Globalization and Post Soviet Union World
Population growth
Access to resources
Economic development and
interconnected economies
Global population growth since World War II has been concentrated in the
poorer nations. What is the impact of this growth in these poorer and
developing nations and in the industrial nations since World War II?
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Whereas population growth in the nineteenth century was highest in wealthy
countries, since World War II it has been highest in poor nations.
Industrialized nations have made the demographic transition (lower fertility and
mortality rates), with a resulting reduction in population growth.
Population growth has slowed because of rising marriage age, fewer children per
marriage, higher female employment rates, increased use of contraception, family
planning, and social welfare policies.
In developing nations, declining mortality rates have combined with high birthrates to
create a population explosion.
As much as 95 percent of future population growth will take place in developing
countries.
In extreme cases, government policies aimed at population control have led to
infanticide (in China particularly) and forced sterilization (in India particularly).
Both developed and developing nations face their own unique problems for the
future. Soaring population levels place great strain on agriculture, health care,
education, and the infrastructures of countries already burdened with the problems of
development.
A higher percentage of young people in developing nations also means a greater
need to create new employment opportunities. In developed nations, the high
percentage of older citizens places a greater strain on social welfare systems.
In the years since World War II, how have economic development and
population growth altered world migration patterns?
• Since World War II wealthy nations have generally remained
wealthy and poor nations have remained poor.
• In wealthy nations, population growth has slowed, creating a
shortage of working-age people.
• Some countries have allowed or even encouraged
immigration to supply workers.
• Others, such as Japan, have tightened restrictions on
immigration. Japan has compensated for its aging population
by investing heavily in robots and other technological
responses.
• In poor nations, population growth has soared, producing a
large excess population for which there are no jobs, as the
economy has not expanded sufficiently to provide them.
• Many people move from rural areas to cities, seeking
economic advancement, health care, and education.
• Others migrate overseas to find those opportunities.
What conditions led to the end of the Cold War and the breaking up of the
USSR?
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Both economics and politics played a major role in ending the Cold War. Government
inefficiency and lack of flexibility in the planned economy limited competitiveness.
The global arms race also diverted resources from modernization of the Soviet
economy.
Soviet discontent from internal suppression of dissidents and the protests against the
war in Afghanistan added to the effects of the declining economy.
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev instituted major reforms, including a policy of openness
called glasnost.
His economic plan, perestroika, moved the Soviet economy toward a free enterprise
system.
At the same time, protest movements in Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe spawned
widespread opposition to the communist government.
By 1989, communist governments in Eastern Europe had fallen; their collapse was
illustrated most vividly by the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.
Declarations of independence by Soviet republics, including Lithuania, Latvia, and
Estonia, brought the crisis to a boil.
The president of the Russian republic, Boris Yeltsin, led popular resistance in Russia.
The remaining Soviet republics subsequently declared their independence as well. In
September 1991 the central legislature of the USSR, the Congress of People’s
Deputies, voted to officially dissolve the union.
What are the environmental consequences of post–World War II population and
economic growth? How has technological innovation affected the environment?
• Enormous expansion of the world’s population and economy
has often had disastrous consequences for the environment.
• The intense need for raw materials has had an impact on a
great many areas, ranging from urban industrialized centers to
the most remote rain forests.
• Many nations that rushed recklessly to industrialize—
particularly the Soviet Union—took few precautions against
damaging the environment; they even carelessly dumped
nuclear waste.
• The delicate balance between economic expansion, creating
and protecting jobs, and consumer demands has often been
maintained at the expense of the environment.
• At the same time, technological innovations have provided the
tools to help repair environmental damage.
• Technological innovation in pollution control devices promises
to aid the environment in the future.
What part did technological innovation play in the economic expansion after
World War II? What is the role of the transnational corporation on the
dissemination of technology.
• World War II was an enormous generator of industrial
innovation, resulting in new products and markets.
Improvements in transportation and communication were
also important in spurring economic growth.
• Advances in electronics brought about by the war have been
especially responsible for economic expansion.
• In the last fifteen years alone, the growth of the computer
industry has increased economic expansion and productivity.
Transnational corporations became the primary agents of
these technological changes.
• The transnational corporation does business across national
borders, has multinational ownership and has shareholders,
workers, and managers from many different countries.
• As these companies became more powerful, they were
increasingly able to escape the control of national
governments.
• They were able to do this by shifting the sites of their facilities
to countries with less intrusive policies.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the forces of the Cold War were changed and
were evident immediately in the Middle East. Describe the first conflict after the end of
the Cold War in the Middle East and explain the events that led up to it and resolved it.
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The first military conflict after the end of the Cold War was the Persian Gulf War.
The impact of the Cold War on this conflict is twofold; first, that Russia was no longer
able to support its former ally, Iraq in a military confrontation with the United States
became clear and second that Iraq wanted to “flex its muscles” in the region and
perhaps become a regional superpower with the Soviet Union in a position of
weakness.
The leader of Iraq was Saddam Hussein. Students should explain his actions and
how they led to the military response of the United States.
His aggression toward the neighboring oil producer, Kuwait, stemmed from the
accumulation of Iraqi debts that Kuwait refused to forgive or reduce and Hussein’s
accusations that Kuwait was engaging in “lateral drilling” and that Kuwait was
historically a part of Iraqi territory.
He claimed that Western imperialism after World War I had created artificial borders
in the region and that Iraq had ancestral claims to Kuwaiti land and therefore oil
resources.
Although the United States had hoped for years to cultivate Saddam Hussein as an
American ally in the region by 1990, President Bush committed to military action in
Iraq, although the United States fell short of removing him from power.
The removal of Saddam Hussein required a Second Gulf War in the spring of 2003.
Explain the characteristics of the Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs) of the
Pacific Rim that allowed those nations to quickly industrialize and become
global economic powers. Be specific.
• Pacific Rim nations, such as Korea, Taiwan,
Singapore, and Hong Kong, (Four Tigers) share
several important features.
• They have well-disciplined and hard-working work
forces, and they invested heavily in education.
• All have high rates of personal savings.
• These savings are used to fund investment in new
technologies.
• All these economies benefit from government
sponsorship and protection.
• All benefited from the expansion in world trade and
international communication that permitted
technology to be disseminated rapidly.
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How did American and Soviet imperialism in the Middle East lead to Islamic
Revolutions in Iran and Afghanistan? How did they become a highly publicized
example of the frustrations of the United States and the Soviet Union?
First, the question of imperialism and “meddling” or the motives of both the superpowers in
these neighboring countries should be addressed.
In Iran, the United States had helped the shah regain power in 1953 through covert
intervention by the CIA.
In return, Iran purchased American weapons and gave the United States favorable oil trade
conditions.
The people in Iran, however, resented the Shah’s corrupt and autocratic policies and the
people viewed the shah as a “puppet” of the United States.
He was overthrown in 1979 by a Shi’ite cleric named Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who
replaced the monarchy with an Islamic Republic.
The new government was Ani-American and Anti-Israel.
In November 1979, Iranian radicals seized the United States Embassy in Tehran and held
fifty-two American diplomats hostage for 444 days.
This was a blow to the prestige of the United States. In Afghanistan, the Soviet Union sent its
army to support a growing communist government there.
The Soviet Union became embroiled in a guerilla war with local Islamic warlords in the
countryside who were being supported with training and weapons by the United States.
This war became a drain on Soviet resources and became increasingly unpopular at home.
These “losses” were humbling for both superpowers and demonstrated inherent weaknesses
and contributed to changes infrastructure and international focus in both of the nations’
systems.