Globalization Aggravates the Challenges of International Security and Social Development: A Discussion in the Context of Sustainable Social Transformation

Abstract

Globalization has increased the interdependence of countries' economies, politics, societies, and technologies at the aggregate level, leading to benefits across all levels but also exacerbating international security problems and the lack of development, especially in structurally vulnerable areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Utilizing a critical transformationalist approach and the original Globalization Vulnerability Perspective derived in this paper, the study utilized reflexive thematic analysis of recent secondary sources of data (2021-2026), such as United Nations reports, World Bank data, the Global Terrorism Index, Oxfam analyses, UNCTAD debt reports, and African institutional publications. It looks at the worsening impact of globalization on transnational terrorism, cyber threats, hybrid threats, resource issues, structural inequality, cultural polarization, and the polycrisis of corruption, debt, and climate-related risks. The dynamics are based on two detailed empirical case studies: the Sahel polycrisis (in the context of Burkina Faso) and the resource curse in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The analysis shows the extent to which these challenges negatively affect the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. But outcomes are not guaranteed. Based on these findings, the study suggests actionable mitigation pathways that focus on ethical glocalization, such as faster implementation of the AfCFTA, digital innovation, diaspora engagement, and multilateral reforms, as well as participatory Pan-African agency. These initiatives aim to shift the nature of globalization from exploitation to collective equity, human dignity, and shared resilience. This study concludes that globalization is part of a system that exacerbates a vulnerability trap through asymmetric integration, transnational networks, and unequal power relations, with mutually reinforcing processes of insecurity, inequality, and institutional fragility.