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Superpowers (Lesson 9 - will our environment be destroyed by superpowers,…
Superpowers
Lesson 9 - will our environment be destroyed by superpowers
The security council
- responsible for maintaining international peace and security, it has 15 members who all get one vote
UN court of justice
- it settles disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues referred to it by the UN
The UN
- an intergovernmental organisation responsible for maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, being the centre for harmonising the actions of nations
How will superpowers destroy the environment?
They have increased wealth and standards of living dramatically which has increased the demand for resources
local issues like polluting a river
global issues like rising sea levels
Gaining the resources that are required can lead to: deforestation, desertification, scarring landscape during mining, and the carbon footprint caused from transporting these goods
As the demand for energy grows environmentally sensitive areas like the arctic become more at risk
There is a direct link between GDP and CO2 emissions
Examples
The
US
are not prioritising climate change - Trump
China
have changed their approach to climate change now that 350,000-500,000 people are being killed each year due to air pollution. China is becoming the world leader in renewable energy
What factors increase emissions
: growth of middle class as it impacts resources, economic development, population growth
Why has there been different rates of emission increases
: accessibility of resources, affordability, political stability, geographical location
What will happen because of this
: resource crisis caused by demand, e.g. china water crisis
Why nations may not want to cut down emissions
: some nations don't want to lose their global presence, and some nations may not have many other streams of income (canada, tar sands)
Future impacts on resources
: may be a shortfall in supply
Global CO2 emission agreements
China
- in 2014 they agreed to work towards emissions peak in 2030, but only committed to any targets in 2016
US
- obama introduced measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and tripled their wind power
Russia
- supported the paris agreement, want to reduce CO2 emissions by 30%
EU
- leaders of climate change tackling initiatives, cut 12% of EU energy consumption by 2010 and 20% by 2020
Lesson 2 - The british empire
This would be considered unipolar world as nobody would challenge them
Some key dates for where the british empire colonised
1707 - british honduras, jamaica, bermuda, the thirteen colonies, nova scotia, newfoundland
1783 - canada, gibraltar, bombay, bengal, madras
1820 - malta, ceylon, seychelles, mauritius, cape colony, new south wales
1900 - cyprus, egypt, sudan, niger, uganda, south africa, kenya, oman, burma, fiji, new zealand
1920 - togo, cameroon, iraq, south west africa
1950 - ireland
Lesson 7 - Global TNC's and their role
The world's largest TNCs orientate from the world's superpowers and emerging superpowers
TNCs can be publically traded whose shares are owned by numerous shareholders, banks are like this. These make more profit because they can trade on a global basis whereas state owned only trade internally and act to support themselves
State owned TNC's are owned by the government
Examples of some of the worlds largest companies: Walmart (USA) - $514 billion, Toyota (Japan) - $278 billion, BP (UK) - $304 billion
Why do TNCs play an important role in global trade
Responsible for the global shift of manufacturing to asian countries
This shifted power from western countries to emerging nations
Before TNCs countries didn't really trade with each other
what is patent law
- a law that stops products being copied
countries with the most patents: 1) USA, 2) Japan, 3) China
Pros: the overall positive of patents is it encourages innovation as it becomes more lucrative as people can protect their ideas from be replicated
Cons: It can be seen as negative for the users though as it reduces the competition there can be for a goods, for instance medicine in africa that is commonly needed has been patented which has made it extremely expensive and allows the company to exploit poor people
Examples of cultural influence
- adele's third album was released around the world, TV shows such as the simpsons are watched around the world, supermarkets sell food from all around the world like chinese and indian
Lesson 3 - why do patterns change over time? The cold war and China's emergence
USA capitalist: elections, industry (privatisation), individual rights
USSR communist: elections, industry (state owned), individual rights
The cold war
Joseph stalin - was the president of the USSR, he wanted to spread communism across europe
Truman - president of the USA, wanted peace
Churchill - prime minister of the UK, wanted peace
Why did it start:
The USA had the first nuclear bomb, russia reacted by stating they had one as well. The manhattan project was the worlds first nuclear disaster
summary: After the second world war, two global superpowers emerged. The use of policies its sphere of influence and become a strong layer in the worlds system. However the beliefs and politics of the USSR took advantage of the collapsed countries in europe and enforced communist regimes
