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economic and political GG - Coggle Diagram
economic and political GG
political GG
refers to IGOs and SGOs, treaties and meetings that happen internationally to address global concerns - principal organisation for political GG is UN
UN is world's largest IGO - undertakes wide range of roles - founded 1945,
193
member states, head quarters in new york
most powerful organ = UNSC - responsible for international peace and security and can pass binding resolutions
15 members, 5 permanent with a veto and 10 non permanent members
non permanent members, based on regional quotas are elected for 2 year terms
president of the UNSC rotates monthly between its 15 members
the un
6 principle organs although one now inactive, the trusteeship council, set up to oversee the process of decolonisation
other 5 are the UNSC, GA, UN secretariat, the economic and social council (ECOSOC) and the ICJ
UNSC
main and powerful organ of the UN
GA
- all member states in the GA vote on major issues and regularly hold debates and meetings
the secretariat
- led by the UN secretary general - bureaucratic organ of the UN
ECOSOC
- responsible for economic security and HR has 54 member states, elected by the GA to serve for 3 year terms
ICJ
- arbitrates on disputes between states (usually territorial)
NATO
NATO role changed since cold war - redundant or adapted?
strengths
:
more focused on humanitarian missions (yugoslavia)
expanded role beyond traditional geographic region as well as seeing several expansions to its membership
interventions in libya, somalia
russia still sees NATO as a threat
set up as military security alliance during the cold war era - aim to stop the spread of communism - main principle of article 5 (attack on one attack on all) - collective military response
weaknesses
:
traditional role of stopping spread of communism, contravened international law - acting against the UNSC (kosovo) and some presidents (trump) have questioned the future of america's role in nato
based in brussels - civilian secretary general who acts as chief executive and main spokesperson for the organisation - 28 states
economic GG
IMF
IGO that focusses on economic GG set under the bretton woods agreement
189 members
funded by member states who contribute relative to their wealth in the world economy
voting power is in accordance to their financial contributions - seen as undemocratic
focuses on regulating international money flows with focus on global economic security
plays role in dealing with financial crises - used SAPs
weaknesses
failed to predict global financial crisis
structurally dominated by western powers - particularly america
SAPs criticised for not being appropriate for fragile economies - not ready to be opened up to the global market
SAPS can lead to increasing issues of inequality between the richest and the poorest
strengths
measures taken by the IMF can curb effects of one state's financial crisis impacting other states
encourages economic reform for growth and works with the liberal idea that states pooling resources to help on another
beneficial for global stability
WB
WB is an IGO for economic GG - set up under bretton woods agreement - both follow washington consensus ideas for economic growth
differs from the IMF by focusing more on development - linked strongly to the millennium development goals and sustainable development goals
WB gives grants and has bigger focus on global poverty than the IMF
strengths
learnt from mistakes with SAPs and been more successful with development goals - involvement in MDGs and SDGs
offered direct grants to poorest states rather than loans - alleviating the debt crisis - had an impact on reducing global poverty
weaknesses
dominated by western/american power
doesn't represent global shifts in power - china, brazil, india have less than a third of voting power of the USA
private investors dwarf its contributions so argument is that the WB should focus on poorest, most conflict ridden states that aren't attractive to private investers
WTO
established as general agreement for trades and tariffs (GATT) - third bretton woods organisation - agree the rules of trade between states - aims to free up trade between states reducing trade barriers
164 member states - fewer than IMF and WB
WTO operates trade rounds and all members must agree for trade rounds to be successful
latest trade rounds (doha round) has reached gridlock and has been unable to reach agreements
last agreement reached was in 2001 - led to questions over effectiveness of the WTO
other criticisms of the WTO are that structurally dominated by western powers - tend to benefit most trade deals
decisions making is biased towards those who have the biggest representation in geneva
sustainable development takes back seat to economic development and the decision making process is slow
has made trade more open, transparent and competitive, does consider the environment and has benefits for LEDCs
G7/8
US, canada, UK, france, germany, italy, japan are group of 7 wealthy democracies who share common interests and goals
formerly russia was included but was suspended after crimea annexation 2014
informal intergovernmental forum - meets annually to discuss economic developments
one of strengths is that there is great flexibility in its approach - and little impact on state sovereignty
BUT little accountability - membership is unrepresentative and arguably ineffective at problem solving - group of likeminded states
G20
set up to widen the membership of the G7 with similar aims to original groups
has had more significant role following the 2008 global financial crisis
strengths in its broader membership since it can be a more effective forum for debate - broader range of interests
BUT can be drawback and means there is more room for tension and disagreement
G20 has met resistance from anti-capitalist protests especially in the wake of the financial crisis
GG and common problems
poverty and economic governance
north south divide - originally the idea behind the brandt line - devised in 1980
given rapid growth in some developing countries - contested concept?
