HIST103 Study Guide

Unit 14: The Contemporary World and Ongoing Challenges

14a. Discuss changes to the global economy and the consequences of those changes

  • How did the global economy change during and after the Cold War?
  • What were the Japanese and Korean miracles, and why are they important?
  • How did globalization lead to economic disparity between the developed and developing worlds?
  • What is outsourcing, and what is its impact?
  • What is the global south, and how did it develop?
  • How did China become so powerful?
  • Why are India and Vietnam important economies today?

Several key organizations and international trade agreements were created to help preserve a peaceful world order after World War II. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1946. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed in 1947 and became the World Trade Organization in 1995. 

Reductions in trade barriers and advances in computers, communications technologies (including the Internet in 1983), and transportation improved interconnectivity among nations and led to dramatic economic growth for multinational corporations such as Amazon, Apple, Aldi, Costco, Ikea, Microsoft, Samsung, and Toyota.

In 1957, the countries of Europe created the European Economic Community, or Common Market, which eventually evolved into the 15-member European Union in 1993 to promote the free movement of goods, services, money, and people. Despite the United Kingdom's amicable exit in 2016 (Brexit), the EU includes 27 member states in 2024 and uses its own currency, the euro. 

Following the successful Japanese industrialization model, the rapid economic growth among the Asian Tigers (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea) seemed especially dramatic to those in the Western world. The destruction of World War II prompted Japan to build new factories from the ground up, using the latest technologies to produce high-quality cars, electronics, and consumer goods. Japan is one of the most powerful nations in the world. Mega corporations, such as Samsung and LG, have pushed South Korea to be the 13th largest economy in the world. Today, the K-pop industry dominates global music. As we learned in Unit 13, China has also become an economic powerhouse.

However, globalization and outsourcing have also provoked a nationalistic and xenophobic backlash in many countries, including the United States. Many U.S. and European companies have offshored some of their operations to countries in Asia and Central America, where labor is much cheaper. Many workers in the United States and Europe have lost jobs due to free trade when others can compete with open borders. Meanwhile, globalization has outraged consumers who see the same poor, unsafe, and unfair working conditions proliferate in some countries that existed in Europe and the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. 

To review, see:


14b. Describe what climate change means, how humans are affecting it, and what its effects will be

  • What is climate change?
  • How are humans impacting climate change?
  • What implications does climate change have?
  • What measures are being taken to address climate change?

Climate change refers to changes in weather patterns, temperatures, and environmental conditions due to the increased use of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that have warmed the planet, reduced air quality, and decreased access to clean water. Industrial waste, fertilizers and pesticides, and the increased use of non-biodegradable plastics and single-use consumer goods have led to widespread pollution and litter that clog waterways, contaminate streams and oceans, and poison wildlife.

In 1962, Rachel Carson sparked the Green Revolution when she published Silent Spring, a best-selling book that connected the politically powerful chemical industry with the proliferation of dangerous pesticides like DDT and other chemicals that contaminate our ecosystem, food supply, and human bodies. 

The nuclear power disaster in Chornobyl in the Soviet Union in 1986 offered a cautionary tale to countries that do not take proper safety precautions. Higher temperatures have led to drought conditions, while rising sea levels and extreme weather events (hurricanes, heat waves, and forest fires) have made other places unlivable and forced people to flee their homes as climate refugees.

Many governments and corporations have found it politically expedient to adopt policies of environmentalism that promote sustainability to curb the impact of climate change and counteract the rise in greenhouse gasses. 

To review, see Debates on the Environment and Global Climate Change.


14c. Analyze ways in which technology has impacted 21st-century issues, both positively and negatively

  • How is science and technology advancing in the 21st century?
  • What are the positive and negative impacts of advances in technology?

Since the Digital Computer Revolution began during the 1940s and 1950s, advances in computer science have allowed for the rapid development of new technologies that have promoted global interconnectivity and trade.

These advanced technologies have enriched our lives, extended the human lifespan with new vaccines and medical treatments, and created innovative telecommunications networks like the Internet and social media. Unfortunately, many of these advances – which require financial support, specialization, and time – have deepened the digital divide between lower-income and wealthier communities in addition to developing and more economically developed nations.

However, as in the case of post-World War II Japan, many developing countries have younger populations that may be able to leapfrog others when they deploy the latest innovations from scratch, such as WIFI and wireless technologies, without having to spend money to upgrade older, less efficient systems.

To review, see:


14d. Describe 21st-century geopolitical challenges and crises and what possible effect they might have on the global order

  • What is the global refugee crisis?
  • What challenges do Syrian refugees face?
  • How might the War in Ukraine impact the global order?
  • How do you think colonialism and other political dynamics we have studied in this course may have caused or exacerbated these global conflicts?

We have seen several recent threats to global peace and security. Hotspots include the continued conflict in the Middle East (such as in Israel and Palestine); the rise of militant groups (such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State or ISIL) in Iraq and Syria; conflicts in Ethiopia, Sudan, and other parts of Africa; war between government and drug cartels in Latin and South America; and, the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine. Refugees continue to flee these war-ravaged parts of the world in search of economic opportunities in Europe and the United States. However, this influx continues to provoke radical nationalist and xenophobic groups to action worldwide.

In Syria, the population rose up to protest the totalitarian rule of Bashar al-Assad (1965– ) – this regime was not only brutally oppressive, but it did not represent the interests of the majority Sunni Muslim community. Although their circumstances differ, Libya and Yemen are embroiled in civil wars that have devastated their populations and have involved similar external entanglements. The war between Russia and Ukraine has unleashed political and economic forces that will reverberate for a long time and what it means to the global community.

Refugees are often forced to live in tent cities that lack access to proper food, medicine, clean water, and sanitation facilities. These holding camps are dangerous and subject to human and sex trafficking. Balancing humanitarian concerns and the human rights of refugees has exacerbated the housing crises we see in many countries in the developed and developing world.

To review, see:


Unit 14 Vocabulary

  • Al Qaeda
  • Asian Tigers
  • Bahar Al-Assad
  • Bretton Woods Conference
  • Brexit
  • Chornobyl
  • climate change
  • climate refugee
  • Digital Computer Revolution
  • drug cartels
  • European Common Market
  • European Economic Community
  • European Union
  • extreme weather event
  • fossil fuels
  • General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
  • globalization
  • greenhouse gas
  • human rights
  • humanitarian concerns
  • International Monetary Fund
  • Islamic State (ISIL)
  • Middle East
  • multinational corporations
  • nationalism
  • non-biodegradable plastics
  • outsourcing
  • Rachel Carson
  • refugees
  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine
  • Silent Spring
  • trade barriers
  • Western Bloc
  • Winston Churchill
  • World Bank
  • World Trade Organization
  • xenophobia
  • Zionist movement