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In the 17th Century, trade globalization was a way for powerful nations to spread their sphere of influence and explore other countries under the banner of "economics." The Dutch East India Company was the first multi-national company to offer stocks in 1602, and was granted a 21-year monopoly to deal with trade between the Netherlands and Asia. The Netherlands held considerable water power back then, with massive fleets of ships. This setup ensured that the powerful European influences would be sailed around the world and financed by other European nations to obtain Japanese copper and Chinese spices and textiles. However, global issues arose as ships were attacked en route and the need to protect trade interests began to play a major part in the exportation of ideas and government leaders. The Dutch found themselves up against expanding British and French powers which sought to cut out the "middle man" and make their own international trade deals. In the end, the Dutch East India Company wound up in shambles due to corruption, but other European powers stepped in to take their place.
The last twenty years have shown a large increase in globalization trade, which was expedited by the decline of communism and closed door trade strategy. Countries like China and Russia have welcomed foreign developers in an effort to bolster and rebuild their nations. The Soviet Union was in a state of disrepair at one time and China was overwhelmed with poverty, but thanks to financial globalization, their countries are now valuable players in the world market.
Since World War II, some economists dub this era "a new globalization." The emergence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Bank, as well as the signing of trade protecting treaties like NAFTA characterizes the development of globalization in the 21st Century. Politicians and businesses recognize the dangers of isolationism and are willing to pay in manpower and armed forces for protectionism. This concept is perhaps most visible in the cases of Kuwait, which led to the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s, and the War in Iraq in the 2000s. Global issues, like the need to protect oil bases in the Middle East, has cost billions of federal dollars and has resulted in many profitable security contracts for American-based companies.
Global issues threaten local markets, labor conditions and third world prosperity. In some cases, brutal dictatorships are supported because of the stability they represent for multinational corporations. However, the World Bank details some of the positive influences of globalization as well. They report that poverty rates in global nations like China have decreased by as much as 50%, while isolationist nations like Sub-Saharan Africa remain stagnant. Feminism and job security has improved in places like Bangladesh, literacy went from 59% to 80% from 1970 to 2000 and children in the workforce has dropped from 24% to 10% over the last forty years. A growing population has access to clean water, medicine and technology, and over the past century, universal suffrage went from 0 to 62.5%.
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