The State of the New World Order With cross border travel & trade, transnational capital investment & the internet national boundaries are losing importance as are national governments Yet states not provinces or regions maintain armed forces and enter into multinational military alliances. Perhaps a multi-polar world will emerge with 5-6 clusters of regions with a dominant power.

Globalization Expansion of economic, social and cultural interactions Financial & trade links tie people together (US has never bombed a country with a McDonalds) Multinational corporations in transnational legal & political environment have taken major roles – Hollywood films worldwide – Italian fashions in Japan – Mexican soap operas in Russia – Southern Mexican activists used internet to gain world-wide support – Spice Girls were popular in Africa & Australia

Notions of Democracy June, 1989 Democracy Movement in Tiananmen Square led to a massacre 1997 British finally democratized Hong Kong before turning it over to the People ’ s Republic of China with the end of apartheid, the first universal elections in South Africa. However, some African ruling elites see no contradiction in a one-party democracy

Growing Influence of Religion Ironically in an era of science & secularism-millions of people are turning to religion Religious fundamentalism on the rise in areas of oppression & where prospects of democracy are dim. Shiite fundamentalists led to the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979 Algeria-Islamic fundamentalists ready to gain majority in 1992 so govt. canceled elections-violence erupted.

Redrawing the Map Problem-the antiquated state boundary network. Supranationalism & devolution are symptoms of this problem. Rapid decolonization after World War II and the collapse of Communism in the late 80s & 1990s drastically changed the boundaries. A critical issue is the diffusion of nuclear weapons

The Domino Theory The domino theory holds that destabilization from any cause in one country can result in the collapse of order in a neighboring country-a chain of events that can affect a whole region. Indochina War ( ) US backed South Vietnam in a struggle against communist North Vietnam-war expanded into Laos & Cambodia-US feared it would lead to communist expansion in Thailand, Malaysia, Burma & so on-didn ’ t happen. Yet domino theory has validity-in 1989 the fall of communism followed the domino effect, instability in Yugoslavia followed the same pattern-other examples religious extremism, economic and environmental causes can cause spreading havoc.

Multinational State – A state with more than one nation. Slobadan Milosevic, leader of Serbia launched 4 Balkan Wars that killed 250,000 & left 2.5 million homeless The Former Yugoslavia

Multistate Nation – A nation with more than one state. Transylvania – homeland for both Romanians and Hungarians.

Two Waves of Decolonization First wave – focused on decolonization of the Americas Second wave – focused on decolonization of Africa and Asia