Four Forces Shaping NORC Countries Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

Geography
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Globalization is a concept that involves the means in which developments in a specific region can quickly result to great consequences for the well-being and security of individuals who are quite far areas of the world (Bytheway & Metzler, 2017). Globalization refers to a set of technological, social, and economic forces that make the world interdependent and interconnected. It is evident that the world economy was highly interconnected before the financial crisis that occurred globally between 2008 and 2009. This section will discuss the concept of globalization and increasing demand for resources in relation to the Arctic.
The Arctic is influenced by globalization pressures, population concentration, migration, urbanization, and continued economic integration trends. The Arctic is highly placed among other regions in the world context due to the need of building capacity in the Arctic in order to fill the resource gaps existing at all levels. There are high economic expectations that because of altered accessibility to significant minerals, climate change, and increasing demand for resources from Northern region. There has been the rapid growth of global interest in Arctic economic growth and development (Łuszczuk, 2016). The changes in demand and supply for amenities and resources found in the Arctic are significant factors that have contributed to the global concerns in this region. On the cost aspects, it is perceived that the impacts of climate change will reduce ice cover in the Arctic and the broader and access costs of conducting business in five specific sectors that include tourism and fisheries, gas and oil extraction, shipping, and mineral resource extraction.
The global demand is increasing for the amenities and resources due to globalization. It is vital to focus on the emerging global trends that have resulted to increase in connectivity between the global level and arctic. The emerging trends include dependency ratio, population concentration, economic burden, the aspect of world being smaller as result of its integration, urbanization, inadequate resources, environment, infrastructure, health implications due to aging trend, and the more connected universe that results to global information networks and shopping.
The economic growth and development in the Arctic are facing various challenges in form of economic, technical, and natural obstacles. Strategies have been developed and implemented to attempt to overcome these obstacles in order to determine the Arctic future goals and its sustainability for global values and local economy. The economic globalization in the Arctic has resulted to new ideas, altered taste, values, lifestyle preferences, changes in decision-making, ideas, and changes in migration patterns, urbanization, and large consumer bases in various areas. This has been driven by the growing interest or awareness of arctic due to opportunities available in terms of resources (Łuszczuk, 2016). Smith notes that the numbers of individuals willing to be informed about artic, exploit or visit grow increasingly grow each year. Many people are migrating from rural to towns and cities in the Arctic. For example, people are migrating from remote sub-Arctic and Arctic where they abandon the small homes and villages to places such as Fort McMurray and Fairbanks (Smith, 2011). There is a need to build capacity in the Arctic because of its continued growth of linkages and connections at the global level. The resource development and future goals are influenced by increased empowerment in economic and political aspects, and transformations and changes in governance and institutional structures at different levels. Therefore, the major economic challenge is how to meet the new and increasing demand for both human and financial resources. Climate change present factors that influence economic growth and development in the Arctic (Łuszczuk, 2016). It is important to develop and implement strategies that will help in mitigation and adaption of climate change with the aim of establishing a viable and sustainable future for the Arctic.
The World in 2050
People are focusing on the North Pole globally. The North Pole is surrounded by these nations that include Canada, Norway, Denmark, United States, Greenland, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The NORCs are described as the most law-abiding, economically globalized, and trade friendly nations. It is projected that NORC countries will stand out to be the dominant nations globally by 2050 while nations in the equatorial region will find means of survival in the ever-changing globe. This section will reflect the four global forces, by Laurence C. Smith, to discuss the impacts of the four global forces in relation to NORCs countries.
The immigration levels are very low in many NORCs countries. The global warming is likely to reverse this situation and make more individuals immigrate to NORC countries. The rate of immigration has been low in previous years because of the fact that NORC countries experience warmth seasonally. NORC countries experience large temperature variations from winter season to the summer season that causes the existence of frozen soil that usually takes a long period to thaw. This aspect influences many activities in NORCs such as difficulty in building a new infrastructure, the season of construction is very short, small farm outputs, and extremely cold temperatures that make it difficult for people to carry out activities successfully. These conditions were the limiting factor for immigrants interested with NORCs since they would find it hard to work and accomplish their goals effectively. The global warming has made the NORCs more desirable for people to live and work. It has made the resources to start thawing out from the permafrost soil where they were frozen in the past. Natural resources have been the major incentive for people immigrating to NORC countries since they provide economic opportunities. Many individuals globally will be interested to immigrate to NORC countries because of its natural resources and due to decline in temperatures; residing in these countries will be more desirable and bearable. Smith predicted that the NORCs will be more desirable by 2050 for immigrants globally and this will result in economic growth and development in these countries.
Smith indicates that the world is going through urban civilization process where big cities will be built, thus increasing the demand for natural resources. NORCs have huge natural resources that highly demanded by the rest of the globe. It is projected that agriculture will improve, immigration will increase, and the weather will become a bit better. Smith highlights that the main socioeconomic function in the 21st century of Northern Rim Countries will be equivalent to the role played by Northern Ontario in the 20th Century. The role involved shoveling fish, minerals, oil, and gas into the wide global maw. According to Smith, there will be a high shortage of water and deserts will be growing in the south by 2050 (Smith, 2011). He insists that there will be huge amounts of methane that will be released due to warming of the seas and vanishing of permafrost from large areas. He further notes that the ice will also melt. The four global forces that include demography, growing demand, globalization, and climate change will have various impacts on NORCs by 2050.
Many rural dwellers are migrating to towns and cities at a rapid rate to make more earnings. The reason for the migration is due to growing economies in urban areas and the decreasing employment opportunities in an agricultural sector that have focused on using technology ton mechanize agricultural processes and also commercializing the sector, thus making it export-oriented. There has been a rapid decline in employment in agricultural sectors compared to other sectors, for example, in 2006 the employment rates in service sector surpassed agricultural industry. It is evident that any urban dweller becomes a potential consumer in the city. The urban dwellers purchase more electronics, foods, and other items. It is important to note that more job opportunities are created for managerial positions for an increased number of people in cities. The shifts in migration have led to demographic changes in the globe. The numbers of people in urban areas in the world will double projected by 2050, that is, it estimated that the 3.3 billion of urban dwellers in 2006 would rise to 6.4 billion by 2050 (Smith, 2011). It is also projected that the human population in NORC countries expect Russia will be larger by 2050. Globalization has shaped the worldwide production processes and development strategies and has made the global economy much more interconnected. The demand for natural resources of the north is increasing worldwide.
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