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A level Politics Unit 3 > Approaches to Global Politics > Flashcards

Approaches to Global Politics Flashcards

1
Q

Define TNCs

A 
A TNC (transnational corporation) is a company that controls economic activity in two or more countries. A 'parent' company is usually incorporated in one country and subsidiaries in others. 
EXAMPLE: There are now 63,000 parent companies that operate around 690,000 subsidiaries across the world.
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2
Q

Define NGOs

A

An NGO is a private, non-commercial group which seeks to achieve its ends by non-violent means.
EXAMPLE: There is estimated to be over 10 million NGOs worldwide - Greenpeace alone has a membership over 2.5 million and Amnesty International is better equipped than the human rights arm of the UN.

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3
Q

Define IGOs

A

An IGO is an international institution with formal procedures and membership comprised of three or more states. They are heavily involved with issues that concern states.
EXAMPLES: WB, WTO, UN, IMF, EU.

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4
Q

Define the MIXED ACTOR MODEL

A

The mixed actor model is the theory that international politics is shaped by a much broader range of interests and groups than just states and their national governments.

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5
Q

Define LIBERALISM

A

Liberalism is a wide school of thought in international relations that rejects power politics as the sole outcome of international relations, emphasising mutual benefits and cooperation.

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6
Q

Define FREE TRADE

A

Free trade is a system of trade between states not restricted by tariffs or other forms of protectionism.

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7
Q

Define COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE

A

Complex interdependence describes the trend towards cooperation and integration in world affairs, highlighting states lack of autonomy, lessening importance of military force and more prominent economic issues.

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8
Q

Define the DEMOCRATIC PEACE THESIS

A

Democratic peace thesis is the notion that there is an intrinsic link between peace and democracy. First coined by Michael Doyle.
EXAMPLE: European countries who have not gone to war with each other for the last 70 years or so.

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9
Q

Define ABSOLUTE GAINS

A

Absolute gains is the notion that it is in all states best interests to take a decision even if their rivals will benefit more from it.

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10
Q

Define CRITICAL THEORY

A

Critical theorists make left wing criticisms about the way global politics works. They also offer a withering critique of globalisation (to them, it is a sham as it furthers the development of Western capitalism and makes the rich richer and the poor poorer).
EXAMPLES: Noam Chomsky, Immanuel Wallerstein (world systems theory) and Naomi Klein. (no logo, which rejects consumerism)

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11
Q

Define WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY

A

World systems theory was developed by Immanuel Wallenstein which offers a neo-Marxist analysis of the nature and workings of the global economy. Three interlocking parts:

  • Core areas, developed nations with high wages, technology, service industries etc
  • Peripheral areas, developing nations with low wages, simple technology and production.
  • Semi-peripheral areas, economically mixed areas that have some core features and some peripheral ones.
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12
Q

Define GLOBALISATION

A

Globalisation is the emergence of a complex web of interconnectedness that means that our lives are increasingly influenced by things that occur and decisions that are made at great distance from us.

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13
Q

Define ECONOMIC GLOBLISATION

A

Economic globalisation is the process through which national economies have, to an extent, been absorbed into a global interlocking economy in which no one country is now an island.
Features: growth in international free trade, transnational production, globalised financial system.
The most advanced form of globalisation.

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14
Q

Define CULTURAL GLOBALISATION

A

Cultural globalisation is the process through which information, commodities and images that have been produced in one part of the world enter into a global flow that tends to ‘flatten out’ cultural differences between nations, regions and individuals.

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15
Q

Define POLITICAL GLOBALISATION

A

Political globalisation is the growing importance of international organisations, which assert influence within an international area.
It is the reaction by states to economic and cultural globalisation.
Least advanced form of globalisation.

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16
Q

Define GLOBALISATION SCEPTICS

A

Often realists. They maintain that globalisation is just ‘more of the same’. The state remains the most important actor and the majority of trade happens within states rather than between them.

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17
Q

Define HYPERGLOBALISTS

A

Often liberals. They have a very positive view of globalisation and believe it brings economic, political and social benefits. They continue to strive for a ‘borderless world’ in which borders and states themselves may become irrelevant.

