Topic 8: EQ4

Question 1

Why will the measure of success be different for different interventions?

Answer 1

With different intervention and hopes for outcomes, there are many different ways of measuring success. There is no measure that is used more than another and often many different measures are used.

Question 2

Why is progress in human development much easier to measure than progress in human rights?

Answer 2

Due to development’s statistical nature. As geopolitical interventions are expensive and politically sensitive it is important for different bodies to prove the success of different projects.
Measuring success demonstrates:
- Accountability to the tax payer
- Where actions are effective, or can be improved further.

Question 3

What are the difficulties with measuring the success of geopolitical interventions?

Answer 3

• Disagreement on what is success
• Some countries do not have the facilities to collect or monitor data
• Many developments span over a long period of time and therefore are subject to circumstance change (e.g. MGDs)
• Data collected can be interpreted differently by different people

Question 4

What are some social measures of success?

Answer 4

-Life expectancy
-Provision of healthcare
-literacy rates
-Social Infrastructure + its quality
-Gender equality
-Respect for minorities

Question 5

What are some economic measures of success?

Answer 5

-Per capita GDP or GNI
-Employment rates
-Activity rates
-Economic Infrastructure + its quality
-Economic sectoral balance

Question 6

What are some political measures of success?

Answer 6

-Democratic elections
-Recognition of refugee status
-Freedom of speech
-House of freedom score
-Corruption perception index

Question 7

What is an example of a geopolitical intervention having social but not so much economic success?

Answer 7

-In Haiti, between 2000-14 GDP per capita only grew 2.2% per year, where as primary school completion rate rose 59.9%, and child mortality fell 33.8%.
-This is likely due to both an increase in ODA, and aid to improve services being more successful than monetary aid, due to the corrupt Haitian government using any monetary aid given inefficiently.

Question 8

What is an example of a country where geopolitical intervention has had both social and economic success?

Answer 8

In Ethiopia, between 2000-14 GDP per capita grew 4.4% per year, life expectancy increased by 12 years, and child mortality rates fell by almost 86%. This is likely due to a rise in the average income, and fall in the absolute poverty rates causing more money to be spent on healthcare, which drove the social development from economic development.

Question 9

Why is having a democracy seen as important?

Answer 9

-Democratic institutions help to develop socio-political values which promote freedom and human rights.
-Democracies are more likely to have better education, which is crucial in making people aware of their rights, as well as how to express them.
-Private wealth also allows for greater independence from the state, and this allows for local and national democratic institutions such as councils and courts, which improves freedom
-Economic growth will also develop global links and as a result a flow of information, something China’s great firewall has attempted to avoid.

Question 10

How are democracies initially created?

Answer 10

-It has been found economic development can prolong democracy and allow it to mature, arguably to a permanent degree when incomes rise above US$10,000.
-Global democracy advanced after WW2 with the development of the UN and IGOs.
-There are clear patterns showing wealth, democracy and economic freedom all lead to better governance.

Question 11

Why is expression of freedom a good measure of human rights development?

Answer 11

-The UDHR states that everyone has the right to freedom, to hold an opinion without fear, and receive or give ideas through any communication across borders.

Question 12

What is one way that freedom can be measured?

Answer 12

-By looking at press freedom, censorship and arrest of journalists.
-Reporters Without Borders (RWB) says states such as China have a ‘very serious situation’ due to their press censorship (many citizens don’t know about Tiananmen Square), where as nations such as Norway have a ‘good situation’.

Question 13

What is democratic aid?

Answer 13

Aid given (often by Western governments) to fund democracy building. In 2015 over US$10 billion. It usually focuses on:
-Supporting crucial progress and institutions (e.g free and fair elections)
-Strengthening and supporting government institutions (e.g parliament and the judiciary)
-Supporting civil society (e.g freedom of expression, defending civil and political rights)

Question 14

What does economic growth bring?

Answer 14

It promises power and prosperity, although it won’t necessarily bring respect for human rights. A serious tension can exists between the two, especially if the country wants rapid growth (e.g in China), where less public spending will go towards wellbeing, and the easing of laws and regulations threatening human rights.

Even less ambitious governments are tempted to give economic growth precedence over human rights.

Question 15

What was the USSR?

Answer 15

-For nearly 45 years after the end of WW2, the Soviet Union was locked in a Cold War with Western superpowers.
-It was a single party state governed by the communist party, and made of 15 sub-national republics.
-They also controlled ‘satellite countries’ in Eastern Europe (e.g Poland and East Germany), all of which had communist governments.

