Globalisation Timeline 1940 - 2011

Traditional symbol of infinity, origins and destinations
from the Gazelle Peninsular, Papua New Guinea.

1 9 4 0 

• FCC  rules  limit  media  ownership  concentration  in  radio  and  TV - Historical Perspective, Sequels, Disputes and on going Discussions

1 9 4 4 

• Bretton  Woods  Agreements  create  World  Bank  and  Monetary  Fund  General Agreement  on  Tariffs  and  Trade  (GATT)  established  to  negotiate  rules  for trade  in  goods - Roots of WTO

1 9 4 5 

• United  Nations  Charter  signed
• Dismantling of colonial empires creates independent  states in Asia and Africa and neocolonial economic relationships 

1 9 4 7

• Cold  War  begins  pitting  capitalism  against  communism 

1 9 4 8 

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafted 
• World Council of Churches founded

1 9 5 8 

• UN Conference on the Law of the Sea discusses resource  exploitation of outer continental shelf - UN Convention on Laws of the Sea

1 9 7 1 

• Computer chip invented

1 9 7 0 s   

• Global  Assembly  lines  (enabled  by  dramatically  expanded  communications due  to  computers),  largely  using  women’s  labor,  increasingly  dominate patterns  of  production  of  clothing  and  manufactured  goods
• Surplus petrodollars fuel wise and unwise  spending/borrowing spree in developing countries

1 9 7 5 

• Advances in computers, fiber optics, satellites, and  miniaturized  electronics radically alter production and distribution of goods and  services and patterns of global investment

1 9 8 0 

• Reagan and Thatcher usher in fundamentalist free market  government and free market global economic strategies 
• President Reagan breaks the air controllers strike, opening an era  of diminishing power of unions

1 9 8 2 

• Mexico tells creditors it is unable to pay its debts and the Third World Debt Crisis begins all around the globe as nations are unable  to pay escalating debts incurred during the 1970s

1 9 8 5 

• During the UN Third World Conference on Women, women  activists from developing countries detail how neoliberal economic  policies exploit and hurt women

1 9 8 6 

• World  Bank  and  International  Monetary  Fund  initiate  structural  adjustment policies  in  developing  countries  that  promote  trade  liberalization

1 9 8 7 

• Canadian groups organize opposition to proposed free trade  agreement 
• Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Canada and U.S. 
• D.C. District Court eliminates the “fairness doctrine” which outlined the responsibilities of radio and TV owners as public  trustees

1 9 8 8

• Free  Trade  Agreement  (FTA)  signed  between  the  U.S.  and  Canada

1 9 8 9 

• Fall of the Berlin Wall ends Cold War leaving capitalism as single dominant economic system; Transnational Corporations  (TNCs) enter former Soviet bloc countries in a push toward privatization

1 9 9 0 s 

• As the cold war ends, Yugoslavia becomes unnecessary for the Transnational Corporations push into the former Soviet bloc. A series  of  events in the Balkans begins with the breaking up of Yugoslavia - to the Balkan crisis and the ensuing genocides.

1 9 9 0 s 

• Series of United Nations World Conferences dramatically expand the voice of non -governmental organizations in  global  political, economic, and environmental debates and equality for women
• Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreements multiply around the world 

1 9 9 1 

• Worldwide Web created, enabling instant communications around the globe

1 9 9 2 

• North  America  Free  Trade  Agreement  (NAFTA)  between  U.S.,  Canada,  and Mexico  signed  with  side  agreements  on  labor  and  the  environment,  and  in the  face  of  intense  resistance  from  labor,  women,  environmental,  and  church groups  in  all  three  countries 
• Maastricht  Treaty  creates  the  European  Union  solidifying  economic  and political  ties  between,  and  expanding  number  of,  European  nations  west and  east

1 9 9 4

• Free Trade  Area of the Americas (FTAA) proposal launched by the U.S. to seek a free trade agreement for all of North, Central, and South America except Cuba

1 9 9 5 

• World Trade Organization GATT adds services, investment and  intellectual property rights, and government procurement to trade concerns 
• UN Fourth World Conference on Women adopts the Beijing Platform for Action outlining governments’ responsibilities toward women in the economic, political, communications, and other spheres

1 9 9 6 

• Telecommunications Act engenders further deregulation of media policy

1 9 9 7 

• Hemispheric Social Alliance formed by citizen groups throughout the hemisphere concerned about the FTAA 
• $1.5 trillion per day of foreign exchange is traded worldwide 
• Asian financial crisis triggers a global financial crisis when nervous investors rush to withdraw funds from Asian markets; financial speculation becomes a major concern

1 9 9 9 

• 50,000 activists in Seattle protest WTO policies in the first of an ongoing series of activist protests of WTO policies at WTO meetings
• U.S. TNCs use illegal accounting techniques to prop up failing profits; Enron, WorldCom, and others collapse in scandal 

1 9 9 0s - (new trends manifested from the end of the 90s onwards) 

• Beginning of the rise of China and India as big players on the Global Scene.
• Revival of the international division of labour
• Rapid expansion of international trade is accompanied by a revival of inter-industry trade 
• modifications of the industry structure of manufacturing 

