funds and the integration of the poor states in the world
economy. Only about 2% of the global military budget would be sufficient to
carry out such programmes, or about 10-12 billion US dollars. This would
give a powerful impetus to the process of resolving the problems of hunger
and illness, the reduction in the birth rate and the creation of more
sustainable forms of income for specific populations.
The balanced development of the world requires a change in direction
from charity and hand-outs to policies aimed at changing the economic
infrastructure of the least developed nations in the world. It is true that
this will not at all be easy and that the reduction of military budgets does
not mean the sudden release of huge funds for investments. In many cases
these funds will "sink" out of sight as a result of corruption, the lack of
organisation and the desperation of the hungry. However, these are
inevitable difficulties which should not stop the process.
If humanity and especially the wealthiest nations do not take serious
steps to change the trends in the development of the poorest nations, this
will lead to the appearance of new utopias, open the way to religious
fanaticism and confrontation and incite new local, regional and even world
wars. If humanity finds the strength within itself to begin the processes of
resolving this matter this will lead to a change in the face of the earth.
New opportunities will be opened up not only to the people of the poor
countries but to all. What seems impossible and too expensive as an approach
to the struggle against poverty in actual fact will save money in the long
run because future generations will not have to pay the bill. Such are the
laws of the mutually dependent global world.
Chapter Nine
THE CULTURE OF THE FOURTH CIVILISATION
1. THE BEATLES, MICHAEL JACKSON AND
THE BULGARIAN CAVAL
Some of the strongest driving forces of the Fourth Civilisation are the
new global communications. They permit not only the simultaneous
distribution of information products all over the world but also promote
cultural images and standards, universal models and styles. With every
passing day the world is being taken over by a new universal culture.
W
hen I heard the Beatles for the first time in 1966 I was 12 years old.
This was in Sofia at a time when television, radio and the newspapers
divided the world into the "good" (socialism) and the "bad" (capitalism) in
the most terrible and primitive manner. The Beatles came into our small,
closed country via the radio. I remember that first of all, one or two of my
classmates and then almost everyone began to swap information about them --
who they were, where they came from and we began to learn off by heart the
titles and the melodies of their songs. The popularity of the Beatles began
to worry some of those responsible for education in Bulgaria I remember one
day our teacher saying to us, "Even if we like their music, the way in which
they dress and their behaviour is unacceptable".
This fact alone demonstrates that the Beatles were much more than just
music and that they were much more than just another pop-group. From their
appearance in Liverpool and their first concerts in Scotland in 1963,
Germany and Britain the Beatles transformed their music into a world
cultural and social phenomenon. The entire youth of the 1960's and 1970's
took John Lennon, Paul Macartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star to their
hearts.
In 1964 and 1956 the Beatles conquered Europe, North American,
Australia and New Zealand. In 1966, much to surprise of the sceptics, they
took Japan and the Philippines by storm. Their concerts in Tokyo and at the
national stadium in Manilla were no less successful than their concerts in
Europe and America. The sensation was undisputed. It was a new global
phenomenon for which there were no borders or, perhaps, which destroyed the
existing cultural barriers and prejudices. Beatles' records went all around
the world and their songs were sung in Africa, Asia and in Latin America.
The Beatles were a phenomenon of special cultural value. For the first
time a pop-group had achieved such universal global fame. This is, however,
not to underestimate other such famous performers such as Elvis Presley or
Edith Piaf or Caruso. Although each of them was a part of the cultural
treasury of the 20th century, the Beatles phenomenon was an expression of
and the beginning of something entirely new.
The undoubted reason for their success was the talent of the musicians
from Liverpool. However, if they had been born 30 years earlier with even
greater talent they would have not achieved such colossal success. The
Beatles appeared at the moment when the electronic media had just begun a
global revolution. This was not only a matter of electric guitars but the
new means of information transfer and the speed and methods of disseminating
new cultural images. The Beatles were the first swallows of the new era and
heralds of our current civilisation. The process of the globalisation of
world culture began with the Beatles. New musical styles began to appear
within a given country, in a particular town or bar but as a result of the
electronic media they became international and lose their local and national
significance.
