Re: point 1. I quite agree with the first sentence. As for Chernobyl, it's possible it helped paved the way for Glasnost -- a change within the USSR -- but as you suggested in the first sentence, it probably also contributed to the feeling that "we are all in this together."

2. Yes. And this is one reason that people in developing countries often subscribe to what I call the conspiracy theory of Globalizaton. If you look at the charts in the introduction, you see why. On the other hand, trade is the ONLY way wealth is going to be generated in the 3rd world. It's been proven that closed economies simply cannot compare to those who encourage trade (N. Korea vs. S. Korea).