Question 16

What caused the collapse of the USSR?

Answer 16

-The satellite nations were able to shake off Soviet control in 1980.
-This was seen most publicly by the pulling down of the Berlin Wall, which separated communist East Berlin and capitalist West Berlin after the peace treaty to end WW2 divided the whole of Germany in two.
-In December 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated into 15 separate countries.

Question 17

What was the significance of the collapse of the USSR for democracy?

Answer 17

-The collapse was hailed by the West as victory for freedom and democracy, as well as proof of capitalism’s superiority over communism.
-A truly remarkable feature was the fact that this political change occurred without significant military action.
-10 states in Eastern Europe became democracies and market economies.

Question 18

What now remains of the Soviet Union today?

Answer 18

The Russian Federation. Despite moving towards capitalism, it still remains as a one-party government, which has been ruled by Putin since 2000.

Question 19

How has China seen economic growth?

Answer 19

-Was ranked 124th by GDP in 1976, but 2nd in 2016.
-China has also seem huge population growth to reach its population of 1.4billion, and as a result GDP per capita increases have been much shallower, still ranked only 141st in the world by GDP per capita.

Question 20

What tensions and issues have come as a result of China’s economic growth?

Answer 20

-China remains a communist country, but its gradual involvement in the capitalist world economy was crucial to the growth.
-This caused China to become increasingly aware of the (much freer) world outside of their boundaries.
-Restrictions on political freedom and civil liberties continue, with the harassment of human rights activists and the detention of journalists.
-The CCP still continue to control economic reforms, ethnic relations, domestic security and the internet.
-The success also came with a price of environmental pollution and the persistent abuse of human rights.

Question 21

When did the Chinese economy show the first signs of slowdown?

Answer 21

-2015, and by this point many Chinese people had come to enjoy consumerism.
-This economic downturn may lead to widespread protests, and sharpen the focus on human rights.
-China now faces issues with an ageing population which will struggle to remain efficient in physical manufacturing jobs, which will limit its future growth. This was caused by the 1 child policy in 1970.

Question 22

What is aid for trade?

Answer 22

-The World Trade Organisation (WTO) called for more and better aid for trade in 2005.
-Aid is given to a recipient country to allow them to develop skills, knowledge and infrastructure for economic growth in return increased global trade

Question 23

What is an example of Aid for Trade working?

Answer 23

Uganda, where between 2006-13 48% of ODA was ‘aid for trade’. This allowed:
-The export of Ugandan goods to increase 144% and commercial services by 362%.
-GDP per capita to double
-A 10% decrease in the population living in absolute poverty.

Question 24

Has China’s economic growth seen some improvement for human rights?

Answer 24

-Although some democratic institutions and processes helped support the authoritarian regime by diffusing opposition, some democratic development was made.
-In 2000, public input was was allowed on draft legislation, and law systems were made to co-opt with key players such as entrepreneurs and allowing intra-party democracy.
-Since 2012 there has been a strong anti-corruption campaign, with over 400,000 officials disciplined.

Question 25

What is the significance of Hong Kong in China’s political system?

Answer 25

-Hong Kong has seen much more economic growth than China in recent years, and their democratic ideologies as well as demonstrations demand freedom of speech, and a transparent Chinese government.
-Chinese officials still remain fearful of democracy, but are making fiscal and central bank reforms to support a democratic regime.
-China’s GDP per capita of over US$10,000 should now theoretically be high enough to support a democratic society.

Question 26

What are some highly generalised verdicts on development aid?

Answer 26

-The outcomes of development aid haven’t matched the inputs due to inappropriate aid techniques, corruption and civil unrest.
-Early development aid focusing on economic development, causing little trickle down effect
-In more recent times, development aid has seen a much more positive, bottom-up approach focused on education/health and skills.
-An argument all development aid causes aid dependency to some degree
-It is still unsure if bilateral or multilateral aid is more effective.

Question 27

What is an example of successful development aid?

Answer 27

The 2014-15 West Africa Ebola outbreak. 18 months after the first confirmed case, almost 12,000 weee reported to have died. The bulk of these came from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but some were also from Nigeria, Mali as well as 1 aid worker from the USA.

Question 28

What led to the development aid in response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak being successful?

