GP- Regionalism & The EU: Development of regional organisations Flashcards
What regional organizations are discussed in the text?
A: The North American Free Trade Agreement/United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (NAFTA/USMCA), the African Union (AU), the Arab League, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Q: When was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) established?
A: 1994.
Q: What was NAFTA designed to be?
A: A regional trade agreement between the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
Q: When was NAFTA replaced and what replaced it?
A: 2020, it was replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Q: Why was NAFTA replaced with USMCA?
A: Because President Trump regarded it as unfair to US industry and farmers.
Q: What is the primary focus of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)?
A: Encouraging trade in the region.
Q: How does USMCA differ from the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) in terms of governance?
A: It does not possess permanent institutions of governance and is an intergovernmental organization lacking supranational authority.
Q: What is a “sunset clause” in the USMCA?
A: It means that at the end of 16 years, the members choose whether to renew it.
Q: What specific goods does the USMCA trade agreement cover?
A: Textiles, agriculture, and cars.
Q: What does USMCA encourage in terms of digital trade?
A: It encourages digital trade by prohibiting duties on music and ebooks.
Q: What significant requirements does USMCA have to improve workers’ rights?
A: Up to 45% of car parts must be built by workers earning a minimum of $16 per hour.
Q: What is the intended purpose of this requirement?
A: To improve labor standards, especially in Mexico.
Q: What mechanism did the USMCA create to enforce workers’ rights?
A: A rapid response mechanism (RRM).
Q: What specific type of goods does the USMCA prohibit the importation of?
A: Goods that have been made by forced labor.
Q: What environmental regulations do USMCA member states commit to enforce?
A: Maintaining high standards of air and marine quality and protecting fish stocks by combating unregulated fishing.
Q: When was the African Union (AU) established?
A: 2002.
Q: What organization did the AU replace?
A: The Organisation of African Unity, which dates from 1963.
Q: How many countries are members of the AU?
A: Every African country.
Q: Where are the AU headquarters located?
A: In Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
Q: What institutions of the AU resemble those of the EU?
A: The Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Pan-African Parliament, and the Peace and Security Council.
Q: What is the role of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in the AU?
A: It regularly brings together the leaders of Africa to determine the AU’s policies and establish its priorities.
Q: Where is the Pan-African Parliament situated?
A: In Midrand, South Africa.
Q: How many members does each African state send to the Pan-African Parliament?
A: Five.
Q: What is the role of the Pan-African Parliament?
A: Its role is essentially consultative and it lacks legislative power.
Q: What is a specific criticism of the Pan-African Parliament?
A: It lacks democratic legitimacy as it is unelected.
Q: What is the designed purpose of the Peace and Security Council in the AU?
A: To prevent and resolve conflict in Africa.
Q: What specific action did the Peace and Security Council take against Sudan in 2023?
A: Suspended Sudan from the AU to make its military government transition to democracy.
Q: What type of missions can the Peace and Security Council authorize within Africa?
A: Peacekeeping missions.
Q: What specific AU missions were active in 2023?
A: Missions in Somalia, Mali, and the Central African Republic, as well as a joint AU/UN operation in Darfur (UNAMID).
Q: How does the AU compare to the EU in terms of integration?
A: Although the AU seeks to emulate the integration of the EU, it still has a long way to go.
Q: What is a specific difference between the AU and EU in terms of institutions?
A: The AU possesses permanent institutions of regional governance but they lack supranational authority.
Q: What example is given to illustrate the AU’s lack of supranational authority?
A: The Assembly of Heads of State and Government resembles more a meeting of the G20 than the European Commission, which has extensive supranational decision-making authority.
Q: What is the AU’s Agenda 2063?
A: “The Africa We Want,” an ambitious programme for further integration.
Q: What specific integration does Agenda 2063 propose?
A: An African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in goods and services.
Q: What initiative was launched in 2022 to support the AfCFTA?
A: The Guided Trade Initiative, in which eight member states allowed a small number of goods to be traded without tariff restrictions.
Q: What key integrations are still missing from the AU?
A: An African Central Bank or monetary union.
Q: What has been the most tangible success of the AU?
A: Peacekeeping missions, such as in Somalia.
Q: What was the size of the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia in 2023?
