Eq2

Question 1

What is a bio polar world ?

Answer 1

system of world order in which the majority of global economic, military and cultural influence is held between two states (e.g. USA and Soviet Union during Cold War).

Question 2

What is communism ?

Answer 2

a system in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.

Question 3

What are the asian tigers ?

Answer 3

the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, which
underwent rapid industrialisation and maintained exceptionally high growth rates between the early 1960s and 1990s.

Question 4

What is Neo liberalism

Answer 4

a political philosophy of free markets, free trade, privatisation and increasing the role of business in society (while decreasing the influence of government). It is thought that by making trade easier, there will be more of it, meaning wealth and reduction of poverty.

Question 5

What is the bretton woods institution?

Answer 5

the World Bank, IMF and WTO. Set up at a meeting of 43
countries in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA in July 1944. Their aims were to help rebuild the shattered postwar economy and to promote international economic cooperation.

Question 6

What is the world bank?

Answer 6

Its role is to finance development. It also focuses on addressing the effects of natural disasters as well on humanitarian emergencies but its main role has been to help capitalism function.

Question 7

What is the imf ?

Answer 7

The International Monetary Fund. -The job was to stabilise global currencies after the 1930s depression. Fourth four countries initially joined to create a fund (mostly paid for by the wealthiest nations) to be used for loans to help those countries facing heavy debt helping to stabilise currencies and economies.

The imf now has 189 members but their individual voting rights are proportional to the amounts they have invested

Question 8

What is the world trade organisation

Answer 8

The wto focuses on trade and rules.

Allowing for fair and balanced trading

Question 9

What are TNC’s?

Answer 9

these are large businesses that operate in a number of countries. They often separate
their production between various locations, or have their different divisions

Question 10

How do TNC’s maximise profits?

Answer 10

Economies of scale, outsourcing, assessing new markets

Question 11

Explain how TNC’s have helped global trade?

Answer 11

Trade has increased by at least 46% per decade. In the 2000s global trade increased by over 85%.
• Part of the reason for this is the global shift in manufacturing to Asia by TNCs. Since the 1990s the shift has led to rapid increases in exports from developing countries. This has not only shifted economic power away from western economies into emerging economies but it has also made TNCs extremely powerful.
• Instead of trade occurring between different companies, much of the global trade is intra company, i.e between different branches of activities of the same companies.
• Most trade now consists of flows of components and services moving between one country and another before final product is completed. As a result the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimated in 2013 than TNCs account for 80% of all global trade.

Question 12

What are publicly owned TNC’s ?

Answer 12

They have shareholders who receive dividends based on profits each year

This is majority of TNC’s

Question 13

What are state led TNC’s ?

Answer 13

State led operate commercially but all profits are returned to the state

Question 14

What is a patent ?

Answer 14

This was to protect intellectual property so that the inventor had a right of ownership for the persons idea.

This favours TNC’s as they can spend more than anyone else on research

Question 15

What are the negatives of patents ?

Answer 15

Patents developed by pharmaceutical (drug) companies make medicines unaffordable in poorer countries. Eg hiv treatments are expensive and early variants tend to be toxic so later less damaging treatments were more desirable this has created a barrier for treatment is sub Saharan Africa

Question 16

What is the UN Security Council ?

Answer 16

In 1945 the UN set up the UN Security Council.

China, France, Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), the United Kingdom, and the United States are permanent members of the council

At any one time there are 10 non-permanent members who serve for two years each

Sixty countries have served over the last 7 years since the introduction

Question 17

What are the criticisms of the un council ?

Answer 17

Any of the 5 superpowers can veto a decision

USA, UK and France often vote as one against Russia and China – this means that there is a deadlock

In the last 50 years the UK, USA and France have often tried to get an agreement and then take action themselves.

This undermines the collective security the UN is trying to achieve.

Question 18

How are the USA considered as the ‘global police’

Answer 18

A striking feature of the last forty years is the number of times the USA has intervened
militarily in foreign countries:
• Through the security council
• With outside countries, outside the UN
• Unilaterally – with no support from other countries.
• Interventions have, however, often involved the UK and/or France, but rarely China or Russia.
• This reflects that the USA and European countries tend to have similar geopolitical concerns
not shared by China/Russia.

Some examples of this are Isreal, Vietnam, Pakistan

Question 19

Do any other countries police the world in a similar way to the USA ?

Answer 19

Russia has an alliance - the collective security treaty organisation. This consists of former ussr republics attached to Russia to Russia borders

China lacks formal military alliance but the Shanghai cooperation organisation.

Question 20

Finish 7.5 b +c

Question 21

Why would the use of resources increase if there is a growing middle class ? Plus the concerns of this ?

Answer 21

People have access to more funds so will be more able to afford resources increased consumption could have a negative impact on the physical environment

Question 22

Why would the use of water increase if there is a growing middle class ? Plus the concerns of this ?

Answer 22

If there is a growing middle class consumption of water for things like clothes and farming is going to increase as people have the money to afford these things

Concerns are the countries will overly use water for both drinking and farming. In India where farmers have been supplied with solar powered pumps groundwater is being used 3 times faster than it can be replenished

Question 23

Why would the use of food increase if there is a growing middle class ? Plus the concerns of this ?

Answer 23

If there is a growing middle class consumption of food for things like meat is going to increase as people have the money to afford these things as there is growing population

More meat being produced will mean more reproduction of cows which means more methane being released into the atmosphere. In addition to this farmers will need land to allow to produce the meat so this will probably lead to deforestation to create space to harvest the meat

Question 24

Why would the use of energy increase if there is a growing middle class ? Plus the concerns of this ?

Answer 24

If there is a growing middle class consumption of energy for things like electricity and lights is going to increase as people have the money to afford these things such as motorcycles or cars

With a growing population and an increasing living standard this will require more energy as more people will have the need for lights,electricity as more and more people can afford these things. In addition to this oil is a huge example of resource that has been in increased demand for either fuel or to create plastics

Question 25

Which superpower has the biggest carbon footprint?

Answer 25

Superpower with the biggest carbon footprint is china

And the EU and USA are doing the most to reduce there carbon footprint

Question 26

Which group area is going to have the highest demand for key resources and the physical environment?

Answer 26

Asia as its middle class is forecasted to triple to 1.7 billon by 2020 and in 2030 it will be home of 3 billion middle class people to demand for key resources and physical environment as its demand is only increasing due to a growing population. So demand will increase.

Globally this is going to be very bad for the environment. More pressure on our planet water,air pollution so more consequences for the poorer people

Question 27

What is the willingness to act ?

Answer 27

The action of superpowers to reduce environmental degradation sets the example for others to follow

However some may limitations set out if they feel it would damage their economy

Therefor global agreements can be difficult to agree on

Question 28

How have china been willing to act on environmental agreements?

Answer 28

China : china had a famine in the 1950s and never wants to experience a famine

China has agreement to cut co2 emissions which could limit economic growth

Post 2008 economic slowdown has drawn attention to costs of environmental degradation and the associated poor global reputation for pollution

Measures to protect the environment have started to be applied and now Chinese companies are some of the biggest clean energy firms

Question 29

How have the eu been willing to act on changing environmental agreements?

Answer 29

For many decades eu agriculture subsidies through the common agricultural policy encouraged farmers to grow food intensively using chemical fertilisers intensively

Question 30

How have Russia been willing to act on environmental agreements?

Answer 30

Has taken a lead in reducing greenhouse emissions by using nanotechnologies,energy efficiency laws and other mandatory changes to energy consumption. As a result it has a surplus of carbon credits to trade in the global carbon emissions trading scheme.