The language of music is a language equally understandable in all the
corners of the world. It was logical to expect music to be the main and most
natural channel for the dissemination of universal cultural symbols and
images and that music would be the starting point for the process of
globalisation of culture.
Moreover, together with the dissemination of cultural images created
within one individual state the 1960's were also a time of the intensive
intermixing of cultural styles and the search for points of intersection
between formerly autonomous national and cultural traditions. The Beatles
looked to the cultures of India and Japan for some of their motifs. In the
1970's many African and Latin American musicians gained significant
popularity.
Generally speaking, in culture as in economics there were two types of
phenomena which could no longer be defined as purely national either in
terms of their significance nor in terms of their specific legacy of
cultural traditions. Some symbols appeared in a local context and then
gained global recognition. Other appeared as a result of cultural
intermixing and the creation of cultural models and styles which organically
combined or synthesised individual national cultures.
What national and cultural style is expressed today by the music of
Michael Jackson? The Anglo-Saxon cultural tradition? Hardly. The culture of
black America? Yes, to a certain extent. As he grew more independent and
more creative, his music became more primal separated from local concepts
and traditional criteria of beauty and aesthetics. Michael Jackson's style
and his songs have been influenced by a number of cultures. However, his
primal attraction and personal musical energy are products of a time which
does not recognise national borders and which forms global cultural and
aesthetic standards of beauty and values.
In previous centuries cultural influences were imposed mainly by
coercion and they tended to effect only individual parts of the world. Today
modern global communications and the global media do not only disseminate
the best manifestations of global culture but also require the creative
artists to observe the new cultural criteria and requirements of the new
world art. Anyone who wishes to achieve world fame must be allowed access to
the hearts and souls of people in the different parts of the world. The
Beatles and Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen as well as many other
musicians have created works of music and artistic influences which owe
their success to a hitherto unknown musical style and to the unique
combination of dynamism and expressivity which knows no national boundaries.
There have been similar phenomena in the other art forms. Television
and video, and advertising have begun to penetrate the whole of world
culture. First of all they penetrate a local culture and then in conjunction
with other less culturally specific products form a part of global culture.
I recently listened to an interview given by the world famous designer
Lacroix in which he was describing his attempts to combine influences from
different cultures, "Intermixing -- this is the essence of things". This is
the essence of the new and it is a logical consequence of the opening-up of
the world and the influence of global communications. The intermixing of
cultural traditions is an expression of the same synthesis which is now
apparent in global economics.
It was his death from AIDS which elevated Freddy Mercury to a status
perhaps greater than he was in life. However, Queen's music was not purely
English or European but a more universal music of the future world as an
integrated community. Who does the music of Jean Michel Jarre belong to? It
has nothing in common with the powerful tradition of the chanson. The music
of Jean Michel Jarre is a product of the electronic society not only in
terms of technology but in terms of its historical significance and the
beginning of the new age. The main result of this process is the formation
of a universal spiritual and cultural content of the world. This is above
all manifested in the appearance of a growing number of cultural products
which have no national borders and limits. Music was the first of these but
now similar processes are taking place in the cinema, fashion and art
resulting in the appearance of millions of new bonds between the people of
the whole world.
I live in a country with rich and ancient cultural traditions. I am
saddened by the destruction of traditional culture which has been taking
place since 1992. However, I am encouraged by certain new and important
phenomena -- the combination of the global culture with national traditions
on the one hand and the adaptation of national traditions to global trends.
Few people would recognise the Bulgarian folk instrument, the Caval. There
are similar looking wind instruments in other countries of the world, but
the Bulgarian Caval in terms of its construction and sound is unique.
Theodosi Spasov has used it to win many significant international awards and
has conquered the hearts of many people. His performances have little in
common with the traditions of the Bulgarian Caval. His improvisations are
filled with the spirit of the new and his compositions are a symbol of
modern musical philosophy. For this reason he is understandable anywhere.
There is no chronological distinction between his art and that of the
greatest modern composers.
