Big Era Nine

Paradoxes of
Global Acceleration
1945-2004

The World in 1945:

50 million people killed during WW II
Parts of Europe, Asia, and North Africa
in ruins
World trade severely damaged

Much of
the world
looked
pretty
bleak.

 Many European economies in shambles

European Colonial empires crumbling
Growing nationalist movements in Africa
and Asia
U.S. the major industrial and atomic
power

The world entered a new

Cold War policies developed:

The Soviet Union occupied Eastern Europe

and part of Germany.

The U.S. moves to encircle the Soviet Union
with a system of alliances and military aid.
U.S. offers Marshal plan to rebuild Europe and
gives $13 billion in aid.
The U.S. adopted a policy of Containment
of the Soviet Union with military bases around
the world.
An Iron Curtain of tense relations
separated the Western allies from the U.S.S.R.
and its allies.

The World became divided into

two hostile camps: The U.S.S.R.
and the U.S.

Pres. Harry
Truman

194660

Joseph Stalin

During the Cold

War, the U.S.S.R
and the U.S.
followed a policy
of Mutual Assured
Destruction (MAD).

I guess
it made
sense at
the
time.

Mutual Assured
Destruction is a military
deterrence strategy in
which a full scale use of
nuclear weapons by one of
the opposing powers would
The U.S. and U.S.S.R
had enough nuclear result in the destruction
bombs to destroy the
of both.
world about 400
times.

The Cold War was very costly

in lives.
1950-53 - A divided
Korea led to war,
separated family
members, and cost a
million lives,
including 48,000
Americans.
1963-1972 - Three
million people died in
the Vietnam War,
including 58,000
Americans.

The forty years of the Cold War were

costly in resources. We spent 3.5 trillion,
and for what?

We spent 5.5 trillion

dollars on nuclear
arms, and we won!

How much
is a trillion
dollars?
George H.W. Bush

Michail Gorbachev

A trillion dollars is enough to give each

family in the U.S. $100,000.

During the cold war many

former colonized peoples
created India
newgained
nations.
independence from
Britain in 1947.

Indonesia gained independence

from the Dutch in 1949.
Ghana gained independence from
Great Britain in 1957.
.

By 1965 most former European

colonies had become newly created
independent nation-states.

The U.S. and the U.S.S.R.

competed for the loyalties of
these new nations.

Several of the new nations

pursued a non-aligned policy.
In 1955 India, Indonesia, and Yugoslavia
sponsored the Bandung Conference of NonAligned nations. It aimed to promote
solidarity among newly independent states
and to prevent the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.
from meddling in their domestic affairs.
Nehru and Sukarno led the meeting.

Sukarno
of
Indonesia

Nehru of In

Colonialism left new nations

Underdeveloped.

This table shows how shares of world Gross Domestic

Product changed between 1870 and 1998.
Date

India

China

Africa

Japan

1870

12.2

17.2

3.6

2.3

Western
Europe and
U.S.
42.5

1913

7.6

8.9

2.7

2.6

52.6

1950

4.2

4.5

3.6

3.0

53.6

1973

3.1

4.6

3.3

7.7

47.7

1998

5.0

11.5

3.1

7.7

42.5

What might we learn from this table about

patterns of economic development in the world?

In 1750, China and

India provided 57%
of world
manufacturing.
In 1953, they
manufactured only
4% of the worlds
goods.
What caused such a
dramatic change?

In the 1960s, as the colonized people gained

independence, the world-wide split between the
North rich industrial nationsand the South
poor third world nationsgrew wider.

How did Western leaders try to

restore world trade after World War
II?
In 1944, at the Bretton
Woods Monetary
Conference in New
Hampshire, Western
leaders:
Created the World Bank.
Established the International
Monetary Fund.
Established stable currency
exchange rates.
Ushered in a new Global Age
of economic cooperation.

However, these
agreements did not
include the Communist
bloc nations

In 1971, however, the high cost of the

Vietnam War prompted President Richard
Nixon to abolish the fixed currency
exchange rates that had been established
at Bretton Woods.
Gold backing for
currencies was
eliminated.
World currencies
floated.

