EQ3

Question 1

What is the UN?

Answer 1

Set up in 1945 as the first post war IGO to be established.
It aims to maintain international peace and security, promote human rights, improve development levels and manage global environmental problems. Success varies according to different geopolitical viewpoints of Security council and effectiveness of actions taken by different sections of the organisation.

Question 2

What are the 5 main organisational bodies of the UN?

Answer 2

General Assembly
Security Council
Economic and Social Council
Secretariat
International Court of Justice

Question 3

How do they UN support human rights through sanctions?

Answer 3

Member states agree to restrict trade or cultural exchange with a country e.g. Libyan gov renounced its weapons of mass destruction under UN sanctions.

Question 4

How do they UN support human rights through UN troops?

Answer 4

Drawn from armed forces of many member states including the UK. e.g. during Rwanda genocides the UN troops deployed but left as it was unstable.

Question 5

How do they UN support human rights through war crime trials?

Answer 5

War court was established in Hague in 1988 to convict war leaders e.g. 2008 Bosnian Serb leader Kadovan Karadzi was accused of genocide in Sarajeus, convicted in March 2016 and sentenced to 40 yrs.

Question 6

How do they UN support human rights through healthcare and shelter for refugees?

Answer 6

The UN High Commission for Refugees, support people affected by conflict e.g. Rohingya refugees fleeing from attacks in Myanmar, 931K refugees arrived in Bangladesh. Community protection meant people learnt how to protect themselves and shelters.

Question 7

Why is UN support for human rights vary in success?

Answer 7

The UN has no hard power methods to police countries e.g. war criminals can evade capture, people can still be vulnerable to abuse, not all countries follow sanctions.

Question 8

What is unilateral intervention?

Answer 8

military intervention undertaken by a state or group outside the ‘umbrella’ of the UN, may be due to a particular territorial dispute or a human right issues

Question 9

Why do states do unilateral intervention?

Answer 9

UN member states may be undecided, UN security council cannot agree on actions, states want to intervein in failed states or want to counter international terrorism.

Question 10

What are some examples of unilateral intervention?

Answer 10

Russia annexing Crimea in 2014 - Russia did not listen to the UN votes, they voted to remain in Ukraine, had 100 to 11 in favour which means tensions between members and Russia has increased causing global instability.

Question 11

How have the USA performed unilateral intervention?

Answer 11

The USA with assistant from UK and France have taken military action against failed states( Yemen, Somalia, Syria) this is because the failed state gov has lost political control and are unable to fulfil basic responsibility.
- Unmanned drones have been used which challenges international law makers by breaking article 51 of US charter - e.g. drone strikes killed thousands in N Pakistan part of a war on terror.
- US and UK invaded Iraq in 2003 - actions were justified by allegations that weapons of mass destruction were present, move was opposed by UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

Question 12

Why were the IMF, WB and WTO established?

Answer 12

they were established by WW11 allies, and were made to avoid a return to damaging protectionist policies of the 1930s - it was decided under the Washington Consensus to implement principles to help regulate and foster the growth of global economy and trade flows (free trade)

Question 13

What are the key principles of the IMF, WB and WTO?

Answer 13

establishment of a fixed rate of exchange system based on gold and the US dollar. Use of the IMF and WB to stabilise global systems of finance and trade by providing loans to states. Establishment of GATT by 23 leading nations which aims to remove barriers to trade and investment flows.

Question 14

What was the USA’s influence on the UN?

Answer 14

The USA had lots of influence over the economic system design, this is because it was the only WW11 power with substantial financial resources. Both the IMF and WB headquarters are in Washington. Free market principles the Bretton Wood Institutions promote have become known as the ‘Washington Consensus’.
Phrase suggest the USA used considerable hegemonic power to gain support of other states for the economic policies it prefer to promote.
Western countries favour developed over developing countries in terms of help they offer.

Question 15

What are SAPs and what are the problems with them?

Answer 15

Structural Adjustment Policies - IMF and WB only agree to help countries if they agree to these.
They lend money but with strict conditions and concessions attached. Includes - opening up domestic markets, reducing role of governments by privatising, removing restrictions on capital, reduce gov spending, devaluing currency to make export cheaper.
Critics argue - loans are reliant on a country implementing these policies by govs forcing them, so not always beneficial

Question 16

What happened in the 1980s with SAPs?

