Englisch Abitur 2020 (Compelete Summary, Analysis and Comment writing) PDF

Preview

Summary

Zusammenfassung...

Description

Adrian Garcia 26.09.2020 LK 5 L1 Bd

Will coronavirus reverse globalization? Task 1 (Summary): The following non-fictional extract “Will coronavirus reverse globalization?” authored by Jonty Bloom, taken from the internet website: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52104978, and published on April 2, 2020 deals with the effects of the coronavirus on globalized world economies, whereupon the coronavirus brings both a multiplicity of benefits and numerous risks pertaining to the modern globalized world. In the following I will summarize the text and outline the main ideas provided by the author. Firstly, the text can be divided into three different sections. To begin, the first section (ll. 1-18) describes the interconnectivity of the modern world due to the process of globalization. Evidently, world economies are more dependent on each other than ever before and the coronavirus showcases the immediate economic effect on the globalized world. Furthermore, Professor Beata Javorcik, chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shares her insight about the past epidemic, namely, the Sars epidemic. She outlines, China accounted for around 4% of global output in 2003, however, now China accounts for about 16% of global output, which in turn means China affects the globalized world significantly more now than the past. Moreover, the author outlines why globalization has essentially shut down all the big car plants in the UK and he goes on the discuss that the UK is dependent on the other nations around the world to provide them for supplies/components and sales. Hence, when the Coronavirus hit the UK, both the sales and components from other nations stopped abruptly. For this reason, China’s wealth and health plays a major role in the UK’s economic stability. In addition, Ian Goldin, professor of globalization and development at Oxford University emphasizes the risks that come with the process of globalization. Professor Goldin makes it clear that the risks from globalization are not only in the from the pandemic, but in the banking crisis of 2008, and the recent vulnerability of the internet to cyber-attacks. He describes that a new global economic system brings both many new benefits and numerous risks. On the one hand, this new global economic system has helped raise the income of millions, helped develop world economies rapidly, which in turn lifted millions out people out of poverty. Notwithstanding, these beneficial developments have also come with a multiplicity of increased risks, whether it be financial or medical. Secondly, the author introduces the next section (ll. 19-24) with the question: “So what does this latest crisis mean for globalization?”. Professor Richard Portes, professor of economics at London Business school, describes the changes from a globalized world and outlines that companies and people understand the current risk they are taking regarding global trade. For example, Professor

Adrian Garcia 26.09.2020 LK 5 L1 Bd

Portes describes that the coronavirus disrupted supply chains in global trade, hence many people started to look for domestic suppliers in their home nation, regardless if they were more expensive. Also, if the people are able to find new domestic suppliers, they will in turn continue to trade with them in the future because of those perceived risks. Thirdly, the next section (ll. 25-62) is introduced with the subtitle: “Global Trade”. The author begins this section with the opinion from Professor Javorcik, who believes that Western manufacturing industry (re-shoring) will be brought back to the homeland. For instance, he describes the trade war between China and the US and combined with the Corona epidemic, many companies will start taking re-shoring seriously in order to secure the economic stability within their home countries. Re-shoring brings certainty to the home country, also, the home country does not have to worry about national trade policies and re-shoring brings diversification of supplier bases to the home country. Nevertheless, this news is not always good for Western economies, because globalization is not just about moving manufactured goods around the globe, however, about moving people, ideas and information around the globalized world. David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, illustrates that there are many concerns pertaining to the service sectors, to be more specific the sectors of tourism and universities. For instance, universities are in danger in the near future, because many universities are dependent on foreign students. Consequently, a large number of foreign students, who are willing to pay to study at colleges in the UK will no be attending these universities which creates economical hardships for the UK. Besides that, the tourism sector will also be dramatically affected, because foreign consumers who are willing to spend money in the UK are now restricted to entering the country due to the coronavirus. Therefore, Henig describes that slowing or reversing globalization would affect many different industries in a negative way and cripple their finances. Moreover, Professor Goldin believes that the coronavirus will bring radical new changes regarding the supply chain fragmentation. He describes the factors of 3D printing, automation, the demand for customization, quick delivery and protectionism, were already present before the coronavirus outbreak, however, the coronavirus has helped to accelerate these aspects even faster. In addition, Professor Goldin describes that the real concern is how far these changes will go and how they will be managed, not whether these changes happen. He points out that after World War One many international organizations got weaker, because of the rise of nationalism, protectionism and the economic depression. Furthermore, he describes that after World War Two many international

Adrian Garcia 26.09.2020 LK 5 L1 Bd

organizations started to cooperate with one another, for instance, like Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan, the UN and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Additionally, Professor Goldin outlines his optimism regardless of the current difficulties, which are present in the leadership from the White House and he describes that China cannot step up to the new responsibilities, and that Great Britain cannot lead in Europe at the current moment. Coincidentally, Professor Portes shares the same worries as Professor Goldin. He illustrates these worries on hand from the London G20 Summit of 2009, where $1tn package of international cooperation was proposed to help out world economies, however, no leadership was present in the G20 event and the USA was absent from the international scene. Lastly, the author outlines his own opinion that globalization will most likely not be reversed because of the importance of its economic development, however, it could potentially slow down. Furthermore, he outlines two major questions which pertain to learning from the crisis and learning to spot, control and regulate the risks that are an integral part of the process of globalization. Concluding, he states that cooperation and leadership seem to be in short supply in the globalized world, and these aspects play a crucial role in learning from the coronavirus crisis. Task 2 (Analysis): In the following I will analyze the stylistic/rhetorical devices that the author uses in order to convince his readers about the benefits and risks from globalization during a crisis, specifically the coronavirus epidemic. To begin, the author enumerates a variety of different factors such as ‘easier travel’, ‘the world wide web, ‘the end of the Cold War’, ‘trade deals’, and ‘rapidly developing economies’ in order to emphasize the fact that all of these factor have created a system in the globalized, whereupon all nations are more dependent on each other than ever before (cf. ll. 1-3). Whereas the spread of the coronavirus showcases the immediate economic effect on the world economies. Moreover, Bloom utilizes a multiplicity of external resources such as professionals in the field of economics and global development throughout his extract in order to bring validity into his argumentation. For instance, Professor Beata Javorcik says: “When we look back at 2003, at the Sars epidemic, China accounted for 4% of global output, now China accounts for four times as much, 16%. So that means that whatever is happening in China affects the world to a much larger extent” (ll. 6ff.). This statement has a dramatic impact on validity of this extract because the author brings in a professional expert who is the chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Therefore, the reader has the feeling that the information in this text is reliable and credible.

