Since the early 1990s, globalization in its familiar form has taken root: wide market openness and the flow of goods, ideas, and people across borders. With this openness, our lives have changed intellectually, literarily, scientifically, and culturally. Many benefited from opportunities for knowledge and innovation, while others settled for a superficial behavioral layer that imitates appearances and neglects substance—despite the fact that we possess a system of values and customs capable of guiding openness and regulating it.
Today, voices are rising that call for distancing from globalization and turning eastward, while other currents cling to the West. In my view, the question is not East or West, but rather: how do we restructure a balanced globalization that does justice to both sides and takes a deeply rooted identity as a compass rather than an obstacle? The new globalization is neither withdrawal from the world nor submission to a single pole; it is a broader network of relationships managed with greater awareness of interests and values.
Practically, balance begins from within: an education system that places languages and sciences on one side, and identity and values on the other—without conflict; media that creates its own narrative instead of importing it; and an economy that diversifies its partners and markets so it is not caught off guard by supply disruptions or policy shifts. As for everyday culture, the measure is simple: whatever enhances dignity, knowledge, and independence is a gain from globalization; whatever weakens awareness or reduces human beings to perpetual consumers is a loss that must be addressed.
In a world of multiple poles, the value of states and societies capable of playing the role of a bridge increases—connecting rather than dividing, opening up without shedding identity. This requires long-term investment in human capital, in research and development, and in digital infrastructure that protects data and facilitates cooperation, alongside a cultural policy that encourages local production of knowledge and the arts.