shaped economic global governance and development strategy
bretton woods organisations have been accused of acting imperialistically assuming that a washington consensus approach to economic development best suits all countries
global poverty measured in number of different ways
absolute poverty considered to include anyone living below a global minimum wage (currently $1.90 per day) set by the WB
relative poverty is variable measure that differs from state to state - how poor people are relative to others
other measures of poverty
the wealth or lack of wealth of nation states including GDP per capita
gini co-efficient and the HDI
orthodox and alternative theories of poverty and economic governance
orthodox theory - focusses on economic measures of poverty and economic development - associated with neo-liberalism and focussed on poverty lines to determine development
alternative theory - considers other factors of poverty such as social and cultural factors - access to education and healthcare
interested in broader view of development - 'sustainable development'
uses measures like HDI to consider development
GDI - gender development index - in addition to other development indicators
world systems theory
based on marxist structural ideology and suggests global inequality is rooted in colonial histories
according to the theory there are
core countries - powerful industrialised countries who once were the colonisers
semi-periphery countries - somewhere between the core and periphery
periphery countries - those that were colonised and have been left under developed and dependent on the core
global capitalism has meant that the original dependencies of colonialism have been perpetuated
dependency theory
suggests that global inequalities remain wrapped up in colonial history
argues that colonialism made colonies dependent on their colonisers - this legacy remains in terms of trading dependencies and political interference
rich core countries have kept the peripheral countries in dependent relationship with them - neo imperialism
no territorial control but continue to have control over them
development theory
classic or classical development theory
relates to traditional ideas of free trade and the invisible hand (adam smith) - laissez faire approach to economics
neo classical - neo classical development theory
mixes new right ideas and classical liberal ideas as seen in the washington consensus idea
associated with reagan and thatcher - includes free trade, privatisation, low gov spending, openness to foreign direct investment, tax reform and de regulation of markets
structural - structural development theories
more marxist approaches and see development as a responsibility of the 'core' countries to address since they are responsible for the inequalities that exist between the core and periphery
the UNSC
membership and structure - P5 have disproportionate power on the UNSC - veto can be seen as outdated - further evidence that powerful countries structurally dominate organisations
number of suggestions for reform - making permanent 5 more representative of the world's key powers - germany, japan and india
veto
- permanent veto has been significant issue in passing some resolutions most notable during cold war - number of time when UN has been left unable to make progress because of veto
US led war on iraq in 2003 - state led action
effectiveness of WB and IMF
helped address global poverty and play a role in promoting global stability and co-operation
significant criticism over SAPs and the global economic crisis
SAPs
one size fits all approach to development - demonstrates structural domination of western powers in these institutions
increasing inequality between the richest and poorest in countries where they have been used - opening up to FDI too early for economies that aren't ready for it
increasing economic dependence on the west - neo-imperalism as aid offered on conditions
global economic crisis
relates to IMF and to some extent applied to the WB
IMF responsible for financial regulation means its failure to predict crisis in 2008 damaged reputation
is global governance effective?
yes
tangible and binding legal resolutions as a result of GG
rise of GG has coincided with increased democracy - fukuyama's end of history - liberal argument
through GG effective IGOs have developed such as the bretton woods organisations and key global institutions like the ICC
some disputes can no longer be resolved by nation states alone - issue of global commons etc.
global issues increasingly prevalent in globalised world and they need global platform - GG pivotal in addressing common problems
no
significant weaknesses of some of the key GG organisations - UN has had situations of stalemate amongst the P5 who can use their veto of the IMF failing to predict global financial crisis
state sovereignty = states can still regard international laws and act with impunity - leaves weaker states vulnerable to more interference
realists argue that states will continue to act in their own self interest even in globalised world - GG is at best ineffective and potentially provides most significant powers with another mechanism by which they can dominate (structural power)
increased GG has not led to increased peace and security - nature of conflict could just be seen to have changed - kaldor's argument of 'new wars' and regional conflict