3.4.1 Global governance

Question 1

World bank

Answer 1

An organisation that promotes investment globally and provides loans for countries under certain conditions. Its main aim is to reduce poverty and is an important source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries.

Question 2

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Answer 2

An organisation which standardises global financial relations and aims to promote global monetary and exchange stability by monitoring the global economy. It consists of 188 countries who work to promote financial cooperation between countries to reduce poverty, normally through the promotion of trade and high employment.

Question 3

World Trade Organisation (WTO)

Answer 3

Formed in 1993, it aims to cut trade barriers that stop other countries trading freely so that goods can flow more easily.

Question 4

United Nations (UN)

Answer 4

Known as the “Guardian of international peace, security and human rights”. It promotes the development of poorer nations through work with the IMF and World Bank.

Question 5

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Answer 5

A global think tank for 30 of the world’s wealthiest nations.

Question 6

Transnational corporation (TNC)

Answer 6

A global company which operates in more than one country. HQs are often in HICs, with factories in LICs/NEEs, where workers are cheaper.

Question 7

Key facts about the IMF

Answer 7

• 188 member countries
• 2,700 employees
• $675bn in quotas.
• Biggest contributors: Germany, UK, Japan (based on GDP)
• Biggest borrowers: Ukraine, Portugal, Pakistan, Greece

Question 8

Key facts about the World Bank

Answer 8

• 189 member countries
• 10,000 employees
• Funded by issuing bonds/
• Lending commitment reached nearly $59bn in 2022-2023.
• Biggest borrowers: Countries in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific.

Question 9

Criticisms of the IMF and World Bank

Answer 9

• Critics say the requirements with the loans were unfair (for IMF and WB).
• Environmentalists criticise them for the environmental and societal impacts of some of their projects.

Question 10

Greece’s economic problems

Answer 10

Greece was spending beyond their means. They had a retirement age of 55, with a €1,000 monthly state pension. They approached Germany several times to bail them out, but there was lots of animosity against Greece.

Question 11

Example of a failed “top down” scheme

Answer 11

Lake Turkana Fish Processing Plant in Kenya.

Question 12

Lake Turkana Fish Processing Plant in Kenya

Answer 12

Donor: Norwegian government.
Cost: $22 million.
Where it went wrong: It was designed to improve jobs in the area, but the area had no history of fishing, or even fish eating. People in the area just had no skills in this industry. The plant was completed and only opened for a few days until it was shut down.

Question 13

Example of a successful “bottom-up” scheme

Answer 13

Hydroelectricity in Peru.

Question 14

Hydroelectricity in Peru

Answer 14

Charity: Practical Action
Bringing electricity into small communities has helped to improve the lives of many residents.

Question 15

Top-down development

Answer 15

• Government led development
• Concerned with management of the economy as a whole
• Governments make decisions with little participation from local people
• Hope that economic development will “trickle-down” to regions and local areas.

Question 16

Bottom-up development

Answer 16

• Grassroots development.
• People centred, concentrating on helping people to help themselves.
• Encourages the involvement of local people
• Benefits people at the local level
• NGOs are involved
• They give financial aid and technical expertise

Question 17

Role of the World Trade Organisation

Answer 17

• Creating a level playing field of trade through rules.
• Resolving disputes between countries.
• Can impose sanctions on countries who don’t follow the rules.

Question 18

Roles of the UN

Answer 18

• Maintain world peace and security
• Provide long-term humanitarian and development assistance and uphold human rights
• Eradicate and prevent global hunger
• Protect refugees worldwide
• Eradicate and combat the spread of global disease
• Develop friendly relations
• Settle legal disputes (within international law)
• Promote and support wise use and sustainable development of the global environment
• Poverty reduction and improvement of living standards worldwide within a sustainable framework

Question 19

Maintain world peace and security
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 19

Security Council
Office for Peacekeeping Operations
Office for Disarmament Affairs

Question 20

Provide long-term humanitarian and development assistance and uphold human rights
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 20

UNICEF
UN Women
UN Population Fund

Question 21

Eradicate and prevent global hunger
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 21

World Food Programme
Food and Agriculture Organisation
UN Conference on Trade and Development

Question 22

Protect refugees worldwide
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 22

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Question 23

Eradicate and prevent global hunger
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 23

World Food Programme
Food and Agriculture Organisation
UN Conference on Trade and Development

Question 24

Eradicate and combat the spread of global disease
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 24

World Health Organisation (WHO)

Question 25

Develop friendly relations
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 25

General Assembly

Question 26

Settle legal disputes (within international law)
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 26

General Assembly
International Court of Justice (The Hague)

Question 27

Promote and support wise use and sustainable development of the global environment
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 27

UN Environment Programme

Question 28

Poverty reduction and improvement of living standards worldwide
- Orgainisations

[Role of the UN]

Answer 28

• International Monetary Fund
• UN Development Programme
• World Bank
• Economic and Social Council
• UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

Question 29

Positives of the UN

Answer 29

• The UN was the first post-war intergovernmental organisation (IGO) to be established.
• It has become an umbrella organisation for many global agencies, agreements and treaties.
• Its remit now includes a whole range of areas of governance spanning human rights, the environment, health (WHO – World Health Organisation) and the economy.
• The UN food programme has reduced the numbers of people dying during famine
• The peacekeeping mission in Burundi was successful. Following the civil war, peace held and resulted in fair elections in 2014.
• Since 1945, the number of people dying in conflict has dropped to the lowest point in human history. The UN played a major role in keeping the peace.

