Chapter Twelve Global Connections, Local Voices

Eyes Opened The events of Tuesday, September 11 th, 2001, often referred to as 9/11, made us all more sensitive of the world we live in – one of increasing global connections and of responding local voices.

Global Connections: Trends The events in New York and Washington D.C. came at a time when the idea of globalization was subject to vocal and sometimes hostile demonstrations, as at the 2000 World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in Seattle and at the 2001 meeting of the G8 (the world’s eight most powerful countries) in Genoa, Italy.

Global Connections: Trends (cont’d) A Case to Be Answered Many of the problems that motivate the highly visible and well-reported groups that oppose globalization focus on the increasing international integration of trade and financial flows. More expansive talk of cultural or political globalization rests on less evidence, but is often more successful in raising emotions.

Global Connections: Trends (cont’d) Unfair Trading Trading Advantages Export Pessimism Income Gaps Widen Unemployment in Wealthier Counties Profits Before People

Global Connections: Trends (cont’d) Reducing Democracy Reducing the Powers of Country Governments Survival of Nation-States

Global Connections: Trends (cont’d) Foreign Investment and Debt “Washington Consensus” Types of Foreign Investment World Trade Organization Reorientation or Revolution? What About the People?

Global Focus: Geography of Terrorism What Is Terrorism? Terrorism, Global Connections, and Local Voices Phase 1: Revolutionary Terrorists, 1800s and Early 1900s Phase 2: Colonial Freedom Fighters, Approximately 1920s to 1960s

Global Focus: Geography of Terrorism Phase 3: International Terrorism by Groups and Countries: Common Training, Airplane Hijackings, and Hostages, Approximately 1950s to 1980s. Phase 4: Political to Religious Purposes, 1980s and Beyond Conclusion

Somalia: Globalization, Localization, and Terrorism Hopes of Political Security Dashed Regional Pressures Economic Collapse Impacts of the 2001 War on Terrorism

World Regional Geography: Final Point World regional geography is always relevant and always changing. The ideas and principles studied in this course should help you to assess world and local events in a context that makes them easier to understand. Of course, our world is not just a changing one, but a very complex set of human and natural environmental processes interacting with each other. Fifty years ago it was still possible to study a local region or country with little reference to its surroundings, but in the 2000s the wider world regional and global interconnections are increasingly relevant for us all.