State and globalisation

Monoculture (3)

• The current top 10 most successful food chains are American (McD, Starbucks, Subway) with McDonalds generating over $48bn in global sales

• There are over 45,000 McDonalds restaurants globally with around 150,000 staff

• The 50 most profitable films of all time have all been made in Hollywood and by far the best-selling album of all time is still Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982).

Global marketplace (economic globalisation) (5)

• Although Netflix is an American company it does not, of course, stream only American films. One of its most popular successes has been the British royal family drama The Crown, and it provides a huge number of foreign language films with access to a global market.

• In 2020, the South Korean film Parasite became the first foreign language film to win the best picture award at the Oscars.

• In 2021, the South Korean TV show Squid Game became Netflix's biggest debut ever. In just four weeks it gained 111 million viewers in over 80 countries.

• Real Madrid and Manchester United are two of the most popular sports teams in the world.

• One of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the world is Nando's, a South African company with Portuguese/Mozambique influences - in 1992 it had one branch in the UK, but now there are over 470

Glocalisation (2)

• Famous brands such as McDonald's have adapted to local conditions, serving lobster burgers in Canada and vegetarian burgers to the Hindu market in India.

• The way in which British television programmes like The Inbetweeners, The Office and House of Cards have been adapted for American audiences is a further example of glocalisation.

Rise of identity politics (5)

• In Hungary, Viktor Orbán has generated huge appeal by emphasising the country's Christian heritage as a frontier state resisting Muslim advance.

  • BUT Following Magyar’s landslide victory in the April 2026 elections, the newly sworn-in TISZA Party government is actively dismantling the previous administration’s illiberal constitutional system and attempting to restore democratic norms

• In France, Marine Le Pen and the National Rally claim to represent France's unique cultural identity.

• In the UK, the 2016 vote to leave the European Union and Boris Johnson's decisive victory in the 2019 General Election on a pledge 'to get Brexit done' suggests that many voters saw European integration as a threat to their traditional way of life.

• In the US, the popularity of Donald Trump among large swathes of the American population has been due to his forthright 'America first' policies and his claim to be protecting America's heritage from external and internal threats.

• Turkish President Erdoğan appeals to Turkey's Islamic culture and in 2020 he made the controversial decision to turn Istanbul's Hagia Sophia from a museum back into a mosque.

Evidence that globalisation combats poverty (5)

• Global life expectancy has increased in every continent

  • + 20 years in Africa and Asia and doubled since 1950 by 2025 (globally +60%)

• Significant access through liberal trade in developed nations and regions (African Nations and commodities exports: Guinea = $1.54bn in Gold / Nigeria = $39.1bn in Mineral fuels

• Globally number of people living in absolute poverty has fallen from 1.9bn (1980) to 800mn (2025 estimate)

• China has seen 500mn people 'climb out' of extreme poverty since 1980

• South Korea has also seen strong post-war growth and is currently the fifth largest exporter, specialising in cars, computers and telecommunications equipment. Its brands have global recognition (Hyundai, Samsung, Kia and LG).

Evidence that globalisation entrenches poverty (4)

• Both China and the US have high Gini coefficient scores, of .35 and .41 respectively as of 2025.

• In China, it is estimated that the poorest 25% owns just 1% of the wealth, while the richest 1% owns over 30% of the nation’s wealth.

• This increasing inequality actually impedes economic growth as economic trade liberalism often favours low spending on necessary infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals

• Globalisation has also led to a ‘race to the bottom’. IThis was most clearly illustrated in Bangladesh when the Rana Plaza garment factory (where brands such as Primark, Benetton and Mango source clothes) collapsed, leading to the deaths of 1,129 employees. Human Rights Watch has also highlighted how Chinese mining firms in Africa are guilty of human rights abuses

Cultural Americanisation > globalisation (2)

• There are 1.7 billion servings of a Coca-Cola product every day around the world.

• US principles of liberal democracy were hugely influential in leading to the collapse of communist power in Russia and eastern Europe.

cultural globalisation > Americanisation (5)

• The internet has provided new opportunities to challenge the USA’s cultural outreach. It provides a level playing field on which the USA now competes equally with other nation-states.

• The most popular global sports are Association Football (3.5 billion fans) and cricket (2.5 billion fans).

• British values have a global appeal through the worldwide popularity of television programmes Downton Abbey, Sherlock and the Harry Potter books and movies.

• Rival news channels such as the BBC, RT and Al Jazeera challenge the influence of CNN.

• The USA’s global popularity is changing. From October 2024 (global average 60%) to April 2025 (global average 46%). The antagonistic trade policies of Donald Trump have arguably exacerbated these figures.

Economic Americanisation or globalisation (3,1)

• All 10 of the most admired companies 2026 are American (Apple holds the number one spot on Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies list for 2026, a position it has maintained for 19 consecutive years) Microsoft, Amazon

• The US is the world’s dominant economy, with a 26% share of global GDP (in 2025). The free-trade principles that have dominated the global economy since the Cold War are firmly rooted in the principles of the Washington Consensus.

• The World Bank, IMF and WTO have advanced the interests of the Washington Consensus, and the US has the power to veto changes in the World Bank and IMF.

• As a result of economic globalisation, China has become the biggest global investor in other countries. The establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is designed to challenge the dominance of the World Bank

Political Americanisation of globalisation (1,1)

• US global troop deployments are unparalleled, further extending US interests and ideals. Some 160,000 US troops are stationed throughout the world, including 52,000 in Japan, almost 35,000 in Germany and 23,700 in South Korea.

• The carnage resulting from the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay has undermined US global influence and legitimacy

Global north and south divide

• The North, with roughly one-quarter of the global population, controls approximately four-fifths of the world's income.

• In 1820 western Europe's per capita income was three times bigger than Africa’s but by 2000 it was thirteen times as big.