Answer 28

The UN set up an emergency response providing over $2.2 billion, with a purpose to lead and co-ordinate the international responses of NGOs such as MSF.
They also played a role by:
-Informing everyone about the disease
-Locating and monitoring those who had come into contact with the infected
-Ensuring victims were buried safely
-Establishing and supplying treatment centres
-Organising the transport of 1,400 tonnes of medical supplies.
-Ensuring that there was an adequate food supply when production was falling, and borders were closing.

Question 29

What caused a threat to the success of the Ebola Outbreak development aid?

Answer 29

Thanks to the UN’s actions, there was a sharp fall in cases during early 2015. However, this decline had stalled - especially in Sierra Leone- due to a few factors:
-Fear of reporting to authorities that a friend or relative has or died from Ebola
-Becoming fatigued of the 24/7 task of carefully following the necessary stringent precautions.
-Uneducated parts of the population denying the fact that they needed to change their behaviours (e.g unsanitary traditional burying of the dead)

Question 30

When was the Ebola outbreak officially deemed to be controlled?

Answer 30

-January 2016, and was the first ever UN mission to tackle a huge health security challenge.
-However, the UN was the first to admit that it should’ve taken action much earlier, and promises to do so in any similar future scenarios.

Question 31

Why was development aid said to have been unsuccessful in Haiti?

Answer 31

-Local jobs were lost to aid workers
-Aid dependency is now prevalent (NGOs provide 85% of school and 70% of education funding)
-Local people’s perceptions have Ben changed to make them believe they can’t be independently successful
-Aid organisations don’t communicate with Haitians about what they want or need, so inequality remains
-Corruption has meant very little development aid actually ends up with the public.

Question 32

What recent occurrence has caused Haiti’s development aid to become even less successful?

Answer 32

After the governing party stepped down in 2021 and un-democratically selected a new president, the nation faced heavy political unrest surrounding the situation. This lack of government stability made aid projects incredibly difficult to organise, as well as the equal distribution of aid throughout the nation.

Question 33

What is emergency aid?

Answer 33

Rapid assistance given by organisations or governments to people in immediate distress following natural or man-made disasters. The sim is to relieve suffering and the aid includes things such as food and water, temporary housing and medical help.

Question 34

What is one of the broader concerns of development aid on a international scale?

Answer 34

Some say that it has increased trends in economic inequality between nations within a particular state (e,g Botswana seeing better development than other nations in Sub-Saharan Africa).

Some say the top-down aid has increased polarisation, where as bottom-up aid has done more for the poor through the provision of basic services.

Question 35

How has aid and development been seen in Botswana, sub-Saharan Africa?

Answer 35

-After independence in 1966, it was one of the poorest countries in the world, and 60% of gov expenditure was from international aid. 40% of GDP was from agriculture.
-Since 1966, the nation has seen one of the highest economic growth rates, and is now a middle income nation, thanks to fiscal discipline and a stable government.
-This is largely due to diamond reserves, which account for 1/3 of GDP and 3/4 of export revenue. The rest of GDP is made up of tourism, financial services as well as farming and cattle ranching.

Question 36

What issue held Botswana back from even bigger economic development?

Answer 36

-It’s low scoring on life expectancy, which is one of the main reasons why the nation still receives overseas aid.
-HIV/AIDs has caused the issue, and current UN estimates predict that currently 1/3 of all adults In Botswana have HIV/AIDs, which has cut life expectancy dramatically.
-Due to the Botswana government declaring a national health emergency, they received overseas aid to have one of the most advanced treatment programmes, and their economic growth allowed the gov to make the treatment readily available.

Question 37

What are human rights like in Botswana?

Answer 37

They do have a reputation of speaking out about human rights issues, but problems are still visible:
-The same polar party has had power for over 40 years. State also controls the media.
-Death penalty is still in place
-Homosexuality is still criminalised
-Gov has disposes indigenous tribes of their land to exploit resources
-Little encouragement of cultural diversity.

Question 38

What are the objectives of superpowers?

Answer 38

Superpowers want to express a global influence through economic, military, political and cultural factors. In order to do this, they must continually secure:
-Strategic locations
-Future supplies of resources
-Economic, military and political alliances with other countries.
-Technological advanced
-A global sphere of influence

Question 39

What can often be used to pave the way to achieving many of the objectives of superpowers?