Question 30

Negatives of the UN

Answer 30

• The UN has developed geopolitical stability alongside a developmental agenda. E.g. Millennium Development Goals.
• It has be difficult for agreements to be reached because there are 193 member states.
• When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, UN member states were divided on what should be done.
• The UN quickly worked to protect citizens of Kuwait in 1991, but not in the Rwanda Genocide of 1997.
• The five permanent members are the only official nuclear powers. Stopping others from having such powers is just seen as protecting their own power.
• During a mission to restore order in Haiti following an earthquake in 2010, UN workers accidentally contaminated water supply causing over 10,000 deaths.
• Accusations of abuse against children and women from UN peacekeepers were raised In DR Congo, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Question 31

Global Institutions

Answer 31

Institutions operate at a range of scales – they all need to interact to ensure that governance is effective.

Question 32

How do NGOs operate at a variety of scales?

Answer 32

They operate on a range of scales to monitor and support institutions.

For example, some NGOs lobby for national governments to create laws, e.g. Greenpeace campaign for more environmental protection, whilst others act at a local scale, e.g. helping communities gain access to safe water.

Question 33

Give an example of how global institutions affect institutions at the international, national, regional and local scales.

Answer 33

E.g. in 2015, the UN passed the Paris climate change agreement. Institutions from the international level down to the local level had to change their policies to fit with the new agreement.

Decisions at the local or regional level can affect institutions at the global level. E.g. in October 2016, a regional government in Wallonia, Belgium temporarily blocked a trade deal between the EU and Canada.

Question 34

How does the UN work to promote growth and stability?

Answer 34

Question 35

How does the UN work to promote ineqaualities and injustices?

Answer 35

Question 36

According to the UN’s charter, what are their aims?

Answer 36

• To maintain global peace and security.
• To develop friendly relations between nations.
• To use cooperation to solve international problems.
• To bring countries together to settle disputes.

Question 37

How many countries are members of the UN?

Answer 37

193 – the UN has a lot of authority because practically every country in the world is a member.

Question 38

When was the UN set up?

Answer 38

1945

Question 39

How can global institutions create inequalities and injustices?

Answer 39

1) There are conditions to receiving a loan from the IMF or World Bank – e.g. in order to receive the loans, less developed countries have to implement free trade policies and cut government spending (often on education and health care). Some people have argued that this has made poverty and inequality in less developed countries worse.

2) Economic groups like the G7 (a forum for seven of the wealthiest developed countries) strengthen the power of developed countries, rather than encouraging equality between them and less developed countries.

3) Members of security institutions, e.g. the United Nations Security Council, can veto resolutions — e.g. between 2011 and 2016, Russia and China vetoed several resolutions to intervene in the Syrian Civil War.

Question 40

How does global governance aims to promote growth and stability?

Answer 40

• The laws and norms that international institutions enforce mean that countries must abide by common rules. This gives greater stability because countries know how other countries are likely to react to a situation, making conflict less likely. Trade rules mean countries cannot take advantage of each other, so all countries can develop.
• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) aims to increase global trade through common rules — more trade leads to economic growth and rules make trade more predictable, increasing stability. The World Bank (see p.134) gives development loans to less developed countries to increase their economic growth.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) combats epidemics (e.g. the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa), which increases social stability. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) helps to ensure the benefits of scientific advances are shared amongst all countries.

Question 41

Problems with global governance

Answer 41

• Countries sign up to international laws and institutions voluntarily — if a country doesn’t sign or formally approve a particular treaty, then they are not bound by the laws that the treaty sets out.
• It can also be difficult to make countries and TNCs comply with the rules. For example, in 2016, China ignored a court ruling that its claims over the South China Sea went against international law. Other countries have not brought economic sanctions against China, partly because China is so important to the global economy.
• Some people think that global institutions act for political reasons, e.g. it is alleged that some countries have used the International Criminal Court to remove people they don’t want in power in African nations.

Question 42

International laws

Answer 42

Rules that are established by counties through international agreements. They are legally binding. International laws cover labour standards, human rights, trade regulations, etc.

Question 43

Norms

Answer 43

Accepted standards of behaviour – there are usually negative consequences for counties, companies or individuals who don’t follow them. For example, it is generally believed that people have the right to freedom of speech – countries that restrict this right might face international condemnation.

Question 44

Institutions

Answer 44

Institutions are political and legal organisations. They exist to pass and enforce laws, decide whether a law has been broken, or act as a forum for different groups to discuss issues and sort out their differences. At the global scale, they include the United Nations (UN), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Question 45

What does global governance do?

Answer 45

Global governance regulates global economic and political systems by setting up rules countries and TNCs should follow, monitoring whether they follow the rules, and enforcing the rules if they aren’t followed. Enforcement includes taking a country or company to an international court, or imposing economic sanctions like withdrawing trade.