Introduction to Worldwide Problems

In its most fundamental sense, the word “world” denotes the totality of existent entities, to which the concepts “all” and “reality” belong. In other approaches, the word “world” denotes a wider cosmos consisting of multiple geometrical systems. The nature of this world is typically conceptualized in terms of multiplicity. Some conceptions regard the entire world as highly abstract and/or totally immeasurable while others speak of the “pluralization” of worlds.

A nation or state constitutes a global community comprising a great extent of the total population of a country. One may speak of a worldwide problem because it concerns the majority of humans on the planet Earth. Thus, one may speak of the universal problem, which affects humanity as a whole. It is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of such nations as the expression “a worldwide problem” may imply a broader meaning. One can say, for example, that poverty is a worldwide problem because it affects humans in a vast number of ways. Similarly, it would be incorrect to talk of all diseases as a worldwide problem because they affect human beings in diverse ways.

It is wrong to assume that the term “all global problems” imply that the cause of these global problems is the international political system or the policies of the international government. Rather, these problems are caused by excessive consumption of natural resources (which deplete aquifers and pollute water); degradation of ecosystems; environmental pollution; depletion of the ozone layer; and excessive use of technological and basic resources. While these problems may be global in their extent, they are local in their causes. Therefore, one could speak of all global problems as being local in their causes and effects.