Chapter 23 Economic Globalization

After reading chapter 23, it came to me that not that many people in the world of the early twenty-first century remain untouched by globalization. With this in mind, globalization has bound various people together and made each and every one of us more alike. We all seek health, wealth, and prosperity that modern science and technology promise, but there's still an enormous gap in wealth between the rich countries of the global north and south. All of this is due to the recent rift in human community. Globalization has changed a lot of things around the world, some for good and some for bad.

Chapter 22 (Islam)

I thought the reading on chapter 22 (on Islam) was very interesting. Ali was against the fact that women had unequal rights. She moved to different countries and traveled to see that women in her religion were being treated unequally. This is why she began to disagree with the views and beliefs on women and their rights from her religion. I don't agree with the rights and views people have in Islam over women either. She then went to express her feelings over her religion on a letter saying that she wished she could change some of her family members views to see how bad women are being treated and aren't having the equality they should have. This makes me think so much how over the years women have been fighting and getting more equality for their own rights and for a change to do what they are believed they can't do.

Chapter 22 (The global south on the global stage)

After reading this chapter, I realized how much Europe had ruled or controlled. They basically took over Africa and some of Asia. It wasn't till the middle and late 1990s that these two decided that they had enough of European control. Africa was finally able to get independence. Nelson Mandela was one of the most influential people in Africa. He was put in prison for trying to speak up for his people and their rights. The government didn't like his message, so he was prisoned for more than 27 years. When he finally got out, he concluded his speech as a free person. Soon he became the first black African president, and tried to get his message to other countries that were being controlled by European powers. The 1990s were a time where every 10 years something was going on around the world. From wars, to natural disaster, to countries taking over other countries, to changes that changed history, etc. I believe Mandela was a very honest and strong person to go to prison for so long but never lose hope for his dream and views on his country and be able to push for those rights once he came out of prison to change history in South Africa and gain independence after being ruled for so long by European powers.

Chapter 21 (Communism)

The modern world found its political and philosophical roots in the 19th century, which was inspired by the teachings of Karl Marx. By the 1970s, most of the world's population lived in societies governed by communism regimes. World War II sparked and extended communism among many countries. In the aftermath of the WWII, many communist parties played various roles in European countries. Revolutionary communist movements began and even threatened to establish governments in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bolivia, Peru, and elsewhere. 

Additionally, during the cold war, the Warsaw Pact brought the Soviet Union and Eastern European communists States together in a military alliance. This alliance was designed to counter the threat from the Western capitalist countries of the NATO alliance. Communism was something that changed many countries and began many revolutions. China and Russia were two countries that upheld revolutions that changed a lot of the first half of the century. 

Chapter 20 (2 world wars)

The two world wars changed human kind in many ways. Many people during the twentieth century tried to over take countries or even attempted to exterminate a group of people. For example, Hitler tried to exterminate the Jews in the Holocaust. This was one of the worst things marked in history that happened. During this time, many countries were scared to be attacked and lose. The U.S. was one of the countries that began to test and develop bombs that would demolish anything for miles. They successfully dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese cities. This was another change in history, because not only did this kill off a whole city, but it made it unlivable after due to the radiation it spread. The early twentieth century and the two world wars were times where it must have felt like hell. So many countries and leaders were coming up with ideas to end one another, and the U.S. was the one who basically stopped everything due to its development of such a strong bomb. I'm glad I wasn't part of such a terrifying time, but a time where all the nations come together now and make decisions for everyone's good.

Changing China (Ch.19)

During the 1800s-1900s China was becoming a semi colonial society, and foreign powers stepped up their aggression against China. This conflict marked the beginning of what Chinese still describe as a "century of humiliation". During this time, China wasn't just dealing with Europe, their population was growing and they didn't produce enough for its people. With China having a big population, they lacked crops, which led to starvation. All these factors led to rebellions and China having more pressure.
During the revolution, something that really caught my attention was the women that fought with the soldiers. This was something never heard of or seen before, so it was something that changed many views for people during that time. China went through many negative factors during the 1800s-1900s, which makes sense why they described this time as a "century of humiliation".

Scramble for Africa

One hundred years later, after Britain had lost its 13 colonies in America, Spain and Portugal had lost most of South America, a second wave of colonization took place. From 1880-1900, every corner or place of the earth was claimed by one or other European power. Africa saw the most dramatic colonization during this time. It was called the "scramble for Africa" because of how Africa was divided up like a cake split between european leaders. European nations saw Africa as ripe for the taking. They began to export civilization to a continent which they regarded as undeveloped. This colonization was in reality driven by commercial interests, since Europe would benefit enormously from its exploitation of Africa.