Unit 9: Globalization

"The global spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 was a watershed moment. Within weeks, the virus traveled along international aviation routes from Hong Kong to over two dozen countries. Yet, the response also showcased unprecedented international cooperation. The World Health Organization coordinated a global network of laboratories that identified the coronavirus in a matter of weeks, and the outbreak was contained via traditional public health measures—quarantine, isolation, and contact tracing—combined with real-time digital communication. The crisis demonstrated that while the technologies of globalization facilitate the rapid transmission of novel pathogens, they also provide the communication infrastructure necessary to coordinate rapid containment before a global catastrophe occurs."
—Adapted from a historical analysis of global health governance in the twenty-first century.

Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, the global response to the SARS outbreak in 2003 best illustrates which of the following developments in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries?

The following passage is an excerpt from a speech given by French President François Mitterrand at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations in 1993:

"A nation that surrenders its means of self-expression to the laws of the global marketplace is a nation on the path to servitude. What is at stake in these negotiations is the preservation of our cultural identity and the right of every country to protect its own image. If we treat cultural works—films, music, and literature—no differently than industrial commodities like coal or steel, we invite a future of global cultural homogenization."

The arguments in the passage are best understood in the context of which of the following late twentieth-century developments?

“We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small... have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.”

—Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations, 1945

Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, which of the following was a primary objective of the founding of the United Nations?

The growth of the Internet in the late twentieth century enabled the rapid, low-cost transmission of information across the globe. By connecting computers worldwide, this new communication network allowed businesses to manage daily operations, track inventory, and communicate with partners in different countries in real time.

Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, which of the following was a major economic consequence of the rapid spread of the communication technology described?

"The global campaign to eradicate malaria in the mid-to-late twentieth century demonstrated both the power and the limits of modern medical technology. While synthetic insecticides like DDT and new antimalarial drugs initially succeeded in eliminating the disease from temperate and subtropical regions in wealthier nations, these campaigns frequently faltered in tropical areas of sub-Saharan Africa. In these regions, lacking robust public health infrastructure and facing economic constraints, the disease persisted..."

—Adapted from a historical analysis of global health campaigns, 2018.

Based on the passage, which of the following was a primary limitation of twentieth-century medical advances in combating diseases in developing regions?

The passage below is from a declaration distributed by activists during protests at a meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle in 1999:

"We protest the WTO because it puts corporate profits above the health of our communities, the preservation of our environment, and the sovereignty of our local democracies. The policies of unregulated free trade and deregulation enforced by global institutions benefit multinational corporations at the expense of working people and the environment."

Which of the following best explains a primary goal of the protesters described in the passage?

The following is an excerpt from a speech by José Bové, a French sheep farmer and activist, at the Alternative World Summit in Seattle in December 1999:

"When we dismantled the McDonald's under construction in Millau, we did not do it out of vandalism. We did it to protest against the decisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to defend our land, our food, and our way of life. The WTO and the multinational corporations want to impose a single, standardized model of consumption on the entire world. They want to turn food into a mere commodity, disregarding the cultural heritage, local ecosystems, and sovereignty of farmers. Our resistance is not against the American people, but against a global economic system that prioritizes corporate profits over human dignity and cultural diversity."

Which of the following best explains how the actions described in Bové's speech represent a response to late-twentieth-century globalization?

The following passage is an excerpt from an academic study published in 1997 on the social life of fast-food restaurants in East Asia.

"To understand the success of foreign fast-food chains in East Asian cities like Taipei, Seoul, and Beijing, one must look beyond corporate marketing. In these locations, the restaurants do not serve merely as quick, inexpensive refueling stations for busy workers, as they often do in the United States. Instead, they have been adopted as social hubs where teenagers gather for hours to study, and where middle-class parents host elaborate birthday parties to signal their modern, cosmopolitan lifestyle. The menus have likewise adjusted, incorporating local ingredients and flavor profiles to suit regional palates. The local population has actively reshaped the meaning and function of these corporate imports to fit their own social needs."

The social behaviors and consumer choices described in the passage best illustrate which of the following cultural dynamics of globalization in the late twentieth century?

