Superpowers

Question 1

Arctic

Answer 1

Wilderness location
Growing pressure to exploit natural resources
- Rising commodity prices make it more financially viable
- CC-> more shipping lanes
- Ownership contested
- Increase in pollution, overextraction
- Increase in commercial COD catching but has decreased recently
- Consumption -> production -> Econ. growth

Question 2

Spratly Islands

Answer 2

• World’s busiest shipping lanes
• Filipino navy cant compete with Chinese
• China has no basis to claim historic right
• Concerned about ocean control

Question 3

India

Answer 3

• Fluctuating growth rate
• More focussed on basic commodities
  Compaies can be state owned
  Some protectionism
  Still a lot of poverty
  Increasing environmental track record
  Growth rate > China
  Better relations with Afghan; BRIC country
  Large cultural impact from Bollywood
  Tensions with Pakistan + Bangladesh
  Want to be permanently be part of UN security council

Question 4

Iraq

Answer 4

• Colonial history
• Iraqi intervention
• Iraqi Al Qaeda + ISIS
• Sunni vs Shia

Question 5

Military Spending

Answer 5

4 types: Navy, Air, Nuclear Deterrent, Intelligence
Positives:
- Global instability
- maintain global power
- employment
Negatives:
- Conventional warfare less likely
- Afghan + Iraq - insurgency prevailed
- Ethics - exporting to Saudi
-

Question 6

Future uncertaintly:

Answer 6

Scenarious:
Unipolar world - continued US dominance, China stagnation
Multipolar world - EU/ US decline
Bipolar - China vs US
- Increasing nationalism + protectionism
OR
- Increasing cooperation + resilience