Why the soviet union lost the world war
They had the economy half the size of the US
The USA had more arms in the arm race that unfolded
The USSR military advisors and aid sapped the budget
The USSR could not afford the space race they were entering
The invasion of Afghanistan 1979 - the soviets invaded and occupied the country, but the US had an agreement with the country which led to them supporting and training people to help overthrow the soviet union
The berlin wall:
Lesson 6
- Superpower impacts on intergovernmental organisation
Publicly traded TNCs
- who shares are owned by numerous stakeholders (usually other TNC banks and large financial institutes such as pension funds) around the world
State owned TNCs
- that are majority of wholly owned by the government
The world bank
Role is to finance development
Main role is to help capitalist functions particularly by making loans to developing countries for developing projects
Addresses the effect of natural disasters as well as humanitarian crisis
They have 189 member countries
They got a bad reputation for funding environmentally damaging projects, but it now aims to reduce poverty and implement sustainable goals
IMF
189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, securing financial security, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustain economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world
now plays a central role in management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crisis
countries contribute through a quota system, which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow
World trade organisation
Its an organisation for open trade, a forum to negotiate trade agreements, a place to settle trade disputes
a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other
one vote per country - this is fairer than the world bank and IMF but still favours USA
Lesson 15 - Superpower futures
EU and Japan strike a trade deal (Free trade)
58 billion euros in goods and 28 billion euros in services
Some existing barriers are
Awkward rules like the long procedures on approved fruits
high customs tax on beef, chocolate, wine and cheese
Barriers that have been removed
stronger legal standards for workers
opens up japans services industry to eu firms and allows them to bid for more public contracts
help design rules that ensure global trade is free and fair
Future GDP predictions
in 2030 china will overtake the US
US will be second
India third
followed by Japan and Brazil
What makes it difficult to predict GDP
Population size
Future wars
Global warming
GDP growth per capita
Hard power: Russia and USA military
Soft power: China culture and India growing economy
Lesson 11 - why are tensions caused in political, economic and environmental spheres
sphere of influence
- the claim by a state to exclusively or predominantly have control of foreign area or territory
Environmental tension
- Russia claims that they own the arctic, this is not fair as there are many nations that border the arctic equally, such as Canada and Norway
Economic tension
- Counterfeit goods are fake versions of goods, the importance of intellectual property has increased since the 1990's as the progression of technology has allowed emerging nations to produce knock off versions of goods that look very similar for extremely lower prices, 5%-10% of trade is counterfeit goods
Political tensions
- China's borders, there is tension over the resources available in the south and east china sea, they are between: China, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and brunei. They are all competing to claim islands and sovereignty over ocean areas
Lesson 12 - New relations leading to tensions : China and Africa
Background info: China's investment into Africa has almost doubled in order to secure a reliable supply of raw materials to support its growing economy
Neo colonialism
- When developed countries still have some control over the development of their former colonies, can be achieved through providing aid
Colonialism
- This is the direct control over territories, so there would be no power given to the original colony
The China and Africa agreement
China's pros
They can exploit the fact that the resources are untapped
China can profit from getting a better deal
China's cons
Loans are provided by their state owned import/export banks
May loose jobs in their own textile industry as Africa is cheaper
Africa's pros
china are not interested in spreading their culture in africa like western nations attempt to
China built a major railway in kenya
Africa's cons
They are becoming less environmentally friendly
They have a very corrupt government
Lesson 13 - The global shift: China and India
China's and India's economy
China are far superior to india in many ways such as infrastructure and in the global competitiveness index
But the two are very similar in terms of market size and financial market development
In factors like health and education india is well behind china and falls near the bottom of the rankings
China's response to India
India were taking sides with the US which china did not like
China agrees with a lot of india's foreign policies
China were irritated by the indian defence minister visiting them