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18
Q

Define TRANSFORMATIONALISTS

A

They have a middle road view. Lots of changes have taken place but the traditional features of international politics have not been swept away. The breadth, speed and intensity of worldwide interconnectedness has increased however.

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19
Q

Define CAPITALISM

A

Capitalism is a system of generalised commodity production in which wealth is owned privately and economic life is organised according to market principles and free trade.

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20
Q

Define GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

A

Global governance is a configuration of world politics that hovers somewhere between international anarchy and world government. It is aimed at solving problems that affect more than one state or region when there is no power of enforcing compliance.

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21
Q

Define CULTURE

A

Culture is the way of life of a people; their beliefs, values and practices. It embodies language, religion, traditions, social norms and moral principles and is handed down from generation to generation.

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22
Q

Define HOMOGENISATION

A

The idea that cultural globalisation is causing a severe ‘flattening out’ of cultures across the world, with the possibility of a monoculture being created.

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23
Q

Define CULTURAL IMPERIALISM

A

Cultural imperialism is the displacement of an indigenous culture by the imposition of foreign beliefs, values and attitudes, usually associated with consolidating or legitimising economic and/or political domination.

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24
Q

Define CONSUMERISM

A

Consumerism is a psychological and cultural phenomenon whereby personal happiness is equated with the consumption of material possessions.

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25
Q

Define MCDONALDISATION

A

Mcdonaldisation is the process whereby global commodities and commercial and marketing practices associated with the fast food industry have come to dominate more and more market sectors.

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26
Q

Define AMERICANISATION

A

Americanisation can refer to the general influence the USA has on other countries in the world. It specifically refers to the influence American culture has on
the culture of other countries.

27
Q

Define GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY

A

Global civil society highlights a realm in which transnational nongovernmental groups and associations interact.

28
Q

Define GLOBAL POLITICS

A

Global politics refers to politics that is conducted at a global rather than a national or regional level.

29
Q

Define SOVEREIGNTY

A

Sovereignty is the principle of absolute and unlimited power - the absence of a higher authority other than the state in either domestic or external affairs.

30
Q

Define INTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY

A

Internal sovereignty refers to the relationship between a sovereign power and its subjects. It is the location of supreme authority within a state that makes decisions that are binding on all citizens, groups and institutions within state borders.
EXAMPLE: in the UK, sovereignty is (in theory) located in Parliament.

31
Q

Define EXTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY

A

Commonly referred to as state sovereignty. It refers to the capacity of the state to act independently and autonomously on the world stage. It implies that all states are legally equal and that the territorial integrity and political independence of a state is inviolable.

32
Q

What are the key assumptions of classical realists?

A
  • Pessimistic view of human nature
  • Sovereign states are the most important actors on the global stage
  • The international system is based on anarchy
  • Conflicts are ultimately resolved by war
33
Q

What are the key assumptions of neo realists?

A
  • Agree with classical realists that politics is essentially a power struggle
  • Argue that conflict is caused by the anarchic international system
34
Q

What are the key assumptions of liberalism?

A
  • More optimistic about human nature
  • Believe that global politics can be characterised by harmony and cooperation
  • Conflict and war are not inevitable
35
Q

How is cultural globalisation criticised?

A
  • It erodes local traditions and culture, replacing them with a homogeneous ‘Western’ culture that irons out valued diversity and differences.
  • It aids economic globalisation and therefore serves the needs of (mainly Western) TNCs.
  • Backlash against cultural globalisation has led to violence and political extremism.
36
Q

How is increased globalisation linked with increased US power?

A

Increased cultural globalisation leads to an increased spread of American culture and the disregard of traditionally cultures.
Increased economic globalisation leads to increased influence of large American TNCs (Amazon, Google) that take advantage of favourable situations in developing countries (such as cheap labour or lax environmental laws).
Increased political globalisation allows the USA more structural power. Their economic, geographical and population size give them great advantages and allow them to act dominantly as the hegemon.

