The Age of Globalization
Explore the age of globalization — the period from the 1990s onward when trade, technology, and migration created an unprecedentedly interconnected world.
The age of globalization — roughly from the end of the Cold War to the present — represents the most intensive period of global interconnection in human history. The combination of free trade agreements, containerized shipping, digital communications, and the opening of formerly closed economies (China, India, the former Soviet bloc) created a world where goods, money, information, and people flow across borders at unprecedented scale and speed.
The World Trade Organization, established in 1995, provided the institutional framework for trade liberalization. China's entry in 2001 was transformative — its enormous labor force reshaped global manufacturing. The internet and mobile technology connected billions of people, enabling new forms of commerce, communication, and cultural exchange. Global supply chains linked factories in dozens of countries to produce single products.
Globalization's benefits — poverty reduction, consumer choice, technological innovation — have been accompanied by significant costs: deindustrialization in wealthy nations, widening inequality, environmental degradation, cultural homogenization, and vulnerability to cascading crises (the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19). The backlash against globalization has fueled populist movements, trade wars, and calls for economic nationalism. Whether the world will continue integrating or retreat into blocs remains one of the defining questions of the 21st century.
Lessons covering this topic
Browse all lessons →The Global Economy
Free trade, supply chains, and interconnected markets.
The Digital Revolution
From mainframes to smartphones — technology transforms society.
Migration & Diaspora
People on the move — refugees, immigrants, and identity.
Cultural Globalization
Music, film, food, and the tension between global and local.