Importance and Impact of International Organizations in Global Economy and Politics - Prof, Study notes of Political Geography

Download Importance and Impact of International Organizations in Global Economy and Politics - Prof and more Study notes Political Geography in PDF only on Docsity! 1. Intro to Conflict/cooperation  In the last 60-70 years, countries are working together for the first time ever on this scale.  Called Supranationalist organizations.  What motivates other sovereign states to work together? o Money, security, cultural commonality. o All Supranationalist organizations have a mission. o EU, AU, UN, NATO, NAFTO, APEC, OPEC o International organizations, are countries who all have common goals. o Even with all these organizations, state-to-state conflict is still very common.  We are still alarming armed, and avidly attacking each other.  International organizations have changed the face of state conflict though. 2. The Changing Nature of Cooperation.  We are living through the new age of international organizations. o Did not exist 100 years ago, much less 1000 years ago.  Why now? o WWII.  And other wars.  The 20th century was the bloodiest century ever.  Warfare became so efficient. o 1919 The League of Nations.  Failed because US didn't join. o 1945 United Nations  Stabilize the world, conflict resolution o Why is it important to notice who/when these organizations started?  A1- The western powers were essentially who controlled the world.  A2- So the west also were the leaders of these new organizations.  India and China were non-players.  All of Africa was still in colonial powers.  The biggest/baddest ones are still in the control of Western powers.  But that is changing quickly.  The SCO  Existing institutions are started to restructure.  The UN and the IMF o What does a state have to do to get into these organizations?  The most important thing that a state gives up to be part of a group ,is some sovereignty.  Means you have to play by the rules of the club.  Some countries don't want to.  Switzerland not in EU  Vatican City not it UN  Reasons for Supranationalist Organizations. o Money.  Most in the world are based around trade and economy. o Safety/defense.  States get together and agree to protect each other.  UN is there to supposed to head off conflict. o Cultural Commonality  Arab League o Oddballs.  Not an official institution  G-7, G-8, G-20  Nuke Club  BRIC 3. Why Work Together: Economics  Number one reason for supranationalist organizations: Trade. o What government wouldn't want to make more money? o The international organizations based on trade have exploded  More trade bloc organizations, and more countries in them.  Economist say this has led to explosion of world economy  Free trade o Open up borders, less barriers, get government out of the way. o Free trade and market capitalism are very closely related. o Makes cheaper products  What gets in the way of free trade? o Governments.  Protectionism- When government wants to protect business and industry in their country over other countries' business o Two ways government can protect their business.  Put tariffs on imported goods.  Tariff=Tax  Subsidies  Government help businesses monetarily.  Usually in agriculture. o Protectionism is slowly going away, we are in the era of free trade.  There has always been trade deals between a couple countries. o Only recently has trade blocs formed.  Trade Imbalance. o Positive trade balance  When you sell more stuff to other countries than they sell to you, o Negative trade balance.  When you buy more stuff from other countries, then they buy from you. o Just because of free trade, it doesn't mean everyone makes money. o China has a positive trade balance with pretty much everyone. o America has a negative trade balance with Japan, and with everyone in general. o Dumping.  If a country finds itself in a surplus, a country will slash a price on an item and flooding the market.  WTO o World Trade Organization.  Not really a trade bloc.  More of a regulatory organization  153 members.  Making sure everyone can follow rules.  What country has more outstanding cases with the WTO? The USA! o Originally created to help each other with their nation-states and push out foreign influences through economics. o Indonesia is ASEAN's biggest economy and they see themselves as the natural leader. o Goals  accelerate economic growth  Grow social progress  Protections of peace and stability. o ASEAN is striving to be more like EU o Expanded ASEAN Goals since its inception  Regional political organization.  