Global: political and economic governance

Question 1

What is the UN and when was it established?

Answer 1

• The UN is the major political global goverance institution, regulating relations between nation-states. It now has 193 member states.
• It was established in 1945 after WW2 to replace the league of nations.
• The UN is a liberal organisation, so seeks to give states all possible chances to cooperate.
• However, the UN explicilty recognises the need to respect state sovereignty in Article 2 of its charter - it requires the consent of its members to be effective.

Question 2

Main aims of the UN set out in it’s charter

Answer 2

• Maintain global peace and security.
• Encourage closer relations between nation-states.
• Improve global respect for human rights and international law.
• Encourage global economic and social wellbeing.

Question 3

Main institutions of the UN

Answer 3

• UN General Assembly (UNGA).
• UN Security Council (UNSC).
• International Court of Justice (ICJ).
• UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Question 4

UNSC - aims and info

Answer 4

• UN’s most powerful organ, seeking to maintain peace and security.
• Has 15 members: 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent members who are elected by UNGA and serve overlapping 2-year terms.
• UNSC resolutions are legally binding under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, so can impose sanctions or take military action ‘to maintain or restore international peace and security.’
• 9 votes are needed to pass a resolution, though any of the permanent members can veto resolutions that they disagree with.

Question 5

Important UNSC resolutions which have passed

Answer 5

• After Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the UNSC authorised members to use all neccesary measn to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation, providing the legal justification for the first US-led Gulf War
• In 1991 after Iraq’s defeat in the first Gulf War, Iraqi Shia Muslims and Kurds revolted against Saddam Hussein. As a result of Hussein’s brutal suppression, the UNSC passed a revolution mandating no fly zones within Iraq to protect these groups.
• In 2011 due to prompting from the Arab League, they authorised a no-fly zone and the use of all neccesary measured to protect civillians under threat from Gaddafi.
• In 2023 there were 12 active peacekeeping missions authorised by the UNSC. - Biggest is in South Sudan, where 17,000 UN personnel are responsible for creating peace and security. 15,000 also in the DRC to protect civillians and deliver humanitarian aid.
• 2024 demanding a ceasefire in Gaza for the month of Ramadan and demanding all barriers on humanitarian aid be lifted

Question 6

UNSC resolutions which were vetoed

Answer 6

• China has been generally opposed to western humanitarian intervention and has strong strategic interests in Myanmar, so vetoed a resoltion which condemned the military coup that overthrew the elected government.
• In September 2022 Russia vetoed a resolution which condemned its annexation of four Ukranian regions as illegal and demanded that it immediately and unconditionally withdrew its forced from Ukraine.
• The USA has almost always vetoed resoltutions condeming Israel. Promised them in 2002 that they would denounce any resoltion which condemned Israel but not terrorists.

Question 7

Failed UNSC resolutions

Answer 7

• When civil war broke out in somalia in 1992, a resolution was passed establishing a peacekeeping mission there. The vast size of the country combined with the complex ethnic, tribal, and religious tensions, and insufficient military deployment, meant that the UN could do nothing to restore peace and withdrew in 1995.
• After the break up of Yugoslavia, the UNSC passed a resolution demanding that Srebrenica be a safe area, but UN blue helmets were not given sufficient resources or mandate to protect the area, allowing Serbian forces to massacre over 8000 muslim boys and men - genocide.
• In Rwanda in 1994 the UN increased the number of peacekeepers there from 444 to 5500 and gave them greater power to protect civillians and distribute aid, but they were much too late as most of the killing had already taken place as the resolution came more than a month after the genocide had started.

Question 8

Criticisms of the UNSC

Answer 8

• UK’s and France’s permanent membership is questionable as they are no longer global superpowers.
• Western liberal democracies have disproportionate membership - France, UK, USA.
• Russia willingly defies international law - Ukraine war condemned by UNGA.
• No emerging power membership - Nigeria, Brazil, India?
• Is a veto a good idea at all? allows countries to prioritise national interests over greater good. –> Russia and China have vetoed motions such as the condemnation of the Syrian gov using chemical weapons against its own population.

