i.Politically it is much more integrated, although it is divided into a number of nation-states. These nation-states may be big or small, weak or powerful, but internally they all resemble one another in terms of their institutions and resources (bureaucracy, army, police, political leaders etc.)

ii.Economically the world is less integrated and more diverse. Productive activities of the world have a certain range (agriculture, manufacturing, trade, industry, buying and selling, use of currency to facilitate exchange). Yet they are all connected with one another. Countries can be identified on the economic scale as industrial, semi industrial, agricultural, countries in transition and so on. Using other indicators countries can actually be ranked in terms of their economic performance.

Socially and culturally the modern world is integrated and diverse at the same time.

We are similar in the sense that we have evolved the same parameters for measuring culture (a shared style of communication, body language, style of clothing, preparation and consumption of food, among other things) and social life (family, relationships, religion etc.).

But we are diverse in the sense that the internal content of culture and social life varies a great deal. Most of us feel the need to relate ourselves to the realm of faith.

Ex : an individual's relationship with religion can be measured on a number of scales.

Our collective political, economic and social life follows distinctive patterns. But the important thing is that it is now possible to consider human life as one. Over the last three centuries the diversities have been giving way to recognizable similarities.