A global superpower is being challenged by a fast-growing rival.

The emergence of huge new companies is prompting a backlash against monopoly power.

Goods, money and people are moving around the world faster than ever before.

And public discontent is being driven by a combination of nationalism and economic insecurity.

Sounds familiar?

Those concerns were widespread at the turn of the 20th century in the run up to World War

1.

Globalization first emerged at this time as Britain was the superpower,

being challenged by a rising Germany.

And the monopoly power being scrutinized was the big steel and oil companies in the US.

Nationalism was also on the rise.

Are we seeing history repeat itself?

After COVID-19, I think we're going to see trade wars and things going from bad to worse.

There are certainly stresses and strains out there that if you're an economist or a historian I think you'd be feeling uneasy about currently.

This is worlds apart on the BBC World Service.

I'm Philip Kogan of The Economist and in this program I'm taking a long view at

globalization, what it looked like a hundred years ago and how it looks today.

Was there a time when we reap the benefits of globalization and

avoided its pitfalls and can we pull off that trick again?

The crisis simply gives us some possibilities. I don't think it predetermines which

path we're going to go. There is both a good path and a bad pass. The first great globalization was essentially a technological phenomenon

driven by the new steam technologies of the Industrial Revolution.

...