The Importance of a Global Perspective, Essay Example

America is considered to be a prosperous country and American citizens to be “extremely well off by world standards,” according to the Beyond Milieu PowerPoint. However, this high quality of life is entirely dependent on the product output of much poorer nations and our ability to obtain the products. When this is realized, it is much easier to understand how these poorer nations can hold a negative view of the United States while at the same time fighting for American business. With the highest military expenditure in the world, it is not hard to see the U.S. as a massive giant feeding off the abundance of other nations. Just the knowledge that income standards worldwide are measured against the value of the U.S. dollar tells us that the American quality of life is the standard desired by other countries; a standard made possible only by global business interaction. Social interdependence is the concept that the social events of one nation affect other nations. This is seen most clearly in global business interaction. 

Social interdependence can be clearly illustrated by examining the U.S.’s consumption and production of oil. According to the PowerPoint, the US’s oil consumption is almost three times its production. This means the U.S. must import its oil from countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia that have higher oil production. The social events and upsets of these nations can have a major impact on the availability of oil to the U.S. Events that slow or stop oil production, such as militant operations and poor economic conditions, make it harder for the U.S. to obtain its required amount of oil. Understanding the social events of other nations, or having a global perspective, is important and necessary in order to be able to enact solutions that keep the quality of life the same within the U.S., while at the same time ensuring stability within our interdependent nations.