Introduction To Global Studies<br >Our Interdependent World<br > Today， Americans have business， political， and cultural ties throughout the world. At<br >the same time， studies show that most people who live in the United States know very<br >little about the people and countries of other regions of the Earth. We should know<br >more about other people. We should learn to appreciate the great achievements of<br >their cultures. Culture refers to the total way of life of a group. There is great need to<br >establish cross-cultural connections. We must empathize with others problems and<br >needs if we are to work together in a global effort to solve common problems.<br >The Physical World<br > We must try to understand the historical， political， social， and economic develop-<br >ments of the people of other global regions. There are differences in the physical and<br >human environment (the setting in which people live)， but human needs are very<br >similar.<br >Regions<br > A region is a part of the globe with some common physical， political， cultural， and/<br >or economic features. A region could be a whole continent， or parts of several conti-<br >nents. For instance， the Middle East combines parts of Asia and Africa. We will study<br >seven global regions: Africa， South and Southeast Asia， East Asia， Latin America， The<br >Middle East， Western Europe， and Russia， Eastern Europe and Central Asia.<br >