‘Only after suffering the consequences of closing borders will we go back to opening them’

• Globalisation today is such a contentious issue that one is seen to be either for it or against it. But you start right at the beginning of human migration out of Africa’s Rift Valley, to show that it is almost part of our DNA.

I define globalisation as a growing interconnectedness and interdependence of the human community. And if you say that it is growing, you have to ask, from what point has it been growing and when was the human community not connected? So from the state of disconnection, connection begins. In trying to go back to the point when connection began, I came to realise that human beings actually originated from one place. So my account of globalisation history begins with our ancestors living in Africa some 50,000 years ago, slowing walking their way across the globe and settling in different areas. And once they settled in agricultural civilisations — like in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, Indus valley, Yellow River valley in China — those civilisations started connecting with each other. And the four actors who have been the main players in this connection are: traders, preachers, adventurers and warriors. That’s how the book is structured. I realised that human beings’ desire to connect with each other is very innate.

• You say globalisation has become a handy word to critique all the ills of capitalism. You also mention that the global institutional framework is too weak at the moment. But there are problems with capitalism. Do societies address them domestically, or should they cooperate in finding solutions?

The problem of capitalism has always been the question of distribution. It is very good in promoting growth, production, competition. In countries which have weak institutions, distribution becomes a bigger problem. So, people who are criticising globalisation are criticising this flaw of capitalism. And because this flaw is exposed in a country’s relationship with other countries, in relation to institutions like the WTO, these institutions are seen as a threat to a country’s independence or growth. That, of course, is a somewhat jaundiced view because these institutions emerge because there is a need. For instance, GATT emerged after the Second World War. Before that there were no such institutions, and countries had bilateral trade deals. To set up a trading mechanism in which members have the same privileges is a big advance. By joining the WTO a small country can get benefits it would not get otherwise. The negative aspect is that the WTO is still run by the big boys.

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