China's actions and India's worries
China's increasing presence in the indian ocean with them building ports in bangladesh, sri lanka, pakistan
china and pakistan have a good relationship, whereas india and pakistan have a terrible relationship
Issues could quickly escalate as the countries border each other
Why tensions in the middle east present a challenge to global superpowers
Political
- If superpowers side with one middle eastern nation they are likely to annoy another, for instance USA siding with Israel presents issues with them and the Arab world
Economic
- Oil reserves in this area will be top priorities to protect
Cultural
- Islamists uprising has caused tensions with historic tribal and religious devisions
Environmental
- Pasts conflicts have caused damage to the oil installations, especially in Kuwait following the Gulf war in 1991
Lesson 1 - Who are the superpowers of today
Superpower
- a nation with the means to project its power and influence anywhere in the world and be a dominant global force
USA are the only current superpower
Hyperpower
A power that is not challenged in any way
the US is not ones of these
the british empire used to be one of these
Mechanisms of power
Economic power and influence
how it helps maintain power
- spending on infrastructure and military, overall being recognised for your GDP
limitation
- the economy size
example
- china as they are the only country that is challenging the USA
Military
how it helps maintain power
- a nation becomes a global threat and countries will not want to go to war with you
limitation
- requires high investment
example
- USA, they have military bases around the world and have the biggest army
Strong government
limitation
- if people don't have faith in politicians then this can be problematic
how it helps maintain power
- making important political decisions
Cultural influence
how it helps to maintain power
- the spread of globalisation through media
limitation
- cultural erosion takes place
example
- USA clothing brands are being worn on a global basis
Access to natural resources
how it helps maintain power
- the more natural resources you have the more energy secure a country will be which makes them less dependant on another country
limitations
- theses have caused lots of conflicts
example
- Russia exports lots of oil and gas to europe and america
Demographic factors
how it helps maintain power
- population size and can be key for economic growth
limitations
- migration can lead to conflicts within regions
example
- the uk did this to fill skill shortages
Physical size and geographical position
how it helps maintain power
- this is important as it decides area over which a country has political influence
limitation
- can make transport and services difficult to offer
examples
- Russia is the world's largest country that cover a large part of the baltic sea
Lesson 4 - How influential are the brics? Emerging powers
Economic growth grates
- China's economy is growing more rapidly than the US's
How does the US currently exert superpower status
membership to intergovernmental economic organisations
Member of NATO and status as a nuclear weapon
Geographical location and population size
Cultural influence through americanisation
Political influence
How does the US compare to China in the following respects:
Navy
USA
- investment into naval ships can carry larger aircrafts, drills and practices to be more prepared for war
China
- The US is by far the world's highest spender on defences and their military, so the two are not yet comparable
African investment
China
- are investing in african resources like copper, they also have many manufacturing industries located here
USA
- For many years have been involved in global FDI, such as microsoft outsourcing call centres
Energy trade
China
- has become one of the leading countries in renewable energy, solar energy investment in major cities
USA
- china still uses more coal than any other country, this will lead to global warming sanctions and it is a non renewable source of energy
New silk road
China
- new route between china and europe, this has increased china's exports
USA
- They are apart of NAFTA, and have already spread their culture on a global basis unlike china
Trade with brazil
China
- brazil are china's largest trading partner which gives them better access to the rest of south america, china invested in brazil's agriculture
USA
- the value of goods and services traded between the US and brazil is $105 billion (2018), the US are the largest consumers of brazil's beef as well as them being geographically located nearer to them than china are
NIcaragua canal
China
- gives china better access to the caribbean sea, but this had to be stopped due to financial issues
USA
- has great access to countries around the globe, and financial obstacles are less likely due to their economy's size
Lesson 5 - Theories explaining the growth of superpowers
Modernisation theory
America promoted economic development through this theory in nations that otherwise would fail due to communism, this helped the US dominate economic development
The IMF and world bank helped achieve this
Rostow theory (all countries would follow the same pathway) - Five stages:
1) the traditional society - people worked within the primary sector