37
Q

What are some examples of ‘global problems that require global solutions’?

A

Terrorism, drug and human trafficking, environmental degradation, international conflicts.

38
Q

What are examples of economic globalisation?

A
  • increasing number of trade deals (e.g the Trans Pacific Partnership)
  • the 2008 financial crisis, which demonstrated the extent to which economies relied on one another
  • the ‘Eurozone’ that now incorporates 19 countries that share a currency in Europe
  • large TNCs relocating to small countries and exploiting workers in a race to the bottom (e.g the Rena Plaza factory collapse killed 1000 and Glencore’s annual turnover is 7 x that of Zambia’s GDP).
  • TNCs relocation leads to loss of jobs in the global North, prompting the electorate to vote for populist agendas, such as Donald Trump or UKIP
39
Q

What is the relationship between globalisation and democracy?

A

The spread of globalisation has encouraged the development of democracies over dictatorships. Supporters of globalisation argue that this is because the spread of capitalism encourages a political system of liberal democracy.

40
Q

What is the realist view on globalisation?

A

Globalisation has been made by states for states. States remain the most dominant actor on the global stage. The sceptic view that globalisation is ‘more of the same’.

41
Q

What is the liberal view of globalisation?

A

Globalisation is positive and reflects the rise of non-state actors in relation to states. It brings social and political benefits to all.

42
Q

What are the three types of liberalism and what do they believe?

A
  1. Interdependence liberals - belief in the virtues of free trade e.g. Joshua Goldstein.
  2. Institutional liberals - belief that order can be established in domestic politics by contracting to an institutional framework. As put by Woodrow Wilson, it would turn ‘the jungle of international politics into a zoo’. Other examples include John Locke and Thomas Hobbes.
  3. Republican liberals - belief in the strong link between democracy and peace (Democratic peace thesis, coined by Michael Doyle). Another example is Immanuel Kant.
43
Q

What models do realists and liberals use to describe the international system?

A

Realists use the billiard ball model, that is focused on states. This is probably how the world operated until 1945. Sovereignty represents the impenetrable outer shell of the ball.
Liberals use the cobweb model, which focuses on both states and non state actors. This is how the world operates in modern day.

44
Q

Outline the features of world systems theory

A

A neo-Marxist idea developed by Immanuel Wallerstein. Three interlocking parts:

  1. Core areas - the most developed, richest countries in the world.
  2. Peripheral areas - the least developed, poorest countries in the world.
  3. Semi-peripheral areas - economically mixed areas that include some core features and some peripheral features.
45
Q

What are the causes of economic globalisation?

A
  • Creation of the Bretton Woods System
  • Replacement of the Bretton Woods System with the Washington Consensus
  • The collapse of the USSR in 1991. After 1991, market capitalism swept the rest of the world
  • Technology advancements (phones, the internet, travel, social networks, large TNCs, robots).
  • Ideological changes, and the spread of consumerism and individualism. There is no rival to Western capitalism.
46
Q

Define HOT MONEY

A

Hot money is the flow of funds (or capital) from one country to another in order to earn short term profits on interest rate differences and anticipated exchange rate shifts.

47
Q

Outline what happened during the 2008 financial crash

A

Banks stopped lending in August 2007. Large investment banks in the USA started to be bailed out by the government. A lot of mortgage lenders were found to be unable to pay their mortgages . Several banks in the UK were nationalised and bailed out by the government . In Sep 2008 the stock market started to freefall worldwide and started the global recession.

48
Q

Outline what happened during the 1997 Asian crisis

A

Traders in Thailand began to sell strongly, causing te government to devalue their currency. Similar situations occurred in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and South Korea. Wages plummeted, unemployment increased and economic output fell. The IMF issued bail out funds to Indonesia, Thailand and S Korea.

49
Q

Define COLONIALISM

A

Colonialism is the practice of establishing control over foreign territory and turning it into a colony as a form of imperialism. Colonialism is associated with the historic examples of the western powers.
EXAMPLE: India under British control. English is their official language.