Question 9

Reasons UNSC membership shouldn’t be reformed

Answer 9

• How would we agree on which new permanent members to add?
• Would be very controversial to revoke any memberships - potentially contradict one of the UN’s main aims of creating stronger relations between nation-states.
• Need to be careful not to further entrench western influence by adding states like Germany - could replace France though?
• More permanent members would make reaching decisions much more difficult in a multipolar world, meaning less frequent resolutions and interventions. States such as India and Pakistan may oppose eachother for example (although we already have this with Russia/China currently).

Question 10

UNGA overview

Answer 10

• General assembly where all members of the UN can debate and vote on pressing international issues - all nations represented equally.
• UNGA can pass resolutions in all areas of governance.
• Resolutions not legally binding but have significant authority. - e.g., climate change has gained greater priority status as it is frequently discussed there. –> Voted unanimously in 2022 that acess to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a universal human right. –> increased pressure on nations to commit to reducing emissions.
• Has also agreed on the UN millenium development goals and SDGs.
• Full meeting held every September where it is addressed by international leaders. - in 2022 Joe Biden and Macron used their speeches to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Question 11

Criticims of UNGA

Answer 11

• Resolutions not legally binding so only have symbolic value.
• World leaders can use the forum to criticise enemies and defend their actions, expoiting the forum for their own self-interest. –> Trump in 2019 condemned China and Iran and proclaimed that the future is for patriots, not globalists.
• Should all votes count equally? - why is Cambodia’s vote as important as the China’s?

Question 12

ECOSOC overview

Answer 12

• Economic and Social Council.
• Coordinates many of the UN development projects.
• 54 members elected for 3-year terms.
• Manages well-known UN agencies such as the WHO and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). - plays important role in responding to humanitarian disasters, such as the WHO helping to coordinate covid-19 vaccine deliveries.
• Committed to sustainable development and works closely with NGOs such as the Clinton and Gates foundations to fight global poverty.
• Implemented the MDGs from 2000-2015 and is now focusing on the SDGs until 2030. - Extreme poverty has halved since the MDGs were introduced.

Question 13

ECOSOC criticisms

Answer 13

• President only serves a 1 year term, so leadership and vision can be inconsistent.
• Growing number of aid orgainsations often have overlapping jurasdication and confusing accountability, which can create bureaucracy and duplication. - E.g., The World Food Programme and UN Development Programme are accountable to the UNGA, not ECOSOC.
• Monitors but has no jurisdiction over how the WHO develops its policy.
• World bank and IMF report to ECOSOC but are accountable to the governments that fund them.
• Relies on cooperation of nation-states.

Question 14

ICJ overview

Answer 14

• Established in 1945 and aims to resolve legal disputes between states, generally relating to territory.
• It has 15 judges, elected by the UNGA.
• ICJ rulings are binding, but the ICJ has no supranational authority to enforce them, although states can agree beforehand to accept the rulings of a case.

Question 15

ICJ failures

Answer 15

• In 2022 ruled that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had no legal justification so must suspend military operations, but Russia refused, saying that the ICJ has no jurasdiction over it, and that Russia was acting in self-defense.
• In 2022 the UNGA requested for the ICJ to rule on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, but Israel immediately condemned the move and stated that it would not be bound by an ICJ ruling against it.
• In 2021 the ICJ ruled in favour of Somalia over Kenya in a maritime border dispute, but Kenya refused to accept this and accused the court of bias.

Question 16

ICJ Success

Answer 16

Rulings can hold considerable moral weight:
* In 2022 ruled that Uganda owed the DRC $325 millon in reparations due to its military intervention from 1998-2003. Uganda complied and paid the first of 5 installments in Sep 2022.
* In 2015 the ICJ rejected both Serbia’s and Croatia’s claims of genocide against eachother in the 1990’s, with both countries still claiming that they had been the victims of genocide but agreeing to accept the ruling.

