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Power, Places and Networks - Coggle Diagram
Power, Places and Networks
Global interactions and global power
Globalization indices
The KOF Index of Globalization
Economic dimension (36%)
TNCs: Ford
became one of the first TNCs in 1911 when an assembly plant for the Model T was opened in Manchester, England
Now operates in over 90 countries employing around 250000 people
the volume of cross-border trade (imports and exports), foreign direct investment (FDI) and other revenue flows
the number of restrictions on trade such as import tariffs and non-tariff barriers
Social dimension (38%)
Personal contact: this measures direct cross-border interactions between individuals and includes telephone calls, letters, tourist flows and the size of any resident foreign populations within a country.
Cross-border information flows: measured in terms of access to the internet, access to global television services and foreign press media products.
Cultural proximity: this measures how close a society is to the 'global mainstream'. Initially this was measured by the number of McDonald's outlets found in a country but since the late 2000s, in an attempt to recognise greater cultural diversity, the number of IKEA stores has also been included in the sub-index.
Political dimension (26%)
the number of foreign embassies and high commissions operating within a country
the number of international organisations of which the country is a member
the number of UN peace missions in which the country has participated
the number of international agreements that the country has signed since 1945.
Limitations
Pattern
Those countries with the lowest incomes do have the lowest levels of globalisation but the largest economies do not have the highest levels of globalisation.
Global superpowers
Economic influences
Currency - the extent to which its currency is seen as safe to hold or invest in
Reserve currencies
US dollars
The US capitalise on the dollar's dominant position, borrowing more cheaply and saving hundreds of billions of dollars in the process
most important reserve currency since the second world war; most used currency for international transactions (40%+)
second semi-legal currency in many countries around the world, especially in South-east Asia and South America
Too strong? - makes exports more expensive and foreign imports cheaper, which can heavily impact the balance of trade.
Exerting influence through unilateral actions
Sanctions on Cuba
50 years, since 1960
1996 Helms–Burton Act - imposed sanctions on companies that did business in Cuba (including non-US companies).
Diplomatic ties were severed completely in 1960
Relations normalized during Obama's presidency
Chinese yuan
became a reserve currency since 2015
10.9% of foreign currency reserves, fifth largest in the world, fifth most used
The bulk of yuan transactions (70%) in 2015 were between mainland China and Hong Kong
Aid to other countries
China
0.06% of GDP
Recipient of international aid from 35 countries in 2014
USA
Top ODA (Official Development Assistance) donor in 2017 - 34 billion US dollars
Top recipients include Afghanistan, Isreal and Iraq
Geopolitical influences
Permanent member states of the UN Security Council
China
Veto power: Typically opposed the US or abstained
due to the country's non-interventionist stand and national interest
In 2016 and 2017, it vetoed resolutions regarding the Middle East twice with Russia
USA
used its veto 61 times (up to 2014), including 30 times to block resolutions concerning the Middle East
International environmental agreements
China has signed the Paris Agreement on climate change (the successor to the Kyoto Protocol), which came into effect in November 2016. China agreed to close its domestic ivory markets.
Although the USA signed the 2015 Paris climate change treaty, it was announced in June 2017 that the country would formally withdraw from the agreement with an official exit in late 2020
Political relationships
The USA has formal diplomatic relationships with most of the 193 states recognised by the UN as well as the Vatican and Kosovo.
Washington DC itself is home to 177 foreign embassies while the USA maintains over 290 diplomatic missions abroad, more than any other country
The PRC formally recognises all 193 member states of the UN and has been itself recognised by most of these since its accession to the UN in 1971
However, 21 states, including Vatican, do not recognise the PRC but continue to recognise the Republic of China (in Taiwan) as the only legitimate seat of Chinese government.
China has the strongest ties of any nation to North Korea
founder member of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)
'Panda diplomacy' really began in 1974 following US president Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the PRC after decades of frosty relationships
panda loans are based on mutual need where nations supply China with valuable resources and technology
Cultural influences
Americanization
Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry
Motion pictures: dominated by Hollywood, US film productions account for over 80% of the global cinema market
All of the movies in the 2016 top 20 grossing movies were American productions.
