Globalization
Globalization
- The process of accelerating engagement among peoples
of the world
- Vastly accelerated after WWII
The Bretton Woods Conference
- Officially known as the United Nations Monetary and
Financial Conference
- A gathering of delegates from 44 nations that met from
July 1 to 22, 1944 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
- Agreed upon a series of new rules for the post-WWII
international monetary system
The two major accomplishments of the Bretton Woods
conference:
- The creation of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF)
- The creation of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
Lessons Learned:
- The policies adopted by governments to combat the
Great Depression - high tariff barriers, competitive
currency devaluations, discriminatory trading blocs - had
contributed to creating an unstable international
environment without improving the economic situation
- This experience led international leaders to conclude
that economic cooperation was the only way to achieve
both peace and prosperity, at home and abroad
Neo-Liberalism
- Reduction of tariffs
- Free global movement of capital
- Encouraging Free Market
- Free Movement of Capital
a) Investing abroad
World Trade Organization
- An international organization established to supervise
and liberalize world trade
- The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which was created in 1947 in
the expectation that it would soon be replaced by a
specialized agency of the (UN) to be called the
International Trade Organization (ITO)
- Although the ITO never materialized, the GATT proved
remarkably successful in liberalizing world trade over the
next five decades
- By the late 1980s there were calls for a stronger
multilateral organization to monitor trade and resolve
trade disputes
- Following the completion of the Uruguay Round (1986–
94) of multilateral trade negotiations, the WTO began
operations on January 1, 1995
The WTO has six key objectives:
(1) to set and enforce rules for international trade
(2) to provide a forum for negotiating and monitoring
further trade liberalization
(3) to resolve trade disputes
(4) to increase the transparency of decision-making
processes
(5) to cooperate with other major international economic
institutions involved in global economic management
(6) to help developing countries benefit fully from the
global trading system
Transnational Corporations (TNCs)
- Produce goods and deliver services in many countries
- Large Multinational Corporations
- Operating in more than one country
Migration of Labor
- In search of jobs and wages
- A “Brain Drain” of educated professionals leaving
Global South for higher paying jobs in Global North
Impact of Economic Growth
- Worsened rift between developed nations and
developing world
- Rich nations of Global North and poor nations of
Global South
Antiglobalization Movement
- Criticizing globalization
- Protests against WTO (World Trade Organization)
Chiapas Rebellion in Mexico
- Viewed globalization as negative
- Seen as “eliminating people who are not useful”
And then the Collapse of USSR
- US military dominance unchecked
- Only one superpower (for a time at least)
September 11, 2001
- U.S. attacked Afghanistan
- Taliban had sheltered Osama bin Laden
U.S. attacked Iraq (2003)
- Hussein was developing Weapons of Mass
Destruction
U.S. Effort to Contain Terrorism
- Another global struggle after collapse of USSR
And in addition to changes in trade and relations between
nations, the spread of ideas has also increased in this age of
globalization
The Civil Rights Movement
The Youth Culture
- 1968
* Student-led movement in France protesting university
conditions
* “Prague Spring”: challenged Soviet rule in
Czechoslovakia and although crushed, led to renewed
efforts for democratization
Feminism
* Challenged relationships between men and women
* Had begun in West for suffrage
* Addressed inequities
* Addressed opportunities for women