50
Q

What are the ‘Asian Tigers’?

A

The Four Asian Tigers are the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, which underwent rapid industrialization and maintained growth rates of 7%+ a year between the early 1960s and 1990s.

51
Q

What are the advantages of globalisation?

A
  • Globalisation lifts millions out of poverty
  • Innovation and creation of non-Western TNCs
    EXAMPLE: Acer in Taiwan.
  • The global benefits brought by TNCs, such as improved infrastructure, higher employment rates, economic growth.
  • Globalisation creates a global middle class that Johann Norberg argues increases democracy
52
Q

What are the disadvantages of globalisation?

A
  • Globalisation bring inequality, both between and within states.
  • Global TNCs exploit workers in a ‘race to the bottom’.
    EXAMPLE: the Rena Plaza factory collapse that killed over 1000 people in 2013.
  • Causes environmental damage
  • Economic globalisation exports jobs abroad
53
Q

Define IMPERIALISM

A

Imperialism is the policy of extending the power or rule of the state beyond its boundaries, typically through the establishment of an empire.

54
Q

Define DECOLONISATION

A

Decolonisation is the withdrawal from its colonies of a colonial power; the acquisition of political or economic independence by such colonies.

55
Q

In what ways is sovereignty an outdated concept?

A
  • Borders are now more permeable. They have been increasingly penetrated by external forces and states are no longer significant territorial units.
  • Rise of non-state actors mean that states are not the only dominant actors
  • The development of global problems tat require global solutions.
  • The development of a worldwide standard for human rights
56
Q

In what ways is sovereignty still a relevant concept?

A
  • Much of the economic activity takes place within countries rather than between them, making the ‘borderless world’ a myth.
  • States remain the most important actors on the world stage
  • The advance of political globalisation has led to pooled sovereignty through the use of IGOs. This helps states achieve common goals through cooperation.
  • States will not willingly give up their own sovereignty while they continue to pursue their own interests and protect their own security.
57
Q

What was the Treaty of Westphalia?

A

A treaty signed in 1648 concluding the Thirty Years War in Europe, which led to recognition from European leaders that each had the right to rule their own territory free from outside interference. It included 3 theories, that were later included in the UN charter:

  • Territoriality
  • Sovereignty
  • Autonomy
58
Q

What is the idea of the ‘disaggregated state’?

A

The tendency for states to become increasingly fragmented actors in global politics as every part of the government (and private sector) becomes entangled with its foreign counterpart in dealing with global issues.
EXAMPLE: about 160 Mayors, experts, local politicians, MEPs, refugees and NGO-representatives from 22 nations gathered in Vienna at the Third International Mayors’ Conference.

59
Q

Before globalisation, what was life like in Britain?

A
  • No holidays abroad
  • Food sourced from home or within the Commonwealth
  • Nationalised industries such as factories, mines, steel, ship building
  • Steam train was most common mode of transport
  • Entertainment came from the BBC (radio).
60
Q

Define CONFLICT

A

Conflict is the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. It can sometimes materialise itself as armed conflict between states.

61
Q

Define COOPERATION

A

Cooperation is when states work together to solve issues that are intrinsically transnational.

62
Q

What was the Arab Spring?

A

The Arab Spring was a revolutionary wave of both violent and non violent demonstrations and protests throughout North Africa and the Middle East from 2010-2012. It aimed to bring democratic values such as free elections and human rights to these areas and was aided by the process of cultural globalisation and the spread of technology.

63
Q

What are examples of cultural globalisation?

A
  • 50% of internet traffic exists in English
  • most young people use Facebook as their only source of news
  • McDonaldisation
  • human rights agenda (the Arab Spring)
  • clash of civilisations
64
Q

What are examples of political globalisation?

A
  • erosion of state sovereignty through international organisations such as the EU
  • cultural imperialism through worlds systems theory
  • the UN supporting human rights through HI (Libya, Somalia, Rwanda)
  • global conferences and agreements (climate conferences at Rio, Kyoto, Copenhagen, Paris)

A level Politics Unit 3 (4 decks)

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