Question 17

Main aims of economic global governance

Answer 17

• Reduce poverty and improve human development.
• Encourage and manage global trade.
• Help states in economic difficulty.

Question 18

Outline

Bretton woods conference

Answer 18

• In 1944, 44 nation states met to form a secure system of economic global governance.
• Economic instability (such as the Wallstreet Crash in 1929 and general poverty) was the main cause of political extremism and conflict, so they sought to establish new institutes to maintain economic stability and encourage development, as this would reduce conflict.
• IMF and World Bank were the result of the conference.
• The IMF was created to encourage global financial security, and the World Bank to assist in rebuilding economies damaged by WW2.

Question 19

How the IMF maintains international financial security

Answer 19

The IMF has 190 member states and maintains financial stability in three ways:
1. Lending: The IMF has reserved assets called special drawing rights (sort of like the IMF currency), worth around $880B in 2022. If a member-state is facing a balance of payments crisis then the IMF can step in as a ‘lender of last resort’, providing SDR to enable a state to pay for imports and stabilise its economy. Without these loans, state’s economies could collapse, potentially having a knock on effect on other states, triggering a regional or global economic crisis. - ‘Economic contagion.’
2. Surveillance: The IMF monitors the global economy to detect potential risks, as well as providing specific policy advice to countries including warning against risky policy deisions. - In 2022 the IMF warned against Truss’s tax cuts, contributing to a swift reversal of policy.
3. Capacity development: The IMF provides technical assistance to states om issues such as tax collection, monetary policy, political reform, and the public sector.

Question 20

IMF: Ideology and SAPs

Answer 20

• IMF policy is ideologically classical liberalism.
• IMF loans are therefore usually conditional on a state introducing structural adjustment programmes (SAPs).
• SAPs are designed to encourage free-market reform and reduce government control over the economy. They can include policies such as increasing interest rates and cutting public spending to fight inflation, as well as increasing taxes to reduce gov borrowing.

Question 21

Criticisms and failures of the IMF

Answer 21

Criticisms
* * ‘Austerity measures’ come at the cost of the poorest in society.
* SAPs can be so extreme that they can themselves cause economic crisis and extremism.
* Ill fitted to deal with challenges in then developing world? USA has structural dominance with 16.5% of total votes on the IMF board of governers, European managing director.
- Particularly damaging policies to the developing world with less social provisions.
Failures:
* In the 1990’s in Russia, IMF shock therapy led to economic collapse and a rise in anti-western nationalism.
* In 2000 the IMF demanded that Tanzamoa start charging for healthcare and education to increase government revenue. The school enrolment rate dropped from 98% in 1985 to 66% in 2000, as well as the AIDS rate increasing by 8%.
* In 2019 there were demonstrations from indigenous groups most likely to be affected in Ecuador by the IMF’s demand for Ecuador to cut public spending by 6%.

Question 22

IMF successes

Answer 22

• Allocated $650B in special drawing rights in 2021 to help restore economies damaged by covid.
• Made an emergency loan of $1.4B to Ukraine to help it with the shock of Russian invasion.
• In 1991 free market reforms enabled India to rebalance its economy in favour of global trade/investment. By 2023 India was the 5th biggest economy.

Question 23

World bank explained

Answer 23

• Source of funding for long-term development schemes.
• Provides loans to the poorest as well as middle-income countries.
• President is usually American and the USA has a dominant 10% vote share.
• Loans typically have a free-market focus, so it is criticised similarly to the IMF:
• Free markets can cause huge socioeconomic problems such as industries being exposed to foreign competition.
• Developing states can become dependant on cheap imports so fail to develop industrially, remaining in a state of neo-colonial dependency.
• Also criticised over not doing enough to combat climate change, as it provides almost $15B to fossil fuel projects.
  Positives:
• Lent $115B to developing countries 2021-22 to lessen the impact on their economies of the Russia-Ukraine war.
• Accelerate equality initiative is focused on female empowerment in the developing world.

Question 24

World trade organisation

Answer 24

• Established in 1995 to encourage nation-states to lower tarriffs to stimulate world trade.
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