Answer 39

Aid, which can open the doors to countries for superpowers to attach to their own needs with ‘strings attached’ to aid.

This has been a tactic used heavily by the USA in the past and still today, but these economic alliances are now being challenged by the increasing international aid given by China.

Question 40

How does China give development aid?

Answer 40

Although China did initially focus their aid on South America, it has now started to turn its attention to Africa, where they work with 51 countries.

-They use bilateral aid as well as the Asian Development Bank to provide this, however as they opted out of the global mechanisms to coordinate aid, the aims of the aid they give aren’t always clear.

Question 41

What are some key points of China’s Development aid?

Answer 41

-China is less fussy than western nations about the destination of their aid, and if it falls into politically stable hands.
-Like with the US, much of the aid China gives is to establish commercial links.
-China’s aid has been concentrated on infrastructure projects (to extract resources), but they do also have social projects.
-China gives Africa more ODA than the UN combined.
-Aid is often concentrated in the home regions of African leaders, to ensure future alliances.
-Chinese aid has a positive influence where western aid has been withdrawn.
-China hasn’t gained much ‘soft power’, and African nations still turn to the west for advice.

Question 42

What are some examples of Chinese projects in Africa and South America?

Answer 42

Social: Rwanda 2014: medical supplies and personnel were sent to a Hospital in Eastern Province
Infrastructure: Zambia - $930 million aid power plant in southern Zambia
Resources: Bolivia: Chinese loans covered 85% of costs for an iron ore processing plant ran by a Bolivian company.

Question 43

Why are military interventions often controversial?

Answer 43

This is due to the costs which they may bring, including civilian deaths, destruction of housing and infrastructure, disruption of livelihoods, as well as an infringement of human rights during conflict as well as the loss of sovereignty.

Question 44

When do the costs of military intervention often really show?

Answer 44

They often become even more apparent in the long term. The short term gains of prevention human rights infringement, protection of resource pathways and minority groups etc will often come at the long-term consequence of lengthening conflicts, encouraging international terrorism as well as prolonging instability.

Question 45

What are some possible short-term costs of military intervention?

Answer 45

-Death
-Homelessness
-Hunger
-Spread of disease
-Job losses
-Removal of government

All these can then contribute to long-term issues of intervention.

Question 46

What was the 2003 Iraq war?

Answer 46

-The USA and allies (such as the UK) took the decision to invade Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein.
-The justification for this was that the Hussain was a brutal dictator, who has allegedly vast stocks of WMDs. There was also reports of human rights abuses
-Many debate if Iraq is now actually any better of due to the long-term consequences which followed.

Question 47

What were the short-term gains of the 2003 Iraq invasion?

Answer 47

-They were able to remove Saddam Hussein and his forces, but not evidence of WMD were actually ever found.
-Some early development efforts did also succeed, such as a US vaccination programme which reduced infant mortality 75%.
-2005 also saw a free election, the first in 50 years.

Question 48

What were the long-term costs which resulted from the Iraq war?

Answer 48

-A lack of understanding and long-range planning by invading forces left Iraq without the systems to restore security, foster democracy and protect human rights.
-It gave Islamist militant groups (such as IS) the chance to establish themselves in Iraq due to the political instability. These groups now fight for land, and kill/oppress Iraqis.
-The relationship between Shia and Sunni Muslims worsened, making the formation of a stable government an impossible task.
-Corruption was allowed to flourish, and ranked 161st/168 least corrupt nation in 2015
-Human rights still remain insecure. Government forces attack civilians, thousands are held in prison for no reason, and there are restrictions on free expression.

Question 49

What is a secondary example of a military intervention with negative long term consequences?

Answer 49

Libya in 2011 to overthrow Gaddafi, which resulted in 100,000 civilian deaths, and political instability still to this day as rebel groups fight for power.

Question 50

What is the driving force behind non-military interventions?

Answer 50

-The UN peacekeeping mission, which began in 1948 when military observers were deployed to monitor armistice between the newly created Israel and their Arab neighbours.
-The UN can draw on troops and police around the world to provide peacekeeping forces, to ensure that the economic costs are shared by UN member states.

Question 51

What 3 principles are UN peacekeepers guided by?

Answer 51

-Consent of all parties
-Impartiality
-Non-use of force expect in self-defence or defence of the mandate

Question 52

How has the goal of the UN peacekeepers changed?