The Age of Free

Market Capitalism
began, but still
excluded the Soviet

Underlying most
arguments against the
free market is a lack of
belief in freedom itself.
Economist Milton
Friedman

In theory, free world trade

encourages greater economic
specialization, more productivity,
and greater wealth.
Efficient use of world
resources is possible.
Tariffs are eliminated.

And each country

can concentrate
on what it does
best.

Businesses can move where

they make more profits.
More jobs are created.
People have more money
to spend.

In the 1980s the U.S. moved to expand

free market capitalism within the
global system.
What is
free
market
capitalis
m?

Little government interference in

the market
Freedom of individual choice
Borderless market economy
Markets as masters over state
policies
People should be free to pursue
economic self-interest
Consuming goods a major value
However, most nations
continued to pursue some
forms of economic

In the 1980s China moved toward a

free-market system and joined the
global economy.

Chinas Trade surplus balance

with U.S. $666.2 billion in the 2004,
China now buys from 1-2
billion dollars of the
U.S. debt each day.
Chinas economy will probably equal that of US.
In twenty-five years.

In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold

War ended. Eastern European countries broke
away from Soviet control. The Soviet Union itself
broke into more than a dozen new states.
The Berlin Wall was
built in August 1961

The Wall was

destroyed
on November 9,
1989

In 1991, India abandoned its 44 year-old

socialist oriented economy and embraced a
the free market system and joined the global
economy.
With a GDP of 800 billion dollars, India is now the
fourth largest world economy after the U.S.,
China and Japan.
Indias growth rate has averaged about 5.8 per cent
for the past fifteen years.
Major exports
include
Clothing
Automobiles
Handicrafts

In the 1990s, with the

integration of many of
the states of the former
Soviet Union and the
entry
of
China
and
apse
India, Globalization now
embraced the majority of
the worlds economies .
In the 1980s, the U.S., the major
In the 1980s, the U.S.,
world power, became the
advocate of free market
for the global system.

the major
chief
capitalism

What is
Globalization?
Increasing global
connectedness through
rapid communication and
transport.
Rapid intensification of
worldwide social relations.
Swift and free flow of
capital, people, and ideas
across national borders.

World population has been

rapidly increasing.

Wow!
More than
6
billion
people
now alive.

billions
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1803 - 124 yrs 1927- 33 yrs 1960 - 14 yrs 1974 - 12 yrs 1986 13 yrs

The time it takes to add a billion

people grows shorter.

Life
expectancy
is rising,
but it varies
world wide.
Average life
expectancy
for the world
is 70 years.

Country

Average Life
Expectancy

Sweden

79.2

France

78

United
States

71.1

Bangladesh

62.8

Botswana

40.1

Zimbabwe

39.2

Speed of
travel has
increased
dramatically.
1957

World wide
communication
is almost
instantaneous

1962

1981

Look at this antique

computer. It
doesnt even have a
hard drive!

1977

1982

The computer has been changing

billions of lives.

IT Engineer
seeks
househusband
..

Will you be my
E-pal?

Were catching
up with the U.S.
economy.
I raised my
campaign funds
via the

Where are the

books I ordered?

Im applying
to college.

Cap from
Bangladesh

Shirt
from
Mexico

Backpack
from
China
Soccer ball
from
Pakistan

But what
does
globalizatio
n have to do
with me?

Jeans from
Malaysia
Video game
from Japan

Sneakers from
Indonesia

New technologies allow

humans to control nature
.like never before

Expanding
technology
makes
possible a
cornucopia of
new products
for us

More goods are being produced,

bought, and sold worldwide
What
than ever before.
shall I buy
next?

Globalization also spreads ideas

and values.

Democratic ideas have spread to

more countries than ever before.
India
Korea
Japan
Taiwan
Malaysia
Qatar
Mali
Brazil
South
Africa

But globalization
brings high human
costs.

Although the worlds people are

producing more than 47 trillion dollars
in wealth, these riches are not
distributed equally.

The growing gap between

the rich and the poor
continues
toof increase.
20% get most
the wealth.
The U.S. owns 11 trillion dollars of
this wealth.
2 billion of the worlds people live
on less than $2 a day.
Peasants are forced to leave the
land as money and wage economies
spread.
Workers without education and skills
are often left behind.

Global Distribution of Income

(2002)
Each bar represents
a fifth of the world's
population arranged
by income.