A: 22,000, the biggest peacekeeping mission in the world.
Q: What happened in Somalia after the UN- and US-led military interventions in the 1990s?
A: The country remained a failed state, with insecurity spreading into neighboring states.
Q: What terrorist group took territory from the fragile central government in Somalia?
A: Al-Shabaab.
Q: What did a UNSC Resolution authorize in 2007 regarding Somalia?
A: The African Union (AU) to deploy peacekeepers to Somalia.
Q: Where are most of the UN’s peacekeeping operations located?
A: In Africa.
Q: How many missions has the UN had in Africa since its founding?
A: More than 30 missions.
Q: What benefit does the AU’s peacekeeping capacity provide to the UN?
A: It allows the UN to fund AU peacekeepers rather than having to find troops itself.
Q: How are AU peacekeepers often received by civilians in the countries where they operate?
A: They are often better received, helping in the important battle of “winning hearts and minds.”
Q: What type of training have AU troops received?
A: Extensive training from the UN.
Q: What specific country, a beneficiary of humanitarian intervention in 2000, has now deployed its own peacekeepers in support of AU missions?
A: Sierra Leone.
Q: What event further demonstrates the pressing need for “African solutions to African problems”?
A: The failure of the UN to react quickly enough to the genocide in Rwanda (1994) and the growing paralysis of the UN Security Council.
Q: When was the Arab League established?
A: 1945.
Q: What type of regional organization is the Arab League?
A: An intergovernmental regional organization focusing on political and security issues.
Q: What type of governing institutions does the Arab League lack?
A: Supranational governing institutions.
Q: What is the primary focus of the Arab League?
A: To represent and coordinate the interests and views of Arab states in international affairs.
Q: What additional goals does the Arab League have?
A: Encouraging understanding, peace, and stability in the region.
Q: What specific aspect of its charter greatly weakens the Arab League’s influence?
A: The charter states that decisions reached “shall bind only states that accept them.”
Q: What challenge does the Arab League face due to the significant differences between its members?
A: It struggles to provide an Arab perspective on global affairs or even a common approach to internal crises and conflicts.
Q: What specific crisis has the Arab League been unable to resolve?
A: The crisis in Yemen.
Q: What specific action by some members has fractured the Arab League?
A: Four of its members (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan) joining Egypt and Jordan in recognizing the state of Israel in defiance of the majority.
Q: What capability does the Arab League lack, unlike the African Union (AU)?
A: It has no peacekeeping capability.
Q: What specific action did the Arab League take against Syria in 2011?
A: It suspended Syria for President Assad’s brutal suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations.
Q: What other action did the Arab League support?
A: NATO-led air strikes in Libya during the Gaddafi regime’s bloody attempts to cling on to power.
Q: What do critics claim the Arab League is little more than?
A: A debating society with neither effective enforcement mechanisms nor a strong enough sense of regional identity to play more than a very marginal role in Middle Eastern politics.
Q: When was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established?
A: 1967.
Q: How many member states does ASEAN have?
A: Ten.
Q: What security objective does ASEAN have?
A: Encouraging cooperation between member states in a turbulent part of the world.
Q: What collective problems does ASEAN provide an opportunity for member states to cooperate on?
A: Problems like drug smuggling and crime.
Q: What does ASEAN provide in response to regional crises?
A: A unified ASEAN response (political globalisation).
Q: In what terms has ASEAN made significant progress?
A: Economic terms, towards a single market with almost 100% of goods traded between ASEAN members free of tariffs.
Q: What has ASEAN successfully used its powerful economic influence to negotiate?
A: Free-trade agreements with China (2005), India (2010), South Korea (2007), and Japan (2008).
Q: What agreement did ASEAN members agree to in 2020?
A: The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Q: What does the RCEP create?
A: The biggest free-trade area in the world.
Q: What percentage of the world’s population and GDP does the RCEP represent?
A: 30% of the world’s population and 30% of world GDP.
Q: In what area has ASEAN been less successful compared to the EU?
A: Forging a common approach to international crises.
Q: What principle is ASEAN based on instead of “ever closer union”?
A: The principle of non-interference in the sovereign affairs of its members.
Q: What type of institutions does ASEAN lack?
A: Significant governmental institutions.