Regional shared Airspace  Common environmental policy  Common energy security policy  Regional electric grid.  Regional human rights standard.  Weird because of Burma. o 10% of world's population o GDP 1.5 Trillion o Looking good because they're right next to China, and Japan. o Associate members.  China, Japan, South Korea  ASEAN+3  INDIA, Australia, and New Zealand.  Other associate members.  EU o European Union o It is first and foremost a trade bloc. o 16-17 Trillion GDP o Bigger than the US. o Why Europe?  War!  World War 1 and 2.  The idea was if the countries were so economically tied together, it would be impossible to fight each other. o Steel and Coal  1951-52, ECSC 1951  European Coal and Steel Community  Original 6  France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Luxemburg. o EEC 1957 o IN 1993, name changed European Union. o Why is the EU still growing?  More money! o Why do the rich ones want in?  They all just want to get richer! o They also started the idea of the free movement of people and labor o Integration of all levels of society.  Over arching constitution.  Singular government/parliament.  Singular court system.  Environmental policy  Energy policy  Singular infrastructure  Singular monetary unit  Defense policy. o The EU is the model, for the world to follow.  Economic blocks, etc. o The AU and the SCO o AU- African Union  Hasn't worked in Africa.  Why have trade blocs not worked in Africa?  Too poor  Most African countries export/import outside of region. o SCO- Shanghai Cooperation Organization.  Russia and China are primary members.  Fairly new bloc.  Economics is a major part of what they're doing, but maybe not primary. o OPEC  Cartel  Cartel is not a trade bloc.  What is a cartel?  Formal agreement between competing businesses to control most of a certain resource.  OPEC controls the supply of oil, so they control the price.  Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.  Members  12 member countries.  OPEC countries nationalized their oil companies.  Could the US ever join OPEC?  Only because it doesn't control its oil industry.  And we don't export oil.  A couple meetings a year to set price and production.  OPEC controls 60% of world's oil.  Saudi is largest supplier and biggest reserves of oil.  But Venezeula and Iranians, hate America so they want to charge a whole bunch.  Leads to a lot of infighting.  If some countries can't afford expensive oil, they will look for alternative sources of energy.  Major non OPEC oil producing countries  Norway, Russia, Mexico.  If prices get to high, countries will seriously begin to invest heavily on clean energy. o De Beers  Diamonds.  Owns 80-90% of world's diamonds.  Monopoly is when an entity owns pretty much all of a certain resource.  De Beers is a cartel. o Google  Controls most internet traffic.  Monopoly on digital information. 4. Why We Work Together: Security and Defense o Because of the world wars, states began to seriously looking at how to work together. o 1919, League of Nations was the first attempt. o It failed, b/c no one really wanted to do it. o World War II led to the Creation of United Nations. o 1945, United Nations  Intended to be an open forum for world states to come up and head off conflict. o Pacts of non-aggrssession.  Pretty much, I won't attack you, if you won't attack us.  Famous one, was between Germany and Russia at beginning of World War II. o Defense Pact.  If someone is attacked, then other comes to aid. o Both of these are built to the fact that a strong defense will deter aggression o 1946, NATO o 1955, Warsaw Pact. o 2001, SCO created. o Defense/peace/security pacts are the biggest in the world.  United Nations: Mission o 1945. o Largest organization in the world.  192 states. All except Vatican City. o It was built as a pursuit of human rights.  Especially genocide.  Everyone believed that the UN needed to be a watchdog for human rights.  1948, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Not legally binding, but adopted by entire UN. o UN Goals: Facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights.  Peace Keeping/Security.  Human rights and humanitarian assistance.  Social and economic development. o All these things to even attempt, requires a massive bureaucracy. And committees  Some are.  World Bank  IMF  UNICEF  World Health Organization.  UNESCO  1949  USA, UK, France, Canada. o Why did NATO form?  Formed as anti-USSR block o How does NATO work?  Very democratic.  When USA was attacked on 9/11, the US went to NATO.  Then there was a meeting. And NATO said yes.  Command structure of NATO.  US always leads NATO on field of battle.  US contributes the most troops.  