Chapter 20 The Global Community

Climate Change The topic of climate change has recently become a major point of discussion Al Gore has written books and produced movies on the issue of global warming which insists that the actions of humanity are causing the earth to become warmer

Free Trade Areas To increase trade, free trade areas exist in many regions Some areas have developed a single market which allows states to trade with one another without restriction The European Union is an economical and political alliance of nearly 30 European countries Many of the members have made the euro their common currency

Single Market Other regions have followed Europe’s lead. The Central American Common Market was formed in the 1960’s to encourage trade Some West African states formed the West African Economic and Monetary Union which uses the CFA franc

Stem Cell Research Supporters of this research often use embryonic stem cells for research Opponents of this form of research encourage the use of adult stem cells instead

Rise of Terrorist States Saddam Hussein was the leader of Iraq and massacred hundreds of thousands of his own people His actions caused the US to send troops over two separate times Afghanistan came under the control of the Taliban which was protecting Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network, al Qaeda

Growth of Islam The Wahhabist movement has spread in Middle Eastern countries and is responsible for spreading terrorism They also encourage the building of madrassas, Muslim religious schools that teach fundamentalism

Spread of Christianity Christianity is spreading the quickest in an area known as the global south, made up of Latin America, India, China and Africa With the spread of Christianity, persecution has also increased Wang Mingdao, a Chinese Christian spent nearly 25 years in prison for his beliefs and teaching