EQ3: what are the impacts of global organisations on managing global issues and conflict?

Question 1

define human rights

Answer 1

refers to the universal rights such as the right to free speech, the right to choose one’s leaders in free elections and the right to live free from harassment. some definitions include the right to clean drinking water, decent income and food supply.

Question 2

when was the UN founded?

Answer 2

October 1945

Question 3

what were four key factors that the introduction to the 1945 UN charter included?

Answer 3

• to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights
• to establish conditions under which justice and respect can be maintained
• to promote social progress and better standards of life

Question 4

describe the organisational structure of the UN

Answer 4

UN general assembly - all 193 member states.
A debating and voting body

security council- five permanent members (USA, France, China, UK and Russia) and ten other member states take turns on a rotating basis.
the key decision-making body on conflict and security issues

international court of justice - sits in The Hague, Netherlands,
puts war criminals on trial

specialised agencies- food & agriculture organisations, international monetary fund, world bank, world health organisation

Question 5

describe the competing visions of the UN in terms of the primary purposes

Answer 5

Equality and social progress:
vision of the EUROPEANS
-the idea of European liberal democracy
-European-style welfare state to help people
Promote trade and create wealth:
vision of the USA
-a stable world economic order, benefitting trade and TNC’s
-capitalism is ‘good’ and those against in need to be converted
Prevent conflict:
vision of CHINA and RUSSIA
-neither wants the UN interfering in their countries in terms of democracy or human rights
-instead the UN allows powerful countries to talk to each other

Question 6

which nation states together pay over 50% of the annual UN budget? what does this mean?

Answer 6

USA (22%) and EU countries (35%)

gives these western capitalist democracies a very large say in the direction and purpose of the UN

Question 7

define intervention (in reference to the UN)

Answer 7

the action by the UN within the territory of a member state, to prevent conflict, economic crisis, famine, disease epidemics, human rights buses and other issues. The UN assembly and security council pass resolutions which provide the legal basis for intervention

Question 8

define genocide

Answer 8

a deliberate attempt to exterminate an ethnic or religious group: e.g the Nazi extermination of Jews

Question 9

what are the two key types of intervention?

Answer 9

Economic sanctions: these affect the economy or member state by restricting exports and or imports, freezing the financial assets of government officials, preventing companies from international trading. the aim is to force a member state to negotiate by inflicting economic pain
direct military intervention: the use of UN peacekeeping forces to protect civilians and keep sides in a war apart, or in some cases the use of force to try and end a conflict.

Question 10

what was the apartheid?

Answer 10

a set of laws in South Africa that separated white and black South Africans and gave different rights to each. It was widely considered racist and an abuse of human rights. It ended in 1993.

Question 11

what were the UN sanctions against Iran designed to prevent

Answer 11

• Irans nuclear weapons programme

- thus preventing an expected war in the Middle East

Question 12

since 1945 how many times has the UN used peacekeepers?

Answer 12

56 times

Question 13

define conflict minerals

Answer 13

high-value minerals and ores, such as gold and diamonds, that have caused war as opposing groups fight to control mining and trade.

Question 14

define a failed state

Answer 14

a nation state where governance has broken down and there is no effective state that can protect a nations people. Basic services (water, health) have collapsed and the lack of security risks people’s lives on a daily basis.

Question 15

give an example of an area where the UN’s has had to carry through with a peacekeeping intervention

Answer 15

democratic republic of Congo since 1999

• fight between DRC government forces and various rebel groups
• at stake is control of the DRC and its vast mineral wealth including conflict minerals (high value minerals) like gold
• the war has ethnic dimensions and has spilled over into Uganda and Rwanda

Question 16

what did the UN do in Republic of Congo

Answer 16

• in 2017 there were 18,300 UN peacekeeping troops
• more than 30 member states contributed troops
• total cost has been over US$9 billion since 1999

Question 17

evaluate an example of the UN’s peacekeeping intervention

Answer 17

DRC
+situation may have been worse without the intervention
+UN may have prevented involvement of other countries that may have resulted in an African World war
+UN has collected evidence that may lead to war crime trials
+Humanitarian help and aid has been provided by the UN, protected by peacekeepers
-despite 20 years of UN action, the war still raged in regions
-over 5 million dead, plus 200 UN peacekeepers
-shocking war crimes, involving war crimes, child soldiers and sexual violence have been widespread

Question 18

what is an example of an intervention (outside of the UN) made my a nation state on a ‘failed state’?

Answer 18

UK intervention in Sierra Leone (a former UK colony) in 2000.
-Sierra Leone descended into civil war in 1991 and by 1999, more than 50,000 were dead.
-the UN became involved in 1999, but this intervention failed and the UK decided to step in.
-Operation Palliser with 1,200 troops, naval air support, drove revel forces from the Free town and led to a ceasefire
-UK intervention saved the UN mission in Sierra Leone.
by 2002 the war was over.

Question 19

give three examples of intervention outside the UN

Answer 19

• The USA’s ‘war on terror’ since 2001
• UK and France in Libya, 2011
• Russia’s intervention in Ukraine in 2014

Question 20

what three IGO’s were set up in the 1940’s?

Answer 20

• World Bank in 1945- lent money for economic development projects to developing and emerging countries
• IMF in 1945- promotion of global economic stability, and helping countries in economic difficulty to recover
• World trade Organisation in 1948- promotion of free trade, based on idea that more trade means economic growth and wealth

Question 21

what was often referred to as the ‘third world debt’

Answer 21

developing countries often have large, unplayable debts and high annual debt interest payments.
structural adjustment policies were used to reduce this third world debt

Question 22

what are structural adjustment policies (SAP’s)

Answer 22

economic policies such as government spending cuts and trade liberalisation, imposed by the IMF on indebted countries. The IMF effectively controls economic policy in the country until debt is reduced to manageable levels.