This is only one example. Many others could be drawn from the various
areas of art. Most significantly even the smallest of world cultures can
produce global culture. All they need to do is to find the link between
their own identity and the universal global cultural processes. Between
1984--1995 the famous Bulgarian folk-singer Stefka Subotinova recorded a
number of Bulgarian folk songs with a modern arrangement which achieved
enormous popularity. Other famous Bulgarian pop singers such as Lili Ivanova
and Georgi Hristov also combine Bulgarian and global cultural elements.
There are similar processes at work all over the world.
The most important conclusion which I draw here is that after the
1960's together with the appearance and the spread of new global
communications and the media there also began a new process of the
globalisation of world culture or in other words, the creation of a culture
with a supra-national character. This culture created global criteria and
values, overcame national, cultural and religious prejudices and is
undoubtedly an element of the coming Fourth Civilisation which the 21st
century will bring us. This culture is creating the future. It is a bridge
to it and a bridge to the unification of new generations from all over the
world.
This new culture became possible as a result of the mass influence and
cultural mixing born by the world media. Satellite television made possible
the removal of borders without tanks and violence without the dissemination
of militant ideology and doctrines. The world is united with new
communication networks -- a process which will clearly continue with growing
intensity into the coming century. This is the greatest guarantee for the
continued globalisation of world culture. A shining example of this is the
creation of television networks which cover the entire globe. It can be
easily predicted that such global television networks will continue to
penetrate all the corners of the earth. Part of them will carry information,
some of them will broadcast art, while other will show sports. However, they
will all be the most powerful integrational factor in the world.
While the collapse of the Eastern European totalitarian systems was a
political revolution, the first part of the collapse of the Third
Civilisation, the new communications will be the material manifestation of
the new age. Microchips, computers and satellite televisions spell death for
bureaucracy, partocracy and the restrictions of human rights. The Beatles,
Freddy Mercury, Jean Michel Jarre and Theodosi Spasov are all directly
linked. They are but different manifestations of one and the same global
phenomenon, the globalisation of art and new cultural dimensions which will
combine the strongest national traditions with a new, hitherto unknown
global culture which will belong to no one single nation.
Will national traditions and cultures disappear? Will cultural
differences not become a reason for the new division of the world? Is not
global culture a covert form of media dictatorship? These questions will be
answered later.
2. THE TRAVELLING PEOPLES
Until only fifty years the majority of people travelled only to the
neighbouring town or village and foreign travel was a privilege of only a
select few. Each subsequent generation bears within itself the spirit of the
global world. Today millions and billions of people travel around the world.
Travel has become a bridge over which the peoples of the world can get to
know one another and exchange their cultures.
T
he globalisation of world culture has lead to a particular form of
cosmopolitanism which has flourished as a result of new technologies and
communication. Cosmopolitanism, however, is not characteristic of all
countries and peoples nor is there any direct link between cosmopolitanism
and the level of technological and economic progress which a given country
has achieved. Switzerland is one of the most advanced countries in the
world. However, they are more conservative than cosmopolitan. They
acknowledge and service the cosmopolitanism of others without accepting it
for themselves. Everything depends from an historical point of view on the
development of a given nation, its openness to the world and at the same
time its ability to preserve its integrity. Many peoples exiled from their
native lands over the centuries have dissolved into foreign ethnic groups or
have been simple either enslaved or annihilated. Therefore the decisive
factors are not only national openness and mobility but also loyalty to one
roots.
Those nations in history which were the first to master new forms of
communication were able to spread their culture to other states. I like to
refer to these nations as the "travelling nations". In this process they
achieved significant historical advantages and became leaders in the
processes of integration. The modern world is now dependent on those
"travelling nations". Joel Kotkin calls them the "global tribes". For Kotkin
these global tribes combine a strong feeling of loyalty to their family
roots, observe the principles of national fidelity and despite being spread
all over the world identify with one specific geographical area. According
to my analyses these global nations are not only a continuation of an
historical tradition but are, above all, a powerful integrating element of
the modern world. In the same way that the ancient Greeks spread their
culture to Scythia and Rome, today the global nations are amongst the most
effective bridges for the dissemination of capital, technology and culture.
