This paper critically evaluates the effects of the ongoing phenomenon of globalisation, from both the economic and socio-political angles. Although its basic framework was established during the nineteenth century, globalisation has come of age since the breakdown of the Soviet Union. All countries are now more or less forced to implement policies that include economic deregulation and openness to investment and trade in a stable currency. Yet the major powers use protectionist mechanisms at the expense of poorer countries, while promises of increased prosperity for all are not coming true—indeed markets need to be regulated by national or regional political institutions.
