Globalization as phenomena could be seen in every aspect of our live. That puts forward many challenges especially at the educational level.
This paper tries to synthesis on the readiness of Saudi educational system to face such challenges by addressing the following questions:
1- What the meaning of globalization especially at the educational level?
2- How does the Arabic literature view the phenomena of globalization?
3- To what extent is the Saudi Arabian educational system able to meet the challenges proposed by this phenomenon?

To answer such questions, this paper analysis some of the issues relating to the following topics:
- Saudi Educational objectives
- Curriculum
- Continues Education
- The effect of globalization on the concept of nationalism.
- The changing role of the educational system in regard to the labor market.
- Teacher training in the face of globalization.

Discussion of these topics have reviled the necessity to revise the educational objective at all level which would reflect the new reality of Saudi society especially in regard to female educational objectives.
Curriculums need to be rewritten not only from an Ideological concern but an educational concerns as well.
Nationalism has to modified with the reality of the International human being, thus , graduates have to be occupied with the necessary skills and motivations to compete in an international market and institutions should modify their requirement to mach the international standards.

BY: Khlowed Aljabl

Globalization

what is Globalization?

Globalization – the growing integration of economies and societies around the world – has been one of the most hotly-debated topics in international economics over the past few years. Rapid growth and poverty reduction in China, India, and other countries that were poor 20 years ago, has been a positive aspect of globalization. But globalization has also generated significant international opposition over concerns that it has increased inequality and environmental degradation. This site provides access to some of the most recent presentations on globalization and some of the leading research on the subject.

- Features of Globalization:

A Framework for Understanding GlobalizationSeven Forces that Flatten the World Two Eras of Globalization and the Gap between.

-Is Globalization New?
The Development of Human Rights LanguageTwo Eras of Globalization and the Gap betweenA Framework for Understanding Globalization.

What Is Globalized?
- People:
Globalization Is Fundamentally CulturalNational Boundaries Become Less Important in a Global AgeSeven Forces that Flatten the World

- Money and Goods:
Economic Globalization: An AppraisalGlobalization Is Fundamentally CulturalFive Questions to Ask about the Globalization of LawWhere Does Globalization Come From?

- Culture:
Globalization Is Fundamentally Cultural A Technological Platform for GlobalizationTwo Eras of Globalization and the Gap betweenCommon Business Problems Lead to Common Legal SolutionsThe Development of Human Rights LanguageThe Demand for Transplanted Law Affects Its AdoptionHow Countries Resist Global Institutions.

- Risk:
The Globalization of Culture Involves Risk and MisfortuneNational Boundaries Become Less Important in a Global AgeEconomic Globalization: An AppraisalWhere Does Globalization Come From?International Law to Cosmopolitan Law.

- Globalization Requires a Scaffold:
Shared Values Underlie a Global Community of Courts.

-Advantages and Disadvantages of Globalization:

-Some Advantages:

-Increased free trade between nations.
-Increased liquidity of capital allowing investors in developed nations to invest in developing nations .
-Corporations have greater flexibility to operate across borders .
-Global mass media ties the world together .
-Increased flow of communications allows vital information to be shared between individuals and corporations around the world .
-Greater ease and speed of transportation for goods and people.
-Reduction of cultural barriers increases the global village effect .
-Spread of democratic ideals to developed nations .
-Greater interdependence of nation-states .
-Reduction of likelihood of war between developed nations .
-Increases in environmental protection in developed nations.

-Some Disadvantages:

-Increased flow of skilled and non-skilled jobs from developed to developing nations as corporations seek out the cheapest labor .
-Increased likelihood of economic disruptions in one nation effecting all nations .
-Corporate influence of nation-states far exceeds that of civil society organizations and average individuals .
-Threat that control of world media by a handful of corporations will limit cultural expression.

-Greater chance of reactions for globalization being violent in an attempt to preserve cultural heritage .
-Greater risk of diseases being transported unintentionally between nations .
-Spread of a materialistic lifestyle and attitude that sees consumption as the path to prosperity .
-International bodies like the World Trade Organization infringe on national and individual sovereignty .
-Increase in the chances of civil war within developing countries and open war between developing countries as they vie for resources .
-Decreases in environmental integrity as polluting corporations take advantage of weak regulatory rules in developing countries .

Globalization's Challenge to Islam

-How to create one Islamic community in a diverse world:

Riaz Hassan
YaleGlobal, 17 April 2003

Muslims in Indonesia: One God, many colors.
NEW HAVEN: In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, the effect of globalisation on Islam has emerged as a hotly debated topic. With twenty percent of the world's population professing Islam as their religion, it is a matter of more than academic interest. A survey of the evolution of Islam in recent decades shows that ummah - a universal community based on shared Islamic faith and implementation of its law - has indeed become a greater reality in an ever-shrinking world. At the same time, globalisation has also allowed divisive militancy to arise and flourish. In the years to come the force of globalisation may lead to the emergence of multiple centres of Islam rather than the current one based in Saudi Arabia Islamic historians have credited the concept of ummah as an important contributing factor in the rise and development of Islam and Islamic civilization. The evidence from various studies shows that although Muslims share a sense of being part of a global ummah, the intensity of this feeling varies significantly across Muslim countries.
This variation can be attributed to the broader reality of the Muslim world. Unlike in the past, when limitations of transport and communication technologies made it difficult for Muslims worldwide to acknowledge the cultural and social diversity of the ummah, the introduction of satellite television, internet, international travel, and access to books and magazines and increasing literacy is now making Muslims aware of their cultural and social diversity. The impact of colonialism and the emergence of nationalist movements, which spearheaded the struggle against it, have also served to fragment the Islamic world into over 45 Muslim countries with competing economic and political interests. Another consequence of this development for Muslims is that while they are becoming aware of the cultural diversity of the Muslim world the new technologies are also promoting a greater ummah consciousness, a heightened sense of belonging to a global community of believers.

-Globalization and Education:

One could think that globalization is only a matter of industry and business, and that education as a moral process is no part of this development. However, if we understand education as part of the information business, education systems can be seen as the core of the globalization process. Governments are trying to compete on the global markets by placing the onus of policy on education to produce the “human capital” most appealing to global competition (Webster 2001, 268). Also Rinne (2000) emphasizes that educational policy has become an ever more important part of economic, trade, labor and social policy in western countries.

:Finally we have to listen to Noam Chomsky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdYwAXZh0ME&feature=related

We hope that we have introduce an important informations about Globalization that influences

in many fields.

Note:

( as muslims Globalization means to us we should creat United Islamic Nation)