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COURSE CODE AND TITLE
GE103 – THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD
LESSON NO. 13
TOPIC
INSTITUTIONS THAT GOVERN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Several international organizations are participated in by governments of countries around the world and individuals. These include the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, NAFTA, and NATO. There are also non-governmental organizations promoting social and economic growth. LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:
- Compare and contrast globalism and informationalism.
- Identify the different barriers to collective learning in the age of information.
- Point out the relevance of political boundaries and physical barriers in the future given the nature of information and information revolution. LESSON PRESENTATION Peace Treaties and Military Alliances: The UN and NATO Global politics involves the connection of countries and different governments and non- governmental organizations. The United Nations (UN) is one of the leading organizations in the world where nation-states meet and deliberate. Nevertheless, it stands as an independent actor in global politics. The basis for its foundation was the restructuring of the world after the Second World War. The name “United Nations” was coined by the late U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942. Its operation began on October 24, 1945. It started with 50 representatives from different countries. In general, it works in four areas: military issues, economic issues, environmental issues, and human protection. It is made up of close to 200 countries from around the world, 193 member states to be exact, with the Republic of South Sudan as its last member (United Nations, 2011). UN’s headquarters in New York City was planned to be a site where countries could come to talk about their issues without resorting to violence and war, which had afflicted our planet for some years in the past. Preserving peace and strengthening friendships is the number one aim of the UN, as well as preparing a forum where countries could gather to discuss global issues. The General Assembly is the gathering for all these countries. It is done in an auditorium where speeches are given. Representatives from different member states can vote on issues.
2 The central mission of the UN after the war is to maintain international peace and security. Up to this day, the UN is the major force in governing the interstate relations (Ritzer, 2015). The UN stated that peace and security are perpetuated by working to avert conflict; helping parties in dispute make peace; peacekeeping and creating the situations to let peace to hold and flourish. The Security Council of the UN tries to arbitrate in ceasefires between countries. This group of countries are waging war or are on the verge of fighting. The permanent members of the UN Security Council are the United States, Britain, Russia, China, and France. In addition to those members, 10 additional countries became permanent members for two-year terms, making a total of 15 countries. They can order sanctions like blocking trade with another country as a punishment. They can send troops or observers and, if worst comes to worst, they can use military force. At one time, UN peacekeepers have been sent to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The “big five” permanent members have veto power, which means that one member can stop the entire council from taking action against a country. The General Assembly, which is the main deliberative body, comes up with a forum for member states to convey their views and reach a consensus. In 1991, the UN's military role was put into question during its intervention in Iraq’s intervention in Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait wherein the Security Council authorized the use of force (Ritzer, 2015). Apart from this, the UN interceded in the civil wars of less developed countries, such as Cambodia and East Timor, through “election and human rights tracking disarmament, and even the presumption of state functions” (Weiss and Zach). The UN is not all about fights. It has a program called UNICEF or the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund. Its chief goal is to help children around the world. They collect fund to distribute emergency relief from famine and poverty and disease. It also imparts education programs in areas where there are no schools. UNICEF, as part of the United Nations, administer semi-independently and rely on fundraising. The main focus of the UN in terms of economic issues is the reduction of global inequality. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cover a range of concerns for the improvement of all aspects of life. According to the UN, sustainable development encompasses economic prosperity, social well-being, and environmental protection. Since the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) did not end poverty for all people, the UN’s post- 2015 sustainable development agenda showcases the vision of the organization when it comes to more extensive issues such as climate change, disaster risk reduction, and gender equality. Environmental issues such as pollution and hazardous wastes, are addressed through the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The increasing rate of greenhouse gas emissions, rising sea level, and occurrence of extreme weather patterns are the effects of climate change like an assessment of climate science, facilitation of climate consensus, and offering assistance to countries to lessen emissions (UN,2011) The UN founded the World Court known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is located in the Netherlands, formerly called Hague. The disputes of the member countries are
