Global Governance : Politics Flashcards
What are the origins of the United Nations ?
- founded on 1945 post World War II allies
- initially had 51 member states (now has 193 member states, e.g most recently South Sudan in 2011)
- founded on the principle of equality of all memebers regardless of size, wealth or military strength, but in practice the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council wield the most power
- headquarters in the New York City, with offices in Geneva, The Hague (ICJ), Milan
What is the UN ?
- the UN stands for United Nations
- the world’s intergovernmental organisation, founded in 1945 and comprises of 193 member states
- it has a wide range of responsibilities and powers (e.g international peace and security, economic development, human rights and social progress)
What is NATO ?
- NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
- a military alliance consisting of the USA and its key western allies, with the purpose to protect Western Europe from military threats from the Soviet Union
What is origins of NATO ?
- formed in the 1949 through the North Atlantic Treaty, a collective military agreement initially signed by 12 nations (10 European states, + the US and Canada)
- this agreement was signed in Washington DC at the start of the Cold War and its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium
What is Global Governance ?
The act of trying to command authority over particular territory or a group, but on a global scale
Define isolationist
When a country reject global governance and choose to do it themselves
Why is it difficult to achieve global governance ?
- States are principal actors
- International law is largely unenforceable
- Rouge states
- Failed states
- Powerful states
Why does ‘states are principle actors’ make global governance difficult achieve ?
- states are the main actors with global governance
- global governance refers to decisions made by other states collectively
Why does ‘international law is largely unenforceable’ make global governance difficult achieve ?
- states must choose to sign treaties and agreements (e.g Trump (USA) opting out of the TPP agreement in 2017)
- international law is optional as well, some states may choose to sign but not ratify
Why does ‘rouge states’ make global governance difficult achieve ?
- state has no desire to be apart of global governance
- they actively separate themselves from the community
-e.g North Korea, Afghanistan
Why do ‘failed states’ make global governance difficult achieve ?
- they have no control over their own government, therefore they cannot be apart of a community which involves cooperation and requires connection within a state
- governments that cannot control their population cannot be globally involved
- e.g Somalia, Syria, Sudan
Why do ‘powerful states ’ make global governance difficult achieve ?
- as they can pick and choose, when and which treaty they want to apply to
-e.g Russia
What are the ways in which political global governance is achieved ?
- International treaties
- AdHoc Meetings
- IGOs
How to international treaties help achieve global governance ?
They are a way of creating international law more flexibly on a specific issue within an IGO or separate from an IGO
How do AdHoc meetings help achieve global governance ?
States meet in an informal setting and undertake negotiations and agreements on a AdHoc basis
E.g Trump meeting King Jong Un
How have IGOs helped to achieve global governance ?
D
What are the 3 main methods of political global governance ?
- IGOs : Provide a permanent and rules-based framework for political cooperation
- INTERNATIONAL TREATIES : Means of creating international laws on specific issues
- AD-HOC MEETINGS : informal meetings and negotiations
Aims of the UN Charter
- to maintain international peace and security
- to maintain friendly relations
- to promote respect for human rights
- to to uphold respect for international law
- to promote social progress
Current UN Challneges : Climate Change
IPCC
Aims to get a majority states to agree on the existence and impact of climate change
UNFCCC
Organises key international summits non environmental issues and climate change
Current UN Challenges : Nuclear Weapons and Proliferation
- Aims to limit the spread or proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
- e,g Non-[proliferation Treaty (NPT)
- UN Disarmament
Current UN Challenges : Peace and Security
- UNSC became more active in matters of peace and security after the Cold War ended in 1991
Current UN Challenges : Reducing poverty
- Millennium development goals 2000-2015 : INcrease development efforts
- sustainable development goals : continued this effort after the MDGs relative success
UN Security Council
- executive committee
- responsible for peace and security and for passing binding resolutions
- 5 permanent members (USA, France, Russia, Uk, china)
- 10 additional non-permanent members chosen by regional quotas who serve 2 year terms
ICJ (international court of justice)
Makes judgements on territorial or border dispute between states
E.g Nigeria v Cameroon [dispute about oil]
El Salvador and Honduras
ECOSOC [Economic and social council]
- responsible for economic security and development, and human rights
- 54 memebers states, elected by the UNGA for 3 year terms