Each of these peoples left their native land and later established positions
of strength in dozens of other countries and created an invisible network of
families, relatives or national ties or channels for the dissemination of
economic and cultural values. A typical feature of these "travelling
nations" is their facility to become naturalised successfully in different
countries amongst varying ethnic groups at the same time preserving their
national roots and traditions. There are several reasons for this: the
absence of a homeland state; colonisation of cultivable lands; migration as
a result of wars and natural catastrophes; political, ideological and
religious conflicts. These are the most common reasons which instill the
spirit of the pioneer and traveller.
The Jewish people are a typical example of this. The modern world
economy and world corporations were founded by Jews. Expelled as a result of
persecution and the lack of their own homeland, as early as the 18th century
the Jewish people began their own processes of economic integration. At the
time when everything functioned within narrow national borders, the Jews
exploited the differences between national manufacturing conditions and
today it is no accident that their representatives are amongst the richest
people in the world. The religious prohibition against Christians lending
money with interest allowed them to master the secrets of banking. The lack
of their own state institutions and land made them into the best traders in
the world. Perhaps their greatest strength was the close network of
connections and their efforts to preserve the traditions of the old Jewish
families.
Today the Jews, the oldest travellers, are not alone. One might go so
far as to say that their trans-national monopoly has been taken from them.
There is another group of peoples who are keenly following the achievements
of world communications and are gradually catching up with, and in certain
cases overtaking, the achievements of the Jews. The British, the Armenians,
the Chinese, the Indians and more recently the Americans and Japanese are
gradually becoming global nations or in other words, people who are links in
a complex chain spanning the world with millions and millions of other
links.
Many of these global peoples have specialised themselves in significant
parts of world manufacturing and trade. For example the Jews from generation
to generation have expanded their influence in the entertainment industry,
the world of finance and the diamond trade. The Japanese are the world
leaders in precise engineering, in the production of high powered computers
and computer technology. The Indians are amongst the world leaders in
software, the British in banking and communications, the Americans in
telecommunications, aerospace engineering and the Chinese in textile
manufacture etc..
Perhaps, the most important factor is while preserving their relative
specialisation and making their own contributions to the global cultural
treasury, these travelling nations have helped greatly in the removal of
borders between the nations of the world. Thanks to them the world today is
closely integrated and the intermixing of their cultures has reached
tremendous levels. The global world would be impossible without these
"travelling peoples".
The preservation of national cultural traditions and tolerance to other
cultures has allowed them to become some of the leading architects of the
new world. At the opposite extreme those who are isolated and intolerant to
other cultures have no chance. They will either remain at the tail-end of
world progress or they will incite conflicts which will have serious
consequences for themselves. The totalitarian regimes were typical examples
of this. Totalitarianism can flourish only in isolation. The Russians,
Czechs, Bulgarians and Poles were isolated from progress and the new
technological revolution which embraced the world in the 1960's. Today they
are having to redouble their efforts to make up for lost time.
On the other hand, there is the example of the eternal Jews. They have
occupied key positions in the economic, cultural and political life of
France, Russia, the United States and the Republic of South Africa. Members
of the same families can be found in London, Paris, New York, Capetown and
even Hong Kong. It is these families and clans which have been the major
channels for the explosion in world trade over the past 30--40 years.
Another similar example is that of the Indians who apart from operating
within their own country exert strong influences in London, Los Angeles,
Chicago or Lagos. If you visit Nairobi the capital of Kenya, you will be
amazed to see how many Indians there are in the financial and commercial
sectors. As a result of their powerful navy and great colonial empire in the
19th century, the British have very strong global positions. The influence
of the British financial networks is particulary strong in Sidney,
Singapore, Toronto or San Francisco.
The majority of the travelling nations became established in the 19th
century and the first half of the 20th. They opened the way for the
globalisation of the world. They not only gave birth to this process they
were also its children. Today the "old travellers" are accompanied by new
"travelling nations" who are more dynamic and will perhaps make up for what
they missed out on.
One of the newest travelling nations are the Japanese. They have the
biggest banks in the world, the most progressive world technologies and
their own "settlements" within all the world economic and cultural centres.
I would say that from the 1960's onwards the Japanese have spread all over
the world. Some people consider that this is a planned invasion with a view
to conquering new economic influence and living space. Others say the
opposite, that the Japanese economy is like a balloon which if it is to
avoid bursting needs first to be deflated.