A European is always head of Bureaucracy of NATO.  NATO Grows. o What's up with NATO now that the USSR is gone? o NATO has grown significantly since the fall of USSR. o When NATO formed, USSR was ticked, so they formed the Warsaw Pact. o Warsaw Pact.  Made to counter NATO.  1955, USSR and Eastern European Bloc  Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Military Assistance o Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, not too happy about being under Soviet umbrella. Also did not want to be in Warsaw Pact. o All this ends with the dissolving of USSR. Creating 15 new states, including Russia. o First three countries in NATO in the 90s were Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary.  Wanted to join NATO quickly, because it was uncertain if Russia would try and come back. o Most Eastern European countries ended up joining NATO. By doing so, it ensures their sovereign state status. o There has been a creeping eastward since fall of USSR. o Russian Tensions based on.  NATO expansion.  All states were scooped up by NATO, while Russia was really, really weak.  Lost all those security buffer states.  Especially Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania because they have borders with Russia.  Georgian invasion was in response to NATO expansions.  Missile Defense Shield  Theory is:  Series of radar stations that would steer missiles at incoming missiles.  Supposed to go in Poland and Czech Republic.  For the most part, has been dropped as Russia/West relations warm up.  NATO into the future o NATO mission has shifted from Commies to Terror. o War on Terrorism is the major shift.  NATO/Afghan Campaign  US provides most of men and weapons. o Increasing voice of Russia is another shift of NATO  Russia is already invited NATO meetings.  Look for Russia to begin helping in Afghanistan. o NATO is probably already done with expansion, save the former states of Yugoslavia.  Ukraine and Georgia pressured to not join by Russia. o Future members of NATO outside of Europe.  Like Japan, Australia, South Korea.  If they were ever attacked, NATO would more than likely help anyways. o Russia is really adamant against Ukraine joining because Russia's navy is located in Crimean Peninsula. o IN our lifetime, there might be combined EU/NATO military force.  UK/France have signed a deal making their militaries one unit.  SCO o Shanghai Cooperation Organization o Shanghai Five  1996  SCO created from the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions.  Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Krygyistan  1997  SCO members signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions.  2001  Uzbekistan joined, forming the SCO. o Four more observer states have joined.  India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan o 3 main security concerns as to why SCO say they formed.  Terrorism  Extremism  Separatism  Unique, in that, no other entity has this in their constitution.  Means they will fight with China against any separatists in their states.  Ex. Tibet and Taiwan with China, and Chechnya with Russia. o Evidence of this SCO group that activities with the SCO countries are changing in the social scene.  Crime, joint taskforces to fight drug trafficking,  Increased intelligence sharing.  Increased counter-terrorism operations.  SCO is increasing joint military operations and exercising.  AKA war games. o SCO wants to do more on the economic front.  Long term objective is to provide a free trade area.  Russia suggested SCO form an energy club.  SCO might want to form a Natural Gas cartel. o SCO is alternative to the current western dominated other supranationalist organizations. o US has applied for observer state status every year for 10 years. And has been denied every year. o ASEAN is to Asia as EU is to Europe o SCO is to Asia as NATO is to the West. 5. Why work together: Culture  Based on cultural identity.  Arab League, Organization of American States, African League.  Arab League o League of nations based on being Arab. o Arab is an ethnicity and language. Not a religion. o Started in Arabian peninsula, also Egypt. o There are 22 states in the Arab League, along with 4 observer states. o This group has accomplished little or nothing in its existent. o Most of OPEC countries are in Arab League. o With the assistance of Arab league, OPEC enacted the 1973 Oil Embargo. o A reason the Arab League could be because the West does not want it to. They help foster a situation that doesn't welcome it.  