Q: How are most decisions reached in ASEAN?
A: Through consensus at summits of its leaders.
Q: What specific issues has ASEAN failed to present a united front on?
A: Chinese military expansion, Myanmar, and Taiwan.
Q: Which ASEAN member states tend to side with China?
A: Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Q: Which ASEAN member states have been more critical of China, aligning with the USA?
A: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Q: Given the intensifying rivalry between China and the USA in the South China Sea, what does this suggest about ASEAN’s role?
A: It suggests ASEAN will be forced to be a bystander on its most pressing geo-strategic challenge.
Q: What happened in Myanmar in 2021?
A: The democratic government of Myanmar was overthrown in a military coup.
Q: What have Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International warned about regarding Myanmar?
A: That extensive human rights abuses are being carried out by the military junta directed against ethnic minorities and pro-democracy campaigners.
Q: What action has been taken regarding Myanmar’s participation in ASEAN meetings since the coup?
A: Myanmar has been excluded from ASEAN meetings.
Q: What warning did Indonesia’s then foreign minister Marty Natalegawa give in 2023?
A: He warned that ASEAN had become too centered on “immediate material benefits.”
Q: What did Natalegawa call for in ASEAN?
A: “Real, frank and candid exchanges” on ASEAN’s failure to stand up for human rights, the rule of law, and democracy.
Q: What percentage of the goods traded in the ASEAN region are included in ASEAN agreements?
A: 90% of the goods traded in the region.
Q: What is the debate regarding regional bodies responding effectively to regional and global challenges?
A: Debate: Have regional bodies responded effectively to regional and global challenges?
Q: What has been the key reason for the establishment of regional organizations?
A: Maximizing the opportunities and reducing the risks of globalization.
Q: What are the arguments for regional bodies responding effectively to regional and global challenges?
A: The establishment of economic regional organizations enables them to unite their economic power to achieve better outcomes for their members. This can be through free-trade deals, such as those negotiated by the EU and ASEAN. As globalization changes the international balance of power, regional organizations can enable their members to combine their security interests. The EU was able to use its huge economic power to encourage human rights protection in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries through the Cotonou Agreement (2000-21). Its successor treaty requires similar guarantees if ACP countries are to gain preferential access to EU markets and overseas aid. USMCA provides some safeguards for workers’ rights. The EU is a world leader in tackling climate change. It is a member of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and so attends climate change conferences. Its targets are highly ambitious (a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030). The EU’s Global Gateway (worth 300 billion euros) is also encouraging green and sustainable development in the developing world. USMCA has introduced some environmental protection measures.
Q: What are the arguments against regional bodies responding effectively to regional and global challenges?
A: Critics note that the massive economic power of some regional organizations can make it more difficult for developing countries to take advantage of globalization. For instance, a main reason for the failure of the WTO’s Doha trade round was that the EU was unprepared to open its markets sufficiently to agricultural products from the developing world. Most regional organizations are ineffective in regional and international conflicts because they require unanimity to be effective. ASEAN has been unable to coordinate an effective response to military despotism in Myanmar and Chinese military expansion in the South China Sea. ASEAN has been widely criticized for not being more critical of the military coup in Myanmar. The Arab League has been similarly unwilling to act on massive human rights abuses in Syria and Yemen. Although ASEAN published its first climate change report in 2021, ASEAN member states set their own carbon reduction targets, as do members of the AU and the Arab League. Consequently, their influence is marginal.
Q: How many rounds of sanctions had the EU imposed on Russia by early 2023?
A: Nine rounds of sanctions.
Q: What was the purpose of these sanctions?
A: In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Q: What role has the AU developed?
A: A significant peacekeeping/conflict stabilization role.
Q: What agreement did the EU use to encourage human rights protection in ACP countries?
A: The Cotonou Agreement (2000-21).
Q: What is the EU’s successor treaty called, and what does it require?
A: The successor treaty is not named, but it requires similar guarantees if ACP countries are to gain preferential access to EU markets and overseas aid.
Q: What is the EU’s target for greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030?
A: A reduction to at least 55% below 1990 levels.
Q: What is the EU’s Global Gateway, and what is its purpose?
A: It is worth 300 billion euros and is encouraging green and sustainable development in the developing world.
