12 Marker Essay Plans Flashcards
ENVIRONMENTAL GG
Explain why there has been a growing interest in strategies to adapt to, rather than reduce, climate change (12).
Essay plan?
- explain the strategies of mitigation and adaptation
- mitigation involves high costs and practical/political limitations
- growth of CO2 emissions have soared recently
- shallow ecologists believe that the environment, at times, can be subjected to human needs
ENVIRONMENTAL GG
Examine the differences between the competing views of reformists and radicals over global environmental issues.
- explain difference between reformists and radicals
- Reformists:
- complacent (from perspective of deep ecologists)
- adaptation
- motivated by self-interest rather than genuine urgency - Radicals
- unrealistic (from perspective of gov/shallow)
- mitigation
- overhauling consumerism/materialism
ENVIRONMENTAL GG
Examine the main factors that prevent states from cooperating over climate change.
- state sovereignty/national interest
- ‘Free riders’
- tragedy of the commons
- North/South divide
- lack of global governance
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Evaluate the criticism of human rights international courts/tribunals.
- lack of enforcement powers/moral authority (realists)
- Western bias/victors justice
- states sovereignty/national interest
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Evaluate (analyse the difference between liberals and realists regarding) the effectiveness of both the international courts and tribunals in protecting human rights.
(Liberals)
- regard ICJ as vital way of establishing an intl rules-based approach
- moral authority
(Realists)
- states are ‘power maximisers’ and national interests
- has little enforcement
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Examine the reasons why humanitarian intervention has been selective.
states need to know that:
- there is sufficient moral ground to intervene
- lack of action would threaten their interests
- military force will resolve the conflict/rather than provoke wider conflict
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Examine the criticism of the idea that human rights are universal.
- Philosophical - individuals have rights that are dependent on their culture
- politically - the human rights regime rests heavily on the experiences of the West
- Realists attribute a great deal to national sovereignty
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Examine the criticisms of humanitarian intervention.
- legal - forceable HI is illegal under international law
- Suspect motives (self-interest)
- intensified conflicts
- form of Western cultural imperialism
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Examine the causes for the increase in humanitarian intervention since the 1990s.
- end of the Cold War (greater agreement and cooperation and new conflicts after)
- reflects the wider acceptance of universal human rights
- globalisation
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Examine the view that humanitarian intervention is now an abandoned project.
- Decline of US hegemony since 2000s has made it more difficult to obtain UNSC support for HI
- Complex, costly and unwinnable missions
- abusing the war on terror argument
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Examine the justifications for humanitarian intervention.
- moral - moral obligation
- Practical - works to save lives
- interdependence and regional stability
- legal- counter restrictionist view
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Examine the tensions between human rights and state sovereignty.
- individuals are now subject of international law as well as states
- intl law looks to regulate tensions between states AND how they should act in their borders
- intl law now has a moral component as as well as governing international order
HUMAN RIGHTS GG
Analyse the significance of the divisions regarding human rights that exist between liberals and realists.
(Realists)
- Court - state sovereignty will govern how effective the courts are
- Intl law - have difficulty explaining how it actually constrains states
Liberals
- Courts - moral authority
- Intl law - feel it is becoming increasingly important (but do admit there is no universal intl law or effective enforcement)
POLITICAL GG
Examine the main controversies surrounding the UNSC and the UNGA.
- unable to enforce international law
- disproportionate power in UNSC. leave the UNGA with little power
- UNGA - criticised for being a ‘talk shop’
UNSC - dominated by great powers
POLITICAL GG
Examine the effectiveness of the UNGA.
aims
- UNGA decisions carry great weight
- genuinely global and not dominated by P5 powers
- criticised for being a talk shop with no powers
- ‘one state, one vote, does not recognise the differing population size or powers and capabilities of states
