Question 1
In the context of technological changes in the last 3 decades, the first thing coming into mind is the internet. The influence of internet on the business and the world economy is immense. The internet gave an opportunity for small businesses and world corporations equally to go global and become present on both local markets and global stocks in general. Through the e-commerce and e-banking, companies do not have to compete on the basis of geographical position and closeness to the target market. Today, businesses compete through the attractiveness and cheapness of their product, adapting to the requirements of the global environment and national preferences of their multicultural customers (Rayburn 2007). While the technology of the first part of the century had shifted businesses towards international corporations, internet technology had returned smalls businesses a chance to survive and go global with the same opportunities as large corporations.
Question 2
The main difference between recent conflicts involving US and its participation in WWI and WWII is that the tactics of war conduct are entirely different. During WWI, US were giving mostly financial support to their allies. American troops participated in the actual battles only in the end of the war. During WWII, US opened the third front only after the Pearl Harbor attach. On the other hand, in the recent conflicts, the tactic of preventive attack was used (Chollet 2010). Although 9/11 was an actual attack, it was not an attack of one state on another. Thus, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can be seen as preventive attacks, which were never used before. The second difference is that, in the recent conflicts, US were asking their allies to help them on the battlefield, while during the Two World Wars US interfered in order to support Europe. Finally, in the Two World Wars the main target was to return to the territorial status quo; and, in case of the recent conflicts, change of countries’ internal regimes and development of anti-terrorist policy were the main aims (Chollet 2010).
References
Brinkley, A. 2010. The Unified Nation: A Concise History of the American People, 2 vol. (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chollet, D. 2010. America Between the Wars. Ney York: Perseus Books.
Rayburn, D. 2007. Streaming and digital media: understanding the business and technology. Oxford: Focal Press.
