1992-2010


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1992-2010 (The European Union)**

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND GLOBALIZATION

 * ======Globalization======
 * ======European Union======
 * ======Maastricht Treaty======
 * ======Turkey======
 * ======The Euro======

The process of **Globalization** helped speed up the world's economy. As countries got more technology, they were able to expand their influence to other countries and were able to expand their trade network worldwide. In 1993, the **Maastricht Treaty** was signed between the 6 founding members of the EU. The **European Union** was a way to establish a relationship and bond between all European Countries. As more members join, the EU becomes more powerful. However, it is getting more and more difficult to join the EU. The EU is setting difficult standards for membership because they want to keep the EU as an alliance between western countries. That is why **Turkey**, Ukraine, and Georgia are having trouble getting membership. Historically, these countries have had more of an Eastern influence. For example, Turkey is mostly Muslim now and the rest of the EU is either Protestant or Christian. NATO and the Warsaw Pact successfully stuck an "Iron Curtain" through Europe. Europe is trying to make up for this disparity by creating the EU and by globalizing. As another way of unifying all of Europe, the EU introduced the **Euro** as the currency of all of Europe.

CHALLENGES FACING MODERN EUROPE
Modern Europeans face many difficulties including **genocide, immigration problems**, and **population loss**. Many Eastern European countries also are facing problems because they are small countries that are just becoming countries. After the fall of the Soviet Bloc and the USSR, Eastern Europe has had economic and political crises. **Bosnian** Muslims in **Serbia** were being killed because they were Muslim and Serbs didn't want to live with them. The **KLA**, Kosovo Liberation Army, began to fight for Bosnian Independence and eventually won after NATO joined their side. Also, since the Soviet Union fell, many Eastern Europeans have been immigrating to Western Europe to get a better start in their life. Therefore Eastern Europe is experiencing mass population loss. Also, Europe is experiencing a **"baby bust"** and they are declining in population because of that too. As less babies are being born, Europe is becoming an "old continent", if you look at the average age. As criminal gangs become more and more active in Europe, more people are coming through in human smuggling rings. This also adds to the increase in illegal immigrants. **Crime** started becoming a big problem after the fall of the Soviet Union because it was an easy way to make money.
 * ======[[image:http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/090821/GAL-09Aug21-2508/media/PHO-09Aug21-175147.jpg width="207" height="135" align="right" caption="Bosnian Muslims"]]Population Loss======
 * ======Genocide======
 * ======Immigration======
 * ======Crime======
 * ======Bosnia/ Serbia======
 * ======KLA======
 * ======"Baby Bust"======