The Modern World
Globalization Acronyms
• World Trade Organization (WTO): an
international organization created to
supervise international trade and
support free trade
• The European Union: an economic and
political union of 27 member countries in
Europe dedicated to regional integration
• Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries: An organization that works
to protect the interests of member
countries that produce oil
– Example: controlling oil prices to make
more $$$
• North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA): eliminated tariffs and trade
restrictions between Canada, the U.S. and
Mexico
• the International Monetary Fund (IMF): an
organization that offers emergency loans to
countries in financial crisis
• United Nations (UN): an international
organization dedicated to keeping the
peace and preventing human rights
violations
• the World Bank: an
organization that offers
loans to developing
countries for large
government projects
• NATO: A mutual defense
organization created to
protect member states
from aggression
Developed vs. Developing Nations
• A developed nation is a: nation with the
industrialization, transportation, and business
facilities for the advanced production of
manufactured goods
• A developing nation is a: nation that is in the
process of becoming industrialized
Developed nations
Developing nations
Primary Location:
The “Western” World
Economic conditions:
More prosperity, less
poverty
More literate, access to
health care
parts of Asia, Africa, and
South America
LOTS of poverty
Social Conditions:
Population size and rate
of growth:
Constantly growing
Less literate, often no or
very little access to
healthcare
Not growing
By the end of this century knowledge
workers [people whose jobs focus on
working with information] will amount to
a third or more of the work force in the
United States. …The majority of
knowledge workers will be paid at least
as well as blue-collar workers ever were,
or better. And the new jobs offer much
greater opportunities…The new
jobs…require a habit of continuous
learning.
PETER DRUCKER, Managing a Time of
Great change
Economic development and rapid population
growth have an impact on the environment
and society in today’s world.
• The economic development and population
explosion affects the Environment through:
– Increased pollution
– Loss of animal habitats
– Global climate change (global warming!)
• The rapid growth of the population affects
Society by increasing:
–
–
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Poverty
Poor health
Illiteracy
Famine
Migration (the movement of people from one
place to another
A stable economy contributes to a stable
democracy, and political freedom helps to
increase economic development.
• How?
– Free market economies produce rising
standards of living and an expanding middle
class, which produces growing demands for
political freedoms and individual rights.
– Examples: Taiwan and South Korea.
• BUT—Every nation, no matter if they’re
developed or developing, depends on
each other for their raw materials, markets,
and financial resources (banks and
loans)—this forms a GLOBAL ECONOMY
Economic Interdependence
between Countries
• Fast transportation, communication, and
computer networks help keep people in
different countries connected.
• Multinational corporations (companies
that operate in many different countries)
have helped by building factories in
many different locations. They see the
whole world as a market for their goods.
– because of this, in the global economy its as
if national boundaries do not exist
Challenges faced by both developed and
developing nations because of their
differences:
• Migrations of refugees
(people seeking safety
from war or persecution in
another nation) and others
– Refugees can be an issue
in international conflicts
– Migrations of “guest
workers” to European cities
• Ethnic and religious
conflicts today are found
in:
– The Middle East, Northern
Ireland, the Balkans, the
Horn of Africa, and South
Asia
• Impact of new
technologies
– Widespread but unequal
access to computers and
instantaneous
communications leads to
unrest
– Genetic engineering and
bioethics make people
question the right or wrong
of science
• Example: Cloning—right or
wrong?
• Genetic engineering –
introduce new genes into an
organism to give it new traits
• Cloning – creation of
identical copies of DNA.
Terrorism
• Some people deal with the inequality
through use of violence
• Terrorism: the use of violence and
threats to intimidate and coerce for
political reasons
– Major causes: political extremism,
religious extremism
Foreign and Domestic
• Examples:
– Munich Olympics
– Terrorist attacks in the United
States (9/11/2001)
• motivated by extremism on the
part of Al-Qaeda and its
leader, Osama bin Laden.
– Car bombings
– Suicide bombers
– Airline hijackers
Munich & Atlanta Olympics
• Munich
– 1972 Summer Olympics
– Palestinian group captured 11 members
of the Israeli Olympic Team – held
hostage and eventually killed
• Atlanta
– July 27, 1996
– Bombs went off
– 2 died, 110 injured
September 11, 2001
• Four planes hijacked
– Two hit the Twin Towers in
New York
• Both towers collapse
– One hit the Pentagon
– One crashed in
Pennsylvania
• Worst and deadliest
attack on American soil
Boston Marathon Attacks
• 4/15/13
• Two bombs exploded
within 12 seconds of
each other near the
finish line
• 3 died, 180 injured
WACO
• Began Feb 28, 1993
OKLAHOMA CITY
BOMBING
– ATF went to search • April 19, 1995
compound
•
Domestic
terrorism
occupied by the
Branch Davidians
– Gun battle erupts
– Standoff for 50 days
– Timothy McVeigh
– Angry about Federal
government’s
handling of WACO
• Siege ends on April
• Federal Building
19, 1993
(Murrah) blown up
• 76 people died
• 168 died, 680
injured
Acts of Violence
• Columbine (4/20/99)
– Two students entered high
school with guns and
killed 12
– Both committed suicide
– Worst school shooting in
the USA (now 2nd)
• VA Tech Shooting
(4/16/07)
– Lone gunman killed 32
– Worst school shooting in
the USA
• Sandy Hook Elementary
Shooting (12/14/12)
– Lone gunman enters
school and killed 26
• DMV Sniper (October
2002)
– Two gunmen terrorized
area by killing 10 and
critically injuring 3
• Aurora Theater Shooting
(7/20/12)
– Lone gunman enters
theater and killed 12 and
injured 58
– Trial ongoing
• Sikh Temple Shooting
(8/5/12)
– Lone gunman enters
temple and killed 6 and
wounded 4 more
Government Response to
Terrorism
– Surveillance increased and
privacy rights decreased
– Security at ports and airports
increased
– Identification badges and photos
required
– Patriot Act is a law that was
passed by Congress in 2002 and
signed by George W. Bush. This
allowed law enforcement great
freedom in researching
suspected terrorist (foreign or
domestic)