OAS- The Organization of American States. o Headquartered in Washington D.C. o All 35 states in the America's. o Strengthen democracy and peace and defend human rights. o This organization oversees elections in the America's. o Shared culture of ideas  Democracy and individual freedoms and human rights. o There has been a mood from the Latin American states to have their own version of OAS without Canada and USA.  African Union o Second biggest Supernationalist organization in world. o 53 members- Everyone except Morocco.  Morocco not in b/c of territorial dispute. o Different names for organizations in Africa.  Union of African States.  Union of African Unity.  African Economic Union. o In 2002, the Re-launch of African Union. o The name is no coincidence: wants to emulate EU. o Chronic corruption in politics and AIDS are a couple reasons why Africa sucks. o Most promising part of AU?  A common military.  UN, America and the West, are increasingly not wanting to be involved in the continent.  Ex. Rwandan Genocide  Why do the countries with nukes vote for it?  It keeps the countries who have it as more powerful and stay more powerful than everyone else.  What does it do?  Three pillar system.  Non-proliferation  All people who sign it agree to not trade, sell, or give nuclear info to anyone.  Disarmament  Work to getting rid of nukes already built.  The right to peacefully use nuclear technology. I.e. nuclear energy.  Iran is making this tricky.  IAEA- International Atomic Energy Agency.  Yukiya Amano  General Secretary of IAEA  This organization makes sure everyone follows the rules.  India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel are the four countries who have not signed the NPT  India and Pakistan have not signed it because they hate each other.  Israel will not because it would require inspections and they don't want people to know they have it.  North Korea hasn't cause they're crazy. o Who may be inspiring to have a nuclear weapon?  Iran.  Iran is pursuing a nuclear energy industry, but the West is afraid it's a ploy to gain the weapons. o Countries that used to aspire having nuclear weapons.  Germany, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Libya o Future of nuclear weapons and energy?  Nuclear energy will become much more vital as a source of energy, because oil and coal is not sustainable.  Nuclear is sustainable and doesn't release CO2.  India has been given an exemption from the IAEA, to help foster a nuclear energy, even though they have not signed the NPT.  Pakistan says no.  Because Pakistan is on the brink of collapse.  Pakistan's top nuclear scientist gave nuclear secrets to North Korea, Libya, Syria.  Iran will continue to be a source of friction.  Global Summit on Nuclear Security.  Recently called by Obama to talk about maybe restructuring NPT to make it stronger. 7. The Changing Nature of Conflict.  Who fights? o There has been a significant military to civilian casualty ratio. o Up until world war 1, only professional soldiers died. o Most deaths contributed to conflicts were military. o The ratio now is 90% civilian to 10% military deaths. o The way military technology and military warfare tactics have changed. o IN the last 100 years, the trend has led from separate sovereign states, to groups of people fighting inside of one sovereign state.  Partly due to the United Nations.  Technology increases. Nuclear weapon are a huge deterrent.  How we fight? o Richer more developed countries have increasingly relied on technology in an effort to minimize own casualties  Drones, more money spent on soldiers to keep them alive. o Less developed countries or groups, still rely heavily on large standing armies o Largest armies.  China 2.3 m  US 1.5m  India 1.3m  Most of biggest armies are in Asia. o Asian states #1 goal- protect the mother land. o Asian states #2 goal- maintain order o Why America spends 660 billion?  US goal  America is global policeman.  Counter opposing ideologies. o Burma has so many troops to impose order in its borders. o America has the most aircraft carriers than the whole world combined, because aircraft carriers are a projection of power. o CyberWar is also a another future battlefield.  There is a cyber bug floating around Iran where people think there might be nuclear facilities.  Why we fight? o Most conflicts use to territorial or resource or power, or economic gain. o People now fight over ideas. o War on Terror o War on Drugs o War on Extremism o Ideas cannot be destroyed. Only contained. 8. Cooperation and conflict Conclusion  We are increasingly living in the "age of blocs"  State sovereignty is beginning a shift toward blocs.  Are Blocs going to be the preeminent social structure. Japan: 1. Intro  Most western, eastern country  Over half of Americans drive Japanese made games. 