Adrian Garcia 26.09.2020 LK 5 L1 Bd

In addition, the author emphasizes the importance of the perspective of the expert Ian Goldin, who is a professor of economics at London Business School. In lines 13 to 14 the author refers to a quote by Goldin which reads: “risks have been allowed to fester, that are the underbelly of globalization.” In fact, this quote is a figure of speech, whereby the risks lead to the vulnerability of globalization. These risks can potentially bring many huge benefits to a globalized world, but one can not leave out the huge risks. Hence, the readers are being informed about the advantages and disadvantages of globalization with a simple but powerful quote from a leading expert in the field of economics. Notably, the author uses the personal pronoun “we” throughout the text in order to convince the readers that everyone plays a crucial role in the globalized world during the corona pandemic. To be more specific, Bloom states the question: “Will we learn to spot, control and regulate the risks that seem to be an integral part of globalization?” (l. 61). This question supports my above-mentioned argument that the author is bringing a sense of belonging into the text with the use of the personal pronoun “we”, because in a globalized world when there is a crisis/pandemic the whole globalized world will be affected by the consequences. For this reason, the author goes on to answer his proposed question with the reality of today and the lack of cooperation and leadership from world nations. Task 3 (Comment): The topic of globalization has been a critical topic of discuss in previous years. Referring back to the text “Will coronavirus reverse globalization” I will comment on the arguments for the reverse of globalization or the acceleration of globalization due to the coronavirus. Concluding my comment, I will give my personal opinion on this subject. On the one hand, the coronavirus has indeed reversed the process of globalization to an extent. For instance, the means of worldwide travel has dramatically declined in the last several of months, because of travel restrictions, cancellation of flights etc. Adding to this point, many airline carriers have either claimed bankruptcy or have asked for subsidized help from the government, for example, Lufthansa who has received almost 10.1 billion dollars in bailout money from the German government. Therefore, due to the coronavirus globalization regarding worldwide travel has slowed down very dramatically at the current moment. Furthermore, trade has dramatically changed in the presence of the coronavirus. Many supply chains are starting to find alternative suppliers domestically instead of foreign supply chains. For example, the U.S.A. started to produce respiratory machines domestically in order to combat the coronavirus. Before they had bought many respiratory machines from foreign suppliers around the

Adrian Garcia 26.09.2020 LK 5 L1 Bd

world. This change in trade showcases a little change in the speed of globalization because the world is reverting back to domestic trade suppliers instead of globalized trade suppliers. On the other hand, the process of globalization has also spread rapidly due to the coronavirus. One notable aspect is the spread of digitalization in schools around the world. Due to school closures around the world, developed nations have invested a great sum of money in new digital devices for their students or pupils. Take Germany for example, many gymnasiums in Germany have received or are awaiting new digital devices to be implemented in the school environment. So, when there is a potential second school lockdown, schools are now better equipped to offer digital devices to their pupils in order for them to obtain all of the essential learning materials via the internet for their courses. This aspect of digitalization showcases the acceleration of globalization when facing the coronavirus. Furthermore, the coronavirus can not stop the acceleration of globalization regarding the spread of information via the internet. The coronavirus has accelerated the spread of news in the world-wide media. Take for example, the statistics of the coronavirus cases world-wide. Each country has specific graphs representing the number of people who are currently affected by the coronavirus, and people who have recovered from it. All of this information can be found on the website: coronavirus.jhu.edu. Moreover, it showcases a world-wide coronavirus map, which will be updated daily by the health institutions from the corresponding nations. All in all, the spread of critical information in the globalized world has accelerated due to the coronavirus. Governments are now ready to implement new health regulations immediately if they surpass a critical number of daily coronavirus patients. Hence, the coronavirus has also accelerated the process of globalization in the modern world. In conclusion, one can say that the coronavirus has both slowed down and accelerated the process of globalization. Regarding the aspects of global travel and global trade, one can say that the coronavirus has slowed down the process of globalization to a large extent. Nevertheless, regarding the spread of digitalization in schools and the spread of information via the internet, the process of globalization has dramatically accelerated and the coronavirus is only a catalyst for this acceleration. In my view, the coronavirus is just a small road block in the process of globalization. In the following months there will be a vaccine available world-wide, thus allowing people world-wide to vaccinate themselves from this virus and protecting themselves. The normality of our previous lives before corona will come back into fruition, however, there will be a great change in this new normality. From my point of view, there will be a time of great polarization between different nations. It is happening at the current moment, but it will be far worse in the near future. Hopefully, all global nations will learn from their mistakes during this pandemic in order to create global cooperation....