Global

2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

The adjective "global" and the adverb "globally" are synonyms of worldwide and mean of or relating to or involving the entire world in the general sense or as the planet Earth. They are sometimes used as synonyms for international/internationally but this usage is not recorded in dictionaries and is usually considered incorrect:

• "Global" implicitly implies the concept of " one world"
• International is a broader term, in that it can refer to something involving all nations or as few as only two nations, but, presumably, all must be potentially involved before it becomes truly global.
• Nations are concerned primarily with humanity's concerns, and that usually in a narrow time frame, whereas there are many global concerns that transcend species or generations.

Nonetheless, "global" has passed into common usage, especially in the media, academia, and the business world, and among left-wing supporters of a "one world" concept. Many use this term in situations where "international" would clearly be the more appropriate term, as there are few things that are truly global (even the much-touted "global economy" for example does not include Antarctica, North Korea, etc.). Nevertheless, just as its synonym "worldwide", "global" is often appropriate when one wants to emphasise that something affects the entire world even if not all nations or all parts of the earth are directly included. For example, Antarctica and North Korea and even isolated jungle tribes are very strongly affected by the global economy even if they do not actively participate in global trade.

The usage of "global" is correct when referring to things which do involve the Planet Earth as one single unit, for example: global maps, global weather patterns, global satellite photos.