2. Physical world of Japan  Japan calls itself the Land of the Rising Sun.  Four main islands. o Hokkaido o Honshu- main major o Shikoku o Kyushu  Japan is separate and distinct from Asia. o Kind of how Great Britain is to Europe.  Japan is about the size of Calfiornia o But with 127 Million people.  Japan's Latitude is similar to eastern seaboard.  Same seasonal shifts as the US.  Japan has Typhoons where we have hurricanes.  Terrain. o Extremely mountainous. o 70-75 percent of Japan is mountainous. o 9-12K feet o Tallest mountain is Mt. Fuji  Old Volcano o Most mountains are covered in forests o Why so mountainous?  A subduction place alignment under the islands.  Philippine and pacific plate are slamming into Eurasian plate. o Over 100 active volcanoes o Plenty of hot springs with geothermal activity. o Earthquakes all the time.  Resources. o They don't have any. o No coal, oil  Import all of it. o Depend on geothermal and nuclear.  Mountains+ forest+ island status= not a lot of arable land. o Grows a lot of rice. Some of the highest yield crops in the planet.  Add in no resources. o And you have a country extremely dependent on trade.  Still mostly self reliant and culturally distinct. 3. Laggards to Loners  Early history o Pretty new people. o Come from Asia through Korea down into Japan. o Everything came from Japan is copied from Asian. o Around 680AD, is the first state of Japan. o Yamato Dynasty  Emperor Jimmu  Current emperor Akihito  Japan probably killed close to 20-35 million Chinese. Japanese white wash scandal  Rewriting history essentially, or just leaving out world war 2.  Yasukuni Shrine o Cemetary with war dead, and people who are convicted of war crimes. o When Japanese PM visit shrines if pisses off Asian.  United States o Japan attacks Pearl Harbor pulls US in world war 2. o 1942, Bataan Death March  Occurred in Philippines.  Japanese won in Philippines and took a lot POWs.  Concerted effort to march tens of thousands of American POWs to literally march them to death. o Leads to absolute US retaliation. o High level of animosity against Japan. o America destroys completely Japan. o America had a plan to fire bomb Japan, and completely destroyed the islands.  Japan was completely leveled after World War 2. 7. Post War Economic Miracle.  1945-1951, MacArthur essentially is in charge of the country  The Emperor is kept, but the entire government is thrown out.  MacArthur sees that Japan follows American model  Japan fully adopts American tutelage.  In the constitution , Japan says no military.  Everyone didn't want that. o It places Japan in a dependency mode. o So USA has to watch them.  It frees Japan up from having to worry about defense, because US is watching them. o So they can spend all their time on refocusing their country in making them become an economic powerhouse. o Important because there will be no repercussions from Korea/China/Russia.  From 1960s-1980s, they focus on consumer electronics and automobile . Makes them a lot of money.  America invests a whole bunch of money in Japan.  Why did US do this? o Idea that if they rebuild these places, that they become powerful allies and great trading partners. o Need Japan to be on their team during Cold War. 8. Shinto Slump  Consumerism developed in the 80s due to extreme wealth accumulation.  Because of more people buying stuff, caused inflated prices.  Then the bubble burst, prices fell, and Japan reverted back from their consumer ways back to their excess savings.  Sets interest rate at 0% to spur spending.  Nikkei Stock Index o Major stock trading center. o Has been flat, no growth.  Keiretsu- interlocked businesses to help grow. o Kills competition. Bad for capitalist growth.  Like in America, manufacturing are heading to other cheaper priced labor countries.  There population is shrinking.  Less tax base, less people  Xenophobia o Fear of foreigners o Don't like immigration.  Solutions. o Robots, go home and have sex with spouse day.  Political deadlocked and dull o Same party in power for 60 years.  Two decades long economic slump. 9. Japan Now  Economically they're down. o A country that has reinvented themselves twice before and had major effects on the world.  Japan is currently looking to Asian neighbors for their new refocusing. o The last 4 of 5 Japan's PM says they will not visit that shrine for WW2 soldiers.  ASEAN o Japan will to be increasingly be involved.  6 Party Talks o N and S Korea, China, Japan, Russia, USA  Japan will continue to be a solid player in Team West.  Continue to be used as a check of the Chinese.