Lesson 6- Global systems and Players Flashcards
Global systems
- Systems have evolved to support the increased economic, political, social and environmental interdependence that exists in the contemporary world.
- There is no better illustration of this than the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21, which started in Wuhan, China but spread, largely as a result of faster and more frequent travel, to have far-reaching social, economic and political impacts
Globalisation causes interdependence
- Countries need to rely on each other in the following ways:
Economic
Political
Social
Environmental - This interdependence leads to inequalities between countries and between people within a country
- Brings more wealth and power to HICs, due to flows of people, money, ideas and technology are unequal.
How did the 2008 financial crisis cause huge effects?
- Due to subprime mortgages crisis
-Housing market boomed in early 2000’s but this housing bubble burst
-Many defaulted on their mortgages - US government had to bail out the banks
What are the different ways countries are interdependant?
- Trade
- Advances in technology
- Employment
- Supply chains
- Industrialisation
- TNC’s and investment
- International economic migration
Political interdependence
-SW
- Security and stability - one of the arguments for globalisation is that it will lead to greater political stability. Nations may co-operate more with each other as members of regional or international bodies, making it easier for governments to work together on common goals.
- World peace - some argue that wars are less likely to happen because of interdependence. In 1999, Thomas Friedman a theory suggests that ‘No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s’ because their economies and cultures are so interlinked. This theory has been disproved on a number of occasions since then.
Political interdependence
- Orgz
- Intergovernmental organisations - global systems are supported by international organisations, which have been established to provide stability, dialogue and consensus between nations. For example:
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank facilitate international capital flows through the global financial system.
- The World Trade Organization (WTO) oversees the international trading system, seeking to establish barrier-free trade and fair access to markets.
- The United Nations (UN) is the leading organisation for global governance (their aim is to maintain international peace and ensure friendly relations between nations).
Who are the different global players?
- World Bank-Helps provide finance to developing countries
-United Nations - Help make the world a safer, healthier and more fair place
- FAO- Food and agriculture and aim to reduce world hunger
- UNCTAD- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
- UNESCO- Education, Scientific and Cultural organisation and encourage universal human rights
- WTO- Regulates rules of trade and promotes free trade
- IMF- Organisation of 188 countries promoting financial security and lends to countries with payment difficulties
- TNC’s - Global companys
What is vested interest?
- A personal reason for involvement in an undertaking or situation, especially an expectation of financial or other gain.
How can countries be socially interdependent?
- Health
-Education - Culture
How can countries be socially interdependent?
-Health
- Health - another intergovernmental organisation, the World Health Organization (WHO), has taken the lead in combating COVID-19 by co-ordinating advice on symptoms and development of vaccines; however, there have been distinctly different responses at a national level.
How can countries be socially interdependent?
-Education
- Education - increased participation in student foreign exchange programmes (such as Erasmus in the EU). If more students study at foreign universities, it is beneficial both for the students and the institutions involved.
How can countries be socially interdependant?
- Culture
- Culture - social ties between countries can be strengthened through migration. For example, the large Indian diaspora settled in the UK has deepened the country’s relationship with India, both economically and culturally. Extensive family networks now straddle the two countries.
How did the WHO lead a global response to COVID-19?
- Advised cities of standardised procedures like masks and 2 metre distance
-However, the UK took a while to implement such procedures to help keep their economy flowing and wide open from planes and airports
How can countries be environmentally interdependent?
- ‘Global commons’ - all countries are environmentally interdependent due to the impact of shared use of resources that are common, such as the oceans and the atmosphere. They are governed by the same international legislation.
- Global climate change - concerns about the global environment, particularly climate change, have led to the establishment of international agencies such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). These encourage all nations and their citizens to work towards the shared goals of climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection.
How can environmental sustainability be unsustainable?
- Some practices challenge the positives of environmental interdependency due to their unsustainable nature and because their causes or impacts affect more than one country.
- Examples include air pollution, acid rain deposition and deforestation.
- The underlying causes of rainforest
deforestation in the Amazon or in South East Asia may be to supply hardwood or to clear land for commercial ranching or plantations to meet the demand from developed countries. - Deforestation has impacts on a global scale and forest loss may become irreversible in some countries.
