Globalization (1991–present)
What you must know
Since 1991 globalization has accelerated through four channels: trade, capital, labor and information. Trade liberalization - the WTO, NAFTA, the EU's single market - plus containerization and just-in-time supply chains fragmented production across borders, so a single good may be designed, componentized, assembled and sold in different countries. Capital flows through the IMF, World Bank, foreign direct investment and multinational corporations, with structural adjustment conditions provoking backlash. Labor migrates and remits money home; refugees flee conflict and climate pressure. The internet and mobile telephony compressed information costs and enabled outsourcing, e-commerce and financialization. Growth in East Asia - Japan, the Asian Tigers, then China after 1978, later the BRICS - shifted the global balance, while many commodity exporters experienced volatile booms. Supranational governance expanded through the UN system, the EU, the ICC and climate agreements from Kyoto to Paris, though enforcement remains weak. Critics point to widening inequality within countries, labor and environmental standards, cultural homogenization and financial contagion; supporters point to poverty reduction and technology diffusion. Politics has responded with populism, trade tension, Brexit and debates over migration, while COVID-19 exposed dependence on fragile global supply chains.
Traps
Do not treat globalization as only economic - cultural and political dimensions often carry the question. The UN is intergovernmental; NGOs are not states. Globalization did not begin in 1991; only its pace and form changed. And be careful with inequality claims: between-country inequality has often fallen while within-country inequality has often risen.
Worked example
Before judging an impact, name the channel (trade, capital, labor, information) and the level of analysis (global, national, local). A factory job may raise national income while displacing a local craft - both are answers to different questions.