Modern Globalization In The Twentieth Century

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Though no single or conclusive definition exists, ‘globalization’ generally pertains to the deepening and broadening of world-wide interconnectedness. Globalization is a far-reaching process which encompasses not only the political and economic but also the socio-cultural. The concept has achieved increased popularity following the Cold War but the actual process of globalization is no recent phenomenon; in the second millennium BCE the Silk Road, for example, allowed Chinese silks to be traded in Ancient Egypt. This essay is focussed on modern globalization and how the process has been altered in the last century. Globalization in the twentieth century is widely accepted to have undergone ups and downs; international financial crises and the …show more content…

With the internet supplying means of instant communication and a pool of shared information, with MNCs distributing the same products across the globe, with more countries actively increasing their global participation, and with more people travelling around the globe, being halfway around the world no longer feels like being half a world away. Whilst there are significant differences, it is important to note that there are many points of similarity between globalization in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Centuries are artificial units of time and so, although periodisation might help to analyse change, the year 2000 should not be regarded a watershed or decisive turning point. For example, even in 2000 Anderson and Cavanagh found that 51 of the 100 largest economies in the world were global corporations, not governments, and the internet was gaining popularity in the 1990s. Twenty-first century globalization means having the world at your fingertips and seeing an unprecedented level of global homogeneity but it is not possible to completely distinguish between the hallmarks of twentieth and twenty-first century

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