Television
broadcast around the world on affiliated local networks of the US channels or on the international branches of US content providers.
Star World, owned by 21st Century Fox
show syndicated popular shows from the USA (such as The Simpsons), the UK and Australia to appeal to the English-speaking populations of India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Middle East, Taiwan and South-east Asia.
Netflix is an American internet streaming service founded in 1997 that has achieved rapid global coverage. Netflix reaches 70–90 million people in 130 countries.
Brands and consumer goods
A global brand is one that has international recognition. The top 10 brands are American, including Instagram, Facebook, Apple, Disney, etc.
Business cultures
Tata Steel of India has embraced performance-based pay, for example.
China
Huawei is a manufacturer of smart phones. Huawei and other Chinese smart phone manufacturers accounted for 40% of global sales of this technology in 2015
800 Chinese companies operate in Africa, spreading Chinese business practices throughout the continent. 20 Confucius Institute centres have been opened in 13 African countries including Kenya and Zambia. There are thought to be as many as 1 million Chinese migrants in Africa.
The Confucius Institute (CI) programme started in 2004 with the first centre opening in Seoul, South Korea - to spread the understanding of Chinese culture, including contemporary culture around the world as well as teaching Mandarin to foreign students. It is estimated that 100 million people worldwide are learning to speak Mandarin worldwide. Operates in established universities across the globe
Success of the 2008 Olympic Games
The Chinese government spent a record US$42 billion on the the 2008 Beijing summer Olympic games
The games were watched by over 4 billion people, some 63% of the world's population.
Mass Media
overseas editions of the People's Daily newspaper, China Daily, Xinhua, which is an online news service, and CCTV (China Central Television)
To revive its movie business, the Chinese began importing more American films and today the gov allows an annual quota of 34 a year
The cultural sector is one of the pillars of China’s Five-Year Plan
Panda power
More recently, in July 2017 the Chinese president Xi Jinping visited Germany and presented the country with two giant pandas as a way of strengthening the relationship between the two countries
Military influences
Spending
US: 4.4% of GDP, $600 billion
China: 2%, $150 billion
US
true blue water capability, with each of its largest aircraft carriers operating as a mini navy with escort and maintenance vessels
Military bases - In 2015 the USA had over 150,000 military personnel (11% of its total) stationed in 150 countries around the world (that is, 75% of the world's countries)
NATO - safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means (international collective defence agreements)
China
green water capability, operating within its own territorial waters but with the capacity to deploy to open ocean areas
One military base in Djbouti, in the horn of Africa - China's military sphere of influence is much more restricted than America's
Navy - defends China's territories in the South China Sea; maintains a permanent presence in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden as a contribution to the UN anti-piracy mission
Shanghai Cooperation Organization - economic and political; share intelligence and cooperate in counter-terrorism measures. They have participated in joint military exercises (war games) with India as a guest participant
Power projection
Hard, coercive power of military force
The use of MOAB weapons by the USA in Afghanistan in 2017
Soft power
Economic relationships and political negotiations
Cultural influence
extending hegemony
Cold wars (1940s - 1990s)
Conventional and nuclear arms race between USA and USSR
North Atlantic Treaty Organizations
Warsaw Pact Group of Nations
The USA, for example, exerts its military power via the various conflicts it is involved in, creates controversy when signing or withdrawing from political agreements that may affect the decisions of other countries, and builds cultural imperialism through the spread of its well-known brands
China, on the other hand, has invested significantly in different parts of the world, especially countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, whose raw materials have further fuelled China’s economic development via manufacturing growth
Global organizations and groups
Economic organizations
Global lending instituions
OPEC and global energy
Core-periphery inequlities; transitional/semi-peripheral
Westernization - imperialism?
Global networks and flows
Contemporary global trade in materials, manufactured goods and services
International aid, loans and debt relief
International remittances
Illegal flows
Foreign direct investment (FDI) and outsourcing by TNCs
Human and physical influences on global interactions
Political factors
MGOs
Migration controls
Data flow patterns and trends
Transport developments
Communication infrastructure
Physical environments
