The Human Web: A Bird's-Eye View of World History

Part 8 thematically highlights the interplay between cooperation and competition in The Development and Impact of Globalization. This interplay most clearly emerges in the authors’ explanation of the causes and impacts of World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. As Germany began to outpace its neighbors in urbanization and industrialization, competition stimulated an alliance between Britain and France. Nationalist ideologies and autarkic policies in the aftermath of World War I “shattered the world economy” (292), but tariff wars, enhanced communication and travel capacities, military migrations, closer interaction between war allies, and new international institutions helped integrate the global community. Likewise, World War II forged alliances between the Allied Powers on one side and the Axis Powers on the other while birthing institutions to foster international cooperation. The authors conclude that “the Cold War, while on the surface an affair of relentless competition, furthered cooperation and integration, mostly on the American side, but also within the Soviet bloc and even between the two blocs” (305).

By showing how geopolitical conflicts tightened the cosmopolitan web, the authors illuminate how various factors converged to shift balances of power within the human web. Like Part 7, Part 8 highlights how the acquisition of wealth profoundly impacts where the center of power lies. For example, Henry Ford revolutionized mass production by introducing the moving assembly line. While the intention was to enhance profit through faster production, this development also made the US a great war power because it could produce military equipment more rapidly than its enemies. This mode of production, alongside the US’s transition to an oil-based economy, enabled it to emerge as the world superpower after World War II. This new influence meant that its allies followed suit by developing postwar domestic economic policies that encouraged greater cooperation between industry and government. The authors liken this new “alliance between cabinet and boardroom” (300) to the earlier “alliance between throne and altar” (299). This comparison highlights the increased power of capitalism as a guiding force in the global order.

The reign of capitalism, then, also explains contemporary responses to environmental issues:

The competitive international system impels states to maximize their wealth and power in the short run, assigning low priority to other concerns. Economic systems, whether capitalist or Communist, encouraged similar attitudes and conduct. The impetus for effective response to environmental ills came mainly from citizen agitation [...] But few people desired the sacrifices that seemed necessary to check carbon dioxide emissions or fertilizer runoff. The general approach in the twentieth century was to make the most of resources, harness nature to the utmost, sacrifice ecological buffers and tomorrow’s resilience if need be, and hope for the best (287-88).

While the authors also implicate Communist economic systems in the unprecedented environmental impact, they suggest that capitalism and the power it confers to certain stronger nation-states ultimately created the modern world and its environmental problems. Whereas the Industrial Revolution was marked by “long-term investment in bonds, railroads, or factories” (312) that gave Britain greater power and encouraged other weaker countries to follow suit in industrializing their economies, capital flows after 1980 became increasingly short-term and restless. By noting that small and medium-sized countries had to “conform to the wishes of mobile capital” (312), the authors show that capitalism, in effect, has dictated government policy in weaker nation-states.

Moreover, the authors’ attention to people’s desire for comfort at the expense of the environment supports their suggestion in the Introduction and Part 3 that people think the collective benefits of participation in the web outweigh its negative consequences. The authors identify some of the comforts that people are reluctant to sacrifice, particularly automobiles, commercial aviation, and enhanced telecommunications. Thus, Part 6 draws attention to The Role of Technology and Environment in Shaping Human Societies.