2) Preconditions for take off - specialisation and infrastructure improvements
3) take off - industrialisation, growing investment, regional change, political change
4) the drive to maturity - when the majority of a country is employed in services
5) high mass consumption - when the majority of people are earning an average income and they can afford to consume
Principals
family values in poorer countries hold back economic
capitalism was the solution to poverty
poverty is a trap
Dependency theory - A.G Frank (1967)
based on marxist rich vs poor
relient on capitalist core and underdeveloped periphery - a capitalist core would keep a periphery underdeveloped by exploiting its cheap resources, taking its skilled workers and selling its manufactured goods
aid is then needed to prevent the periphery becoming restless
3 key points - these do not promote development or equal system
an international division of labour between countries
a class distinction (who work together and keep this distinction)
global distinction keeps the system going
Core to periphery: manufactured goods, aid, political and economic ideas, polluting industry
Periphery to core: brain drain, raw materials, political support, good and debt repayments
Criticism: NIC's haven't broken out of the north-south divide and theory doesn't allow for developing countries to have a say in their own development
World system theory - Wallerstein (1974)
To consider the periphery/core theory
three tier world: core, semi periphery and periphery
semi periphery nations are broadly equivalent to NIC's (newly industrialised country) that developed in the 1970's
this stated that wealth and power were fluid not static
Core examples: UK, USA, Australia
Semi periphery examples: India, China, Brazil
Periphery: Russia, all of Africa (except South Africa), Venezuela
Criticism: more of a description of the world than an explanation and was written during the cold war (bipolar era)
Lesson 8 - Players in international decision making
Case study: Afghanistan
Location and physical landscape
: mountainous region and on silk road (between countries in the manufacturing industries)
History of conflict
: Had constant conflict for almost 40 years, this included foreign invasions and civil wars
Current political situation
: Hamid Karzai was installed easing rules on womens dress and schooling, training an afghan army and introduced democratic elections
How is it connected to India and China
: China's only concern is the conflict between their muslim population and the islamic asians. India fears that fundamental afghan islamists will cause conflicts, especially after the 2008 mumbai hotel bombing
The response post 9/11
- The US led an international military coalition against the taliban with forces seeking to destroy the training camps, and kill military leaders, particularly bin laden
What role does climate change have
- superpowers and emerging superpowers have been called upon to play a role in global actions against climate change. This is because rising sea levels are causing low lying islands like Tuvalu and Kiribati to become submerged, uninhabitable and unusable for farming, so we are now seeing environmental refugees to surrounding island not at risk
What is the international response?
Attitudes and actions of IGOs towards geopolitical stability
- this has become the responsibility for NGOs, with UNICEF and WFP provides foreign aid
The UN security council and peacekeeping
- Responsible for preventing conflicts, five permanent members (UK,USA,France,China,Russia) can veto any resolution and have more influence than other members
The international court of justice
- This settles disputes between UN members countries and advises on international law, they have the same permanent countries. The court only deals with cases by individual countries and not individual people
The UN and climate change
- Aims to manage climate change, introduces legal requirements to developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions like the 2015 paris agreement
Lesson 14 - Existing superpowers face economic problems that could undermine their power
EU
Social
Workforce is projected to drop by 14% by 2030 which will put pressure on services like healthcare
Tensions between those wanting deeper union (France and Germany) and those who want less (UK)
Demographic
After 2035 the population is set to decrease
The population is ageing fast with 20% being over 65
Economic
Debt in the eurozone amounted to 9.7 trillion in 2016
unemployment was close to 10% in 2016
Resources
Energy security is an issue as it imports gas and oil from russia
there are conflicts between the eu and russia
Europe's lost generation
16.3 million people in the 17 euro using countries are unemployed
50% of those aged between 16-24 are unemployed
over a quarter of Italians between 16-28 are unemployed, this is 50% in Greece
USA - Military
They have 800 military bases around the world, these range from airstrips to military compounds
This is expensive to do with it costing taxpayers between 70-100 billion each year
Pros - maintain global power, prepared for conflicts
Cons - Taxpayers say money should be spent on healthcare instead, their military presence in some nations causes tensions as they are not wanted