Conclusion

Abstract The concluding chapter sets the findings of the individual chapters into the wider context of global history and the history of globalization. It argues that shipping as both an engine and an example of globalizing processes helps understand and illustrate the dynamics and periodization of globalization, in particular through its entanglements with the transformation of states and borders over the post-war period. This is examined first through an analysis of the context within which shipping developed, in particular the shift of the global economic balance towards Asia, decolonization, and changes in international governance. Second, the role of shipping companies in these processes is examined in a comparative perspective. Third, the obvious and less obvious connections resulting from shipping are discussed.