2 0 0 0 

• Churches, NGOs, activists mobilize around the world on the 50th  anniversary of the World Bank and IMF to call for a “Jubilee” cancellation of Third World debts
• Wealthy  countries  agree  to  partial  debt  relief  with  terms  of  more  privatization and free trade
• World leaders gather for UN Millennium Summit, committing to the eradication of extreme poverty and other global social goals by 2015
• 
  

2 0 0 1 

• WTO Doha Declaration affirms the right of governments to violate trade rule in order to protect the public health of its citizens, while continuing to press for trade liberalization
• World Conference Against Racism; some Third World nations and activists link colonialism, poverty, racism, and globalization

2 0 0 2 

• Argentina’s economic collapse and default on debts; people rebel against economic austerity policies

2 0 0 3 

• World governments and Globalization activists force shut down of WTO deliberation in Mexico 

2 0 0 5 

• NGOs and activists around the world join a “Global Call Against Poverty” to urge governments to make trade fair, cancel debts, and address the roots of poverty 
• Central American Free Trade Agreement passed by U.S. Congress expanding the U.S. free trade zone to countries in Central America but not Cuba

2 0 0 6 

• Iraq Conflict Timeline 2006 - From Iraqi elections to a growing insurgency. Estimated Cost, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

• US Supreme Court Decisions

Rulings on Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law • Wetlands ProtectionWhistleblowers • Warrantless Searches • Guantanamo Military Tribunals

• Significant Armed Conflicts

Darfur • Afghanistan • Iraq • Sri Lanka

• Recently Suspended Armed Conflicts The war in Lebanon began and ended in 2006

• Coups In 2006, coups took place in Thailand and Fiji
• Oaxaca, Rebellions begin in Mexico - Teachers Protest Against Economic Conditions in the state of Oaxaca

2 0 0 7 

• Iraq Conflict Timeline 2007 - From the surge of U.S. troops into Baghdad to the shooting of civilians by Blackwater guards. Estimated Cost, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
• US Supreme Court Decisions  - Rulings on using race to maintain school diversity • Partial birth abortion • Regulation of automobile emissions • Students’ right to free speech
• Significant Armed Conflicts -Darfur • Afghanistan • Iraq • Sri Lanka
• Recently Suspended Armed Conflicts

2 0 0 8 

• China begins to consider bailing out Western financial institutions. Starting a domino effect of a struggle in Western Institutions to maintain their financial profits by exploring the illegal acquisition of public domains of various nations. They first try this experiment in Iceland, but the bid is defeated in Parliament twice. 

2 0 0 9 

• The US government bails out the Bank of America 
• The 2000s Financial Crisis festers to a point where it has to be unequivocally admitted. In Australia, Kevin Rudd calls it "one of the greatest assaults on global economic stability to have occurred in three-quarters of a century".

2 0 10 

• Deutsche Bank, deeply involved in the American real estate crisis faces a U.S. mortgage securities law suit.
• The 2000s Financial Crisis becomes announced
• After the failure in trying to acquire the public domains of Iceland, international financial institutions look at other scapegoat countries whose public domains can be legally acquired and rented back to citizens. Spain, Portugal and Greece become the next targets of "Austerity Measures".

2 0 11 

• Europe tries a final rally against the rise of new economic powers from Asia on the Global Economic scene.
• Following the failure of the Deutsche Bank in America, and the bailout of US and European banks by the US Federal Bank, Europe is forced to clamp down on Greece in an attempt to make citizens work off or pay off, the debts of the major banks.
• Deepening of privatisation policies culminate in the event of the Greek citizens becoming the first people to lose their public domain to the financial elite and their banks.  

What are we on about?
Global Political, Economic, and Social Facts. 

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This Globalisation Timeline is a work in progress and is incomplete, lacking many crucial pieces of the puzzle of contradictions, inconsistencies and the overall mismanagement of the planet. It also still lacks details that can clearly show the numerous counter measures that socially conscientious organisations and governments have tried to implement in attempts to stem the tide of the destruction of the planet's various independent systems of human survival.


We shall be seeking to gather other crucial elements of the total picture of what is now recognised as predatory capitalism and also to remove links that are proven to be "off the mark" with regard to this pursuit.


The effort here is to try to build a picture of international diplomatic and bilateral policies and counter policies that are concerned with the prevention of or the gradual loss of the public domain by citizens of the earth.


I hope that presenting a timeline in this manner, may help ordinary observers in Papua New Guinea like myself, to be able to form a close to informed perspective on the nature and main movement of the beast we call "predatory capitalism" - thus forming a common basis for observing international trends together where we may be  able to take care of the plight of our region in a concerted manner.


The compiler of this timeline is neither an historian nor an economist.


The skeleton timeline was taken from the website of the Western North Carolina Conference of United Methodist Women.

I accepted 1940 as the starting point for the timeline for practical reasons, so that we would not have to consider for instance Columbus in South America, and the whole and often painful, colonial histories that the third world has endured due to its inferior technology at the time of the first contact meetings. Those events have taken place and we live in a world which is the by-product of a combination and culmination of those events and their long lasting philosophies and effects.

This timeline is being reworked towards becoming customised for Papua New Guinean awareness and approaches to addressing local and global issues.

Thanks for your patience and suggestions on areas of the timeline that we need to work on.