The following passage is an excerpt from a speech delivered by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at a regional summit in 1996:

"We are now witnessing a form of media imperialism where a few transnational corporations, mostly based in the West, control the flow of information and cultural products across the globe. Through satellite television and the internet, they broadcast programs that promote extreme individualism, consumerism, and values that are often at odds with our traditional family structures and social cohesion. If we do not actively protect and promote our own cultural heritage and local media, our younger generations will be socialized into a globalized culture that completely disregards our historical values and identity."

The perspective expressed in the speech is most directly a reaction to which of the following developments in the late twentieth century?

"In many parts of the developing world, the promise of new medical technologies remains unfulfilled. While antiretroviral drugs developed in the late twentieth century have transformed HIV/AIDS from a fatal disease into a manageable chronic condition in wealthy nations, the high cost of these patented medications initially placed them out of reach for the vast majority of patients in sub-Saharan Africa. This disparity highlighted the profound gap between global scientific innovation and the socio-economic infrastructure required to distribute these lifesaving treatments to those most in need."

—Adapted from a report by a global health non-governmental organization, 2001

Which of the following factors best explains the unequal access to medical treatments described in the passage?

Source: Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, speech to the Conservative Party Conference, October 11, 1985.

"We have made it our mission to roll back the frontiers of the state. We have privatized major state-owned industries, returning them to public and private enterprise. By encouraging competition and reducing government intervention, we have revitalized our economy, giving individuals more control over their own lives and decisions."

The economic policies advocated in the passage are most closely aligned with which of the following trends of the late twentieth century?

During the late twentieth century, multinational corporations expanding into new global markets frequently adapted their products to local religious and cultural traditions. For example, fast-food chains in India introduced vegetarian options using local spices, blending global corporate templates with regional tastes.

This development best illustrates which of the following processes?

In 2000, citizens in Cochabamba, Bolivia, launched massive protests after the government sold the city's public water utility to a multinational consortium, which immediately raised water rates. The protesters successfully pressured the government to reverse the privatization and return water services to public control.

Based on the passage, the protests in Cochabamba are best understood as resistance to which of the following processes?

“The introduction of commercial jet aircraft in the late twentieth century did more than just speed up travel; it shrunk geographic distances in a way that transformed how corporations managed their global supply chains. Managers could visit manufacturing plants on another continent with ease, and high-value, time-sensitive cargo could be transported worldwide in less than 24 hours. The resulting network of rapid transport became a physical backbone of the modern global economy.”

Which of the following developments in the late twentieth century was most directly facilitated by the technology described in the passage?

"We, the Heads of State/Government of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand... do hereby declare that... ASEAN shall establish an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) within 15 years... to increase ASEAN’s competitive edge as a production base geared for the world market."

— Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area, 1992

Which of the following developments in the late twentieth century is most directly reflected in the passage?

“By 1964, the new semi-dwarf wheat varieties developed in Mexico were grown on most of the country’s wheat lands. Mexico, which had previously imported half of its wheat, became self-sufficient and even began exporting wheat. These new varieties required intensive use of chemical fertilizers and controlled irrigation to achieve their high yields.”

—Report on agricultural development, late twentieth century

Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, which of the following was a primary characteristic of the Green Revolution's agricultural technologies?

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

— United Nations General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

Which of the following historical developments in the second half of the twentieth century was a direct effort to implement the ideals described in the passage?

Estimated Percentage of Total Deaths by Cause, 2004:

Source: World Health Organization (WHO)

Based on the table and your knowledge of world history, which of the following best explains the difference in deaths from infectious diseases between low-income and high-income countries in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries?

"We have come to recognize that the standard of living of one nation is dependent upon the standard of living of another... We have to see to it that there is a pool of international credit available to help countries over temporary difficulties in their balance of payments, so that they will not be forced to take measures destructive of international trade."

— Henry Morgenthau Jr., United States Secretary of the Treasury, address at the closing session of the Bretton Woods Conference, 1944

The economic goals described in the passage led most directly to the establishment of which of the following twentieth-century institutions?

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report, 1999.

'Today’s globalization is being driven by new markets—foreign exchange and capital markets linked globally, operating 24 hours a day... new tools—Internet links, cellular phones, media networks... new actors—the World Trade Organization (WTO) with authority over national governments, multinational corporations with more economic power than many states... and new rules—multilateral agreements on trade, services and intellectual property.'

The developments described in the passage were most directly supported by which of the following economic trends in the late twentieth century?