Territorial Dynamics, Cooperation and Tensions in a Globalized World

Vocabulary flashcards covering the definitions, key regions, economic actors, and global flows associated with the process of globalization.

Globalization

The process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchanges, based on information technology and high-speed transport networks.

Economic globalization

A historical process referring to the increasing integration of economies around the world through the movement of goods, services, capital, labor, and knowledge across borders.

The Triad

The three regions at the heart of globalization: the USA (and North America), Western Europe, and Japan, which monopolize more than $70\%$ of world trade and $80\%$ of FDI.

World archipelago

A network composed of transport hubs and metropolises highly connected by networks that enjoy a high level of human development, primarily located within the Triad center.

FDI (Foreign Direct Investment)

Investments made by a company or individual in one country into business interests in another country; the Triad countries monopolize $80\%$ of these flows.

USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement)

A free trade zone agreement between the USA, Canada, and Mexico that replaced NAFTA in $2020$.

ASEAN Plus Three (APT)

A regional cooperation area including the Association of South-east Asian Nations plus China, Japan, and South Korea.

NICs (Newly Industrialized Countries)

Countries with a growing industrial economy and developing trade status, often serving as manufacturing centers for MNCs, such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.

The Four Asian Dragons

Specific Newly Industrialized Countries in Asia consisting of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong-Kong (coastal China), and Singapore.

BRICS

An acronym for the main emerging economies and regional powers: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

LEDCs (Less or Least Economic Developed Countries)

A group of $50$ countries characterized by very low income, low education, poor medical conditions, very low HDI, political instability, and heavy debt.

Poverty headcount ratio

The proportion of the population living below the poverty line, which the World Bank currently sets at $\$1.25$ per day.

ODA (Official Development Assistance)

Financial flows along with FDI that represent nearly $\$1\,\text{trillion US dollars}$ in global financial exchanges.

Internally displaced persons

Individuals who have been forced to flee their homes but remain within their country's borders, totaling $27.5\,\text{million}$ in $2010$.

Diaspora

The movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland, such as the over $50\,\text{million}$ overseas Chinese.

Remittances

Financial flows sent by migrants back to their home countries, which increased from $\text{USD}\,132\,\text{billion}$ in $2000$ to an estimated $\text{USD}\,440\,\text{billion}$ in $2010$.

Global village

A concept describing how easy access to news and new media has given the impression that everyone is continually informed of global events.

Liberalism

The economic concept that governments should not control prices, rents, or wages, but instead let open competition and market forces create equilibrium.

Containerization

A shift in transportation involving the use of standard-sized containers that accounts for faster, safer, and cheaper transport of goods.

Multimodal transportation

The rise of transportation modes that utilize multiple methods of transport to move goods efficiently across the globe.

Outsourcing

The relocation of business activities or industrial operations from Northern countries to Southern manufacturing centers to benefit from lower labor costs or tax breaks.

EPZ (Export Processing Zones)

Duty-free areas where local people assemble products from imported components to produce finished goods for re-export.

Maquiladoras

Manufacturing centers and export processing zones created in LEDCs or NICs that benefit from relocation and trade incentives.

MNCs (Multinational Companies)

Large businesses with operations in multiple countries, which have grown in number from $6,000$ in the $1960s$ to more than $60,000$ at the start of the millennium.

NGOs (Non-governmental organizations)

Non-profit groups independent of governments that address issues such as human rights, environment, and health; examples include Amnesty International and Greenpeace.

World Social Forum

An anti-globalization meeting place for organizations and individuals opposed to Neo-liberalism, famously held in Porto Alegre, Brazil since $2001$.