Globalization is often discussed as if it were a
recent phenomenon relating primarily to the development
of world financial markets and improvements in information
and travel technologies. But globalization is an ancient
process, beginning with mercantile and cultural exchanges
and facilitated by advances in transportation. In the twentieth
century, the results of globalization can be seen in the
rise of global capitalism and in the construction of a
global economy. Most recently, the process of globalization
has moved beyond the world of finance, however, into areas
still traditionally thought of as national concerns, such as
culture and healthcare. It is no surprise, therefore, that
increasingly the challenges the United States is confronting
in healthcare, biotechnology, and the environment are simultaneously
faced by the international community as a whole. In the wake
of the HIV pandemic, growing environmental consciousness,
and a series of sensational advances in biotechnology, there
is a dawning realization that problems such as improving
public health, regulating advances in biotechnology, and
achieving sustainable environmental development transcend
national borders. In other words, bioethics concerns are
global in nature.