82.7

Richest
2nd

11.7

3rd

2.3

4th

1.9

Poorest

1.4
Percentage of Global Income

Gross Domestic
Product (GDP)
of Selected
Countries and
Corporations
2002

Corporations in bold face

Some big
multinational
corporations
have more
wealth than
many nations.

GDP/value
added

Ranking

$trillion

United States

9.9

Japan

4.7
$billion

40

Malaysia

89.7

41

Colombia

81.3

42

Philippines

74.7

43

Chile

70.5

44

Wal-Mart
Stores

67.7

45

Pakistan

61.6

46

Peru

53.5

47

Algeria

53.3

48

Exxon

57.6

49

Czech Republic

50.8

50

New Zealand

51

Bangladesh

47.1

52

United Arab
Emirates

46.5

53

General Motors

46.2

54

Hungary

45.6

55

Ford Motor

45.1

56

Mitsubishi

44.3

57

Mitsui

41.3

58

Nigeria

41.1

59

Citigroup

39.1

60

Itachu

38.4

50

In poor countries child labor is

widespread. Some 212 million children of
ages 5-14 are working instead of going to
school.
These young
girls work 12
hours a day, 6
days a week,
earning $2-3 per
week.

Most child labor

involves
high energy work.

Outsourcing is increasing.
In 2003, the U.S. lost 234,000 information
technology jobs. An estimated 14 million more
jobs may move overseas. But the U.S. loss is a
gain for India, China, Ireland, Korea and other
nations

Narayana Murthy (right) and his

Infosys Information Technology
complex in Bangalore, India.

Manufacturing and capital flows to

the areas of the world where they
can make the most profits.
Strong labor unions
High wages
Environment
protection laws and
Unstable
governments
all tend to keep
businesses and
investment away.

The speed of globalization results in more pollution

and global warming caused by
over-cutting forests.
burning fossil fuels.
producing more industrial and consumer waste.

Growing threats to the

environment affect all people

Global
warming lead
to major
floods.

Lots of people question

globalization.
Globalization
is forcing my
child to work.

.
Free trade
is destroying
us farmers.

Hollywood
is ruining
our
children.
Development
is destroying
our rain forest.
Industrial
countries are
leaving us out
of Globalization.

We have 50
million people
living in poverty.

Some people
believe that
globalization is
cultural
imperialism.
Can you interpret how
this cartoon depicts the
idea of cultural
imperialism?

Globalization involves
paradoxes.

You mean its

Profitable industry but widening not good for
gap between rich and poor?
everyone?
Lots of cultural pluralism but
people becoming homogenized?
Increasing interdependence but
small communities banding more
tightly together?
Huge wealth in industrialized
nations but great poverty in other
countries?

People respond to globalization

differently.
Some wholeheartedly
embrace it.
Some seek to maintain
their traditions in the face
of perceived threats.
Some fight for more
economic fairness.
Some turn to religion.
Some violently oppose it.
Some try to manage it for
the greater human good.

A house in Figuig, an oasis

in Morocco on the edge of the
Sahara Desert. This family
reaches out to the world through
its satellite dish.

Terrorism has ushered in a new

global threat.
Modern military strategies
and weapons are often
ineffective against suicide
attacks.
Terrorists communicate and
spread their ideologies using
cell phones and the Internet.
Terrorist groups may have
cells in many nations.

In 2002, the United States

government adopted policies of
massive military intervention as part
of a war on terror.
2002 U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan to topple the
government of the Taliban, which was cooperating with
international terrorists.
2003 U.S. forces invaded Iraq to overthrow the government
of Saddam Hussein. The U.S. accused him of supporting
terrorism.

Are we entering a new era of

international relations?

In this new era will the U.S. act as

democratic leader, the supreme world
power, as an empire?
owns about one fourth of
the worlds wealth.
working to create
democratic institutions in
Afghanistan, Iraq, and other
countries.
has military force equal to
the next 20 countries
combined.
striving to be a model of
democracy for the world.
maintains 725 military
bases, valued at $118 billion,
with 254,000 military
personnel in 153 nations.

Do these
factors help us
answer the
question?

Your decisions and actions will

help shape the future.
Will we cooperate to
fight terrorism and
work to ensure that
all people live in
dignity? How these
issues turn out is
really up to us.

One person can make a

difference.

Big Era
Nine ends
here, but
its not
over yet!