Answer 16

Interest rates rapidly increased, leading to increased global debts, developing countries were affected since the loan became unaffordable and quickly accumulated. They were written off by a deal with G7 countries in 2005, £30bn of debt of 18 poorest countries.

Question 17

What are Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative’s (HIPC)?

Answer 17

These were introduced after SAPs, they aimed to reduce national debts by partially writing them off in return for SAPS, by 2008 the G8 cancelled out all debts of 18 HIPCs. In order for this each country had to show financial management and a lack of corruption, national gov spending any savings on poverty reduction, education and healthcare.

Question 18

What is a example were HIPCs were used?

Answer 18

Uganda - 60% debt cancelled by the WB and IMF, Uganda debt relief programme (NGO) was set up to check if money was spent on access to water, subsidence, medicines and rural areas had to benefit the most.
Tanzania - After water services fell in 1990s, they applied for a $143, loan from WB, but had to privatise water, led to poorest not being able to afford it. Gov then cancelled contracts in 2005 and received support from African Development Bank, then in 2012 Indian gov loaned $178m

Question 19

Why were trade blocs created?

Answer 19

Failure of the WTO to deliver on its promises of free trade has led to the worlds states creating trade blocs e.g. EU, NAFTA and ASEAN.

Question 20

How do trade blocs encourage integration?

Answer 20

Encourage it as centripetal forces draw people/countries together e.g. common currency, sharing laws(closer political unity) but centrifugal forces can drive them apart and cause less integration (e.g. nationalism within UK by EU laws which is diluting UK sovereignty)

Question 21

What are benefits of trade blocs?

Answer 21

economies of scale means business have access to larger markets, therefore they can scale up production, manufacture bulk quantities which reduce unit costs and earn more profit. Allows markets for firms to grow, comparative advantage and spatial divisions of labour.
TNCs can also merge for cost effectiveness and trade blocs can agree a external tariff and quota for foreign imports (protectionism can disadvantage some though) e.g. EU blocking imports of underwear from China.

Question 22

What is the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone layer?

Answer 22

involves phasing out CFCs - its very successful, many countries have phased out CFCs and there is scientific proof the ozone layer has been restored.

Question 23

What climate change agreements are there?

Answer 23

Paris agreement 2015 - aims to keep CO2 levels down and warming below 2C. Critics say it does not go far enough, it is less successful, has very slow implementation and not all countries have signed.

Question 24

What is Protection of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES)?

Answer 24

bans trade in threatened species and their products. It has saved some species e.g. Arabian Oryx, but rising wealth in China and Indonesia increases illegal trade in some prohibited substances such as Ivory and Rhino Horn, also it is hard to monitor due to a lack of funding.

Question 25

What is a Millennium Ecosystem Assessment(MEA)?

Answer 25

A financial value is placed on threatened biomes and investigates their level of threats - fits with global capitalist value of economic system that is putting a monetary value on something the government and people are most likely to preserve it e.g. ecosystems provide us with services.

Question 26

What is the UN Convection on the law of the seas (UNCLOS)?

Answer 26

Declares ownership of a states sea 20 nautical miles from their land, Gives landlocked countries entitlement to seas near them and aims to protect marine diversity and ocean environments. It gives EEZ to exploit areas of the ocean e.g. S China Spratley islands for naval forces allows them to explore/exploit.

Question 27

What is the International Whaling Commission (IWC)?

Answer 27

Suspended/stopped commercial whaling to protect environments/ ecosystems, but Japan, Norway and Iceland still commercially whale for what they say is for ‘scientific reasons’. Japan has also ignored the ICOJ so it is hard to enforce all laws.

Question 28

What is Helsinki rules?

Answer 28

Share water by natural factors, social and economic needs, dependency and efficiency. But is hard to enforce as nations believe in sovereign rights to use water. Some more powerful/upstream countries have more control e.g. Colorado river

Question 29

What is the Antarctic Treaty system?

Answer 29

established in 1959, 53 nations signed it with 20 having permanent scientific bases there.
No one owns it but increasingly nations have made territorial claims.
It has led to no mining, exploration or weapon testing allowed until 2024, but depleting fossil fuel resources might put pressure on the continents and pressure from increased tourism due to shrinking world technology.