I do not believe that from an historical point of view any one given
nation can dominate the rest and by the same token I do not believe that
international Japanese invasion has reached its apogee. The Chinese and the
Indians will have a hard job to try and take their place. At least until the
beginning of the next century the Japanese global diaspora will continue to
exert a strong influence on the formation and development of the whole
world. The strong Japanese influence on the American economy, their
penetration into European economic structures and their strong overtures to
Latin America and some African countries demonstrate that the Japanese will
continue to be one of the leading travelling nations. Only one example is
sufficient. Each year the Japanese economy invests huge amounts of free
capital into real estate in the USA and Europe. According to some analysts
almost 40% of the property in the centre of Los Angeles in Japanese. The
same can be said of the huge skyscrapers in New York. There are thousands of
Japanese enterprises in the USA some of which occupy leading positions in
technology. One of the most prestigious world resorts, the Hawaiian islands
are owned to a large extent by the Japanese. If you walk along the coastal
boulevard at Waikiki beach you are more likely to hear Japanese than any
other language and you will see that the majority of the marvellous hotels
by the beach are Japanese. What the Japanese were unable to achieve with
their attacks and their bombs against Pearl Harbour they have achieved by
hard work, money and consistency. Today only a few kilometres from the place
where in December 1941 Japanese bombers inflicted their most serious blow
against the American Pacific Fleet there is a chain of luxury Japanese
hotels.
The Japanese have two amazing features. They have a tremendous ability
to adapt and to achieve progress quietly and consistently. Take a look at
the streets of any of the world's large cultural, financial or tourist
centre. Practically everywhere you will see Japanese tourists taking
photographs, taking notes and they are always in little groups. They are
soaking everything up. They will later analyze the information they have
taken away with them and then they will come back, this time with
investments and specific ideas for entering the market, quietly, slowly and
unnoticed.
The other new global travellers who can be seen everywhere are the
Chinese. According to some statistics, the Chinese who live outside the
border of China control the larger part of the hard currency reserves of the
world. There are "Chinatowns" in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Toronto and
New York. They are becoming more and more influential and add their own
colour and new cultural phenomena to the countries in which they live. There
is a growing Chinese influence in Japan and Australia. Clearly the reform
government of China is trying to emulate the experience of Japan to create
conditions for new world domination on the basis of traditional Chinese
domination. If the current rate of Chinese economic growth persists to the
end of the century and the hard currency reserves of the Chinese living
outside China continue to increase then within 10--15 years they will become
the most dynamic "travelling nation" in the global world. With new
simplified procedures, an ethnic economy, strong national links, extreme
hard work and consistency -- these are the characteristics which guarantee
great chances of success for the Chinese. The Indians and the South Koreans
whose economic elite are becoming more and more self-confident will also
direct their attention to a similar global approach. It can be expected that
the Asian economies will not only experience an ardent renaissance but that
their development will have a colossal global effect. The example of South
Korea and a number of smaller Asian states is indicative that it is not
necessarily only the larger peoples which become "travellers" and take on a
global significance. Perhaps their example will be infectious.
The collapse of the bi-polar model and the destruction of the Berlin
Wall gave the Eastern Europeans a chance to discover the advantages of the
open world. Very soon after 1990--1991 the Slavs and in particular the
Russians began to re-settle all over the world. Although it is too early to
make any sort of conclusion, the Russians seem to be turning into one of the
new "travelling nations". The large export of capital (according to the
Russian official figures -- over 40 billion dollars between 1991--1994) and
the creation of a Russian suburb in New York, the purchase of real estate in
London, Paris and Madrid, these are all features of the new, long-term
Russian presence in the global world.
When I speak of the "travelling nations" I am not emphasising the
leaders of this group. I mean the general trend towards the re-settlement of
people, people travelling for the purposes of business or leisure. People
are no longer restricted to their own states as they once were. They do not
only travel to neighbouring countries. Younger generations are losing their
feelings of loyalty to the country in which they were born and are more
capable of living anywhere where there is a chance of good work and decent