Fernando M. Reimers et a]. GLOBALIZATION In addition to the enduring historical reasons for fostering cosmopolitanism discussed earlier, the acceleration of globalization has increased the impor— tance of educating students on global citizenship. During the last decades of the twentieth century, a number of scholars argued that an acceleration of a series of processes of social change was resulting from the growth and intensification of relationships between people transcending national boundaries. The combination of these pro— cesses was called “globalization.” Globalization includes the creation of a global society, the development of global consciousness, and increased global interdependence, meaning that local events are significantly af— fected by remote and global events. While there is some agreement that there were other eras of globalization in the past, there is an emerging consensus that globalization is intensifying (Albrow, 1990: 9; Giddens, 1990: 64; Held et al., 1999: 16; Robertson, 199228; Scholte, 2000: 46; Waters, 2001: 5). Globalization, the acceleration of global integration, creates a renewed reason for global education, with the aim of preparing students to un- derstand the process itself and to live and function in increasingly glo— balized contexts. Globalization is making all of us increasingly global citizens, in that much of our lives and circumstances are shaped by events that are global in nature. Just as most individuals do not have much ofa choice with regard to being subject to rights and responsibili— ties in nation—states—although some individuals may choose which na— tion-state they wish to be a part of—they do not have much of a choice regarding the fact that we are all affected by international regulations and processes, which also give us opportunities, challenges, rights, and responsibilities. Widespread forced displacement caused by conflicts and natural disasters, health epidemics that span continents, and questions around the ethics ofwhistleblowing and the boundaries of technological