Question 23

define economic sovereignty

Answer 23

when a nation state makes its own economic decisions, without outside interference or influence by organisations such as the IMF.

Question 24

debt relief schemes- run by the IMF- involved developing countries doing what?

Answer 24

agreeing to giving up some economic sovereignty by agreeing to programmes of :

• reduced spending on health, education and other social programmes
• opening up their economies to foreign investments by TNC’s
• adopting free trade policies
• privatising government-run industries

Question 25

what does HIPC stand for

Answer 25

Heavily indebted poor countries initiative - The joint IMF&World Bank comprehensive approach to debt reduction

Question 26

give an example of the effect of the HIPC on an indebted country

Answer 26

Uganda
+starting in 2000, debt eventually fell from around US$5 billion to US$1.1 billion by 2007
+money saved form debt was pout towards poverty action funds, providing clean water for 2.2 million people
+between 1993 and 2012, poverty levels fell from 55% to 25%.
+education and enrolment increased from 62% to 87%.
-no debt was cancelled until the full 6-year, painful reform programme was finished
-poverty may have increased during the 6-year programme, but fell after it.
-remaining debts, even after 6 years, may be unsustainably high: 17% of GDP in Uganda’s case in 2013.

Question 27

what are the thee main trade blocs and who do they involve

Answer 27

NAFTA: The North American free trade agreement, set up in 1992, involves Mexico, Canada and the USA
ASEAN: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations formed in 1967, involves Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines etc
EU: 28 member states (27 when the UK leaves) and was founded as a trade bloc but has evolved to be a political and social union with free movement of goods, services and people between member states

Question 28

define global governance

Answer 28

refers to efforts, at an international level, to manage issues such as conflict, human rights abuses, environmental issues, poverty and inequality.

Question 29

why did the new focus of global environmental issues emerge in the late 60’s?

Answer 29

• rapidly rising world population, passing 3 billion around 1960 and growing fears of food and water shortages
• issues such as air pollution, water pollution and toxic chemicals in the food chain became too serious to ignore.
• the conquest of outer space provided images of Earth from above, showing people just how small and isolated out planet is

Question 30

what convention was set up in 1973 regarded endangered species

Answer 30

1973- the convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES) by the International union for the conservation of nature (IUCN) which itself was founded in 1948 by UNESCO

Question 31

what is UNESCO

Answer 31

the united nations educational, scientific and cultural Organisation.

Question 32

evaluate CITES (convention on international trade in endangered species)

Answer 32

+membership is almost universal
+protected species include a wide variety of plants and animals from across the world
+key successes include reducing ivory trade, although illegal poaching has increased in the last decade
+has raised awareness of high threatened species e.g the snow leopard
-species not ecosystems are protected so issues such as deforestation are not addressed.
-relies on countries, many of which are poor, putting in place their own monitoring and policing systems
-species have to be under threat to be ‘on the list’ many of which are too serious to solve
-economic interests get in the way. e.g commercial fishing of bluefin tuna

Question 33

what is the ozone?

Answer 33

a form of oxygen (O3) in the stratosphere. it helps filter out harmful incoming ultraviolet light from the sun, which causes cancer in animal species

Question 34

what was the Montreal protocol in 1987

Answer 34

an example of an international agreement which was designed to deal with the issue of ozone depletion:

• in 1993 chemists invented a new gas called CFC’s which proved useful in refrigeration etc
• were widely used in industry but was found to be destroying the stratospheric ozone
• British antarctic survey discovered a ‘hole’- thinning over Antarctica.

Question 35

what does the UNFCCC stand for?

Answer 35

United nation framework convention on climate change

Question 36

why has the issue of global warming been more difficult to manage internationally rather than the ozone issue?

Answer 36

• first discussed by world leaders at the UN summit in 1992 but not action was taken
• in 1997, the Kyoto protocol treaty agreed on carbon emissions cuts for developing nations, but were only small and some counters - USA, Russia, Canada and Australis did not agree.
• 2015 Paris agreement made more significant progress with international agreements to cut carbon emissions down. However the USA pulled out.

Question 37

define transboundary water resources

Answer 37

those which are shared across one or more international borders.

Question 38

define global common and give an examples

Answer 38

areas of the earth which are not owned by nation states: they are include the open oceans, Antarctica and the atmosphere.
Antarctica

Question 39

what is Antarctica governed by?

Answer 39

ATS- Antarctica treaty system which came into force in 1961 and has been signed by 53 nation states.

Question 40

what does the ATS do?

Answer 40

• puts on hold territorial claims
• set aside Antarctica for peaceful, scientific purposes- military forces are banned
• banned all resource extraction and strictly manages fishing tourism
• the results of science carried out in Antarctica are shared, all areas are accessible to all scientists

Question 41

where are there arguments for international action in other ‘world parks’ (other than Antarctica)

Answer 41

• Arctic Ocean, threatened by global warming and future oil and gas exploitation
• remaining tropical rainforests (Amazonia etc)
• oceans, threatened by plastic pollution and over fishing

Question 42

why is international action on ‘world parks’ unlikely

Answer 42

because some of these places are sovereign territory, and nation states would have to give up sovereignty to allow international management

Question 43

what was the Arab spring

Answer 43

(2011)
a popular uprising against military dictatorships in North Africa (Libya, Tunisia, Egypt) and the Middle East (Syria, Iran) which led to the overthrow of several governments but also longer term conflict in Syria and Libya.