Answer 52

From interstate conflicts to intrastate conflict.
They now have to undertake a wide variety of tasks such as:
-Disarmament of combatants
-Helping to build sound governance
-Monitor human rights.

In Africa, tribal rivalries have been a common source of conflict, largely due to the failure of European colonisers to consider ethnic groups when drawing boundaries. However the issues also arise from other roots, such as political and religious differences.

Question 53

What challenges do UN peacekeepers face?

Answer 53

-Peacekeepers cannot be everywhere all the time, and the UN can only take action where and when all parties to a dispute say ‘yes’.
-Improving development isn’t a task for the peacemakers, but rather to put in place the right sort of governance to allow successful development.

Question 54

Why were UN peacekeepers involved in Ivory Coast?

Answer 54

-After gaining independence from French Colonial rule in 1960, it was a successful cocoa and coffee economy with political stability.
-In 1999, they attempt to overthrow the gov, and 3 years later a civil war broke out, rooted by the religious differences between the Muslims and Christian’s.

Question 55

How did the UN peacekeepers intervene in Ivory Coast?

Answer 55

-With no end to the civil war in sight, UN peacekeepers were dispatched. A short period of peace occurred in 2007, but not for long.
-A 2010 election saw Gbagbo (Christian) lose his lead to his Muslim rival, but refused to step down and this resulted in another civil war, killing 3000 people. This caused peacekeepers to be sent out again in 2011.

Question 56

What was the role of the UN peacekeepers in Ivory Coast’s during their 2011 dispatch?

Answer 56

-Protecting civilians
-Bringing about disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of the two sides.
-Monitoring and promoting human rights.
-Bringing about humanitarian aid for refugees, and provide tools, seeds and fertilisers to farmers to restart the economy.

Question 57

Was the outcome of the UN peacekeepers in the Ivory Coast deemed to be successful?

Answer 57

-The UN officially declared their job over in 2017, with most regarding the speed and resolution of the conflict a success.
-With the help of french troops, Gbagbo was arrested and faced charges in International Courts.
-The Human Rights Watch was highly critical of how little was done in dealing with the 2011 crisis aftermath, specifically with human rights abuses.
-Political stability and respect for human rights is clearly too easily broken by the deep-rooted cultural differences.

Question 58

What 3 approaches can the global community make following a threat to human well-being and human rights?

Answer 58

-They can turn a blind eye and do nothing
-Make a limited military intervention to deal with short-term threat and encourage local people to make matters into their own hands at the earliest opportunity.
-Make an extended military intervention which include longer-term tasks of reconciliation and reconstruction.

Question 59

What factor is often disregarded following any intervention?

Answer 59

-Interventions which are aimed at social development issues such as poverty are usually economic or aid-related.
-However, these interventions will often require a greater care for the environment, and a lack of global action may threaten the survival of the human race, in which case human rights will have no significance whatsoever.

Question 60

What is an example of a country where a lack of military action has had significant negative social, economic, environmental and political issues?

Answer 60

-In Zimbabwe, the country has a history of systemic human rights abuses against citizens.
-Opponents of gov are regularly attacked and imprisoned, and the international community has made very little attempt to intervene politically or militarily.

Question 61

What caused the lack of intervention in Zimbabwe?

Answer 61

-UN security council wouldn’t come to a resolution, as Russia and China were against any sanctions and embargos on the nation.
-As it was a former British colony, western nation’s are sensitive of people claiming intervention is an attempt of neo-colonialism.
-Other African nations claim President Mugabe isn’t a threat to world peace, and western states are against intervention without the support of other African Nations.

Question 62

What environmental, political and social issues have resulted from the lack of intervention in Zimbabwe?

Answer 62

-72% of Zimbabwean’s live in poverty
-Rural poverty is increasing, with many in seasonal plantation work.
-Life expectancy is only 61
-In 2014, 82% of government budget was allocated to salaries
-Human rights abuses occurred regularly
-Deforestation is rapidly increasing.

Question 63

Why is deforestation loss becoming such a big issue in Zimbabwe?

Answer 63

-One of the largest forest losses between 1990-2010, largely for fuelwood.
-Forest space is also needed for the tobacco industry (which accounts for 25% of exports), which accounts for 15-20% of Zimbabwe’s yearly deforestation.
-There are now laws to prevent this damage, but they have been difficult to put into practice, e.g a tax on tobacco farmers to redistribute income to farmers for afforestation has still not been given to farmers.