Geopolitical Intervention Flashcards
Positive effects of geopolitical intervention?
=> Cost Effective: Only 0.5% of global annual military budget.
=> Missions are specific and mandated. They can be long term and flexible, can be adapted if needed. (5,000 reinforcements in South Sudan).
=> Special Envoys: They can raise public awareness. (Jolie for refugees).
=> Peacekeepers: Can work with local partners to sustain local logistics (e.g food) and political strategic solutions.
Negative effects of geopolitical interventions?
=> Dangerous (Over 4000 deaths of UN Peacekeepers.
=> Still can be expensive. ($1 billion in S. Sudan yearly), missions may be underfunded.
=> Limited effect: Walking kids to school, Jammur and Kashmir dispute despite 70 years.
=> Foreign: Not willing to risk lives in a foreign theatre, not always listened too. Seen as distant cause.
Flows of people in geopolitical intervention?
=> Diplomacy: Heads of state meet to find peace.
=> Diplomats and ambassadors: Back channels for negotiations between states. (Cuban Missile Crisis).
=> Sending observers or monitors, envoys and negotiators: Builds public trust in election results and democratic processes. (2000 - 80% of elections are monitored).
=> Allocation of Peacekeepers: Done esp. by UN. (Jammur and Kashmir border). BUT peacekeepers have a patchy record of protecting civilians (tragedies that still occurred with their presence include: Rwanda and Cambodia).
Role of money in geopolitical intervention?
=> UN requires member states to pay into a general pot. Payed according to GDP. Failure to pay means withdrawal of vote at GA.
=> NATO needs every member country to spend 2% of GDP on military budgets. America has threatened to withdraw.
=> IMF and World Bank: Development banks, designed to alleviate poverty and share prosperity.
=> Embargoes and sanctions: Seen as a way to ‘punish’, though rarely effective. Tend to end up hurting the people, rather than targeted elites. E.g Sanctions against Russia has not stopped the building of Nord Stream 2.
Positive effects of technology in geopolitical intervention?
=> For peacekeeping and humanitarian effort: satellite imagery, drones, surveillance.
=> Immediate electronic transfer of information: Better use and coordination of information, especially in areas of no maps/ destroyed roads.
Negative effects of technology in geopolitical intervention?
=> Buying and selling of arms: Especially if it threatens the population/ another state. (UK and US selling to Saudi who bomb Yemen).
=> Systems: Hacking, censorship (China’s great firewall). Spying.
Role of ideas in geopolitical intervention? Importance?
=> Spreading positive images of wealth and power (E.g through social and corporate media, film, TV), —> Soft Power.
=> Promoting liberal ideals of democracy, peace, equality. BUT often at odds with states such as China and Russia.
=> Promote ideas of equality e.g gender (41 female members of Mongolia peacekeeping team in Bentiu).
=> IMPORTANT as the spread of ideas encourages uptake of democracy, prosperity, equality, and peace. Allows norms to be embedded, needed for successful intervention.