4 famine and disease; Amnesty International speaks out for human rights and political prisoners, and save the children helps kid get health care and education. Global Economic Associations: The WTO and NAFTA WTO is an economic association made up of 162 countries around the world and was created with the goal of increasing free trade. Through this association, countries can buy and sell goods from one another without taxes on imports or tariffs. Moreover, tariffs are used to secure businesses and companies inside their country. Even if the organization does good, it is not excuse to criticism. Another famous economic organization is NAFTA. It is an economic treaty between the United States, Canada, and Mexico in which the three countries trade freely without tax. Just like WTO, NAFTA critics, too. Some American autoworkers dissented from NAFTA as several car companies relocated their factories to Mexico in search for cheaper labor. NAFTA and WTO express the challenge in America of keeping manufacturing factories. Globalization and Globalism When compared to the term “globalism,” globalization would be better describe as the “increase or decline in the degree if globalism” (Nye,2002, p.1) Globalism is the network of connections that surpass distances of different countries in the world. Specifically, the links among countries and people are better connected with globalism while the speed in which they become linked with one another is globalization. If we are to make a stark contrast between globalism and globalization by saying that globalization means connectedness while globalism is not, it will give unto confusion that it is only now people got connected, not in the past. But the world was already connected even before the Industrial Revolution. Through the conquest of different empires, such as those of the Romans, many parts of the world became under one rule. Nowadays, the contemporary world is identified being connected through the internet, modern transportation, and advance communication technologies. Therefore, societies in the world have always been connected; what makes the contemporary world distinct from the past is the type and speed of connection that people and societies experience. Globalism and globalization are different in terms of “thickness” (Nye, 2002). Globalism is thin. As it becomes thicker, globalization happens. Globalization also means being able to tie up with countries in the world through a more powerful and faster way. In the past, the Silk Road served as the trade routes among countries in Europe and in Asia, a good example global trade. Other than the trade of silk between the continents, other products, even illegal ones, were swapped among traders and consumers. Along with that, cultural interchange among people was made through their trades. However, they were sensed by an approximately small group of people, most especially those who were literally on the road and did the trades. The interrelation
5 was not extreme nor ”thick.” Contrary to the contemporary world, “globalism turns to increasingly thick” (Nye, 2002,p.1) This is where globalization comes in. Global trade nowadays has come to a greater number of people around the world. Although globalism and globalization are often understood in terms of the economy, Nye gave four definite dimensions of globalism: economic, military, environmental, and social. Similar to economic globalism, the three other dimensions also turn out to be thicker and faster as globalization strengthens. The immeasurable speed of potential conflict and threat of nuclear war is an example of military globalism. In environmental globalism, global warming continues to advance. The last dimension, social and cultural globalism , entails the development of ideas, information, images, and people who convey ideas and information with them (Nye, 2002, p.2). With the emergence of modern mass communication, computers, and social networking sites, it appears that the relations made through the interchange of information create a new kind of network in this contemporary world. Informationalism Globalism is tied to the notion of networks. According to Castells, networks comprise the rudimentary pattern of life, of all kinds of life. It was mentioned earlier that the world is connected in the present and even in the past. The difference between globalism and globalization is the spread and thickness or intensity of connections. Even so, people are attached to one another whether as a small community or as a large country. What is the type of connection that exists and begins to increase in the contemporary world? The answer depends on the development of information as the obligatory force among people, things, and places around the globe. This technological paradigm, associated with computer science and modern telecommunications that replaces industrialism is called informationalism (Gastells, 2004). The media, and the internet are the technology. This does not mean that we do not need to produce material goods such as factories, clothes, and food; rather, corresponding to information and knowledge, which is distinctly immaterial goods, becomes central in the contemporary world. On account of the “three of the most cutting-edge aspects of the social world in general and globalization in particular”, technology, media, and the internet. McLuhan and Flores argued that in the New Media age, the importance lies in the medium, the way in which the message is transmitted, not necessarily in the content presented through the medium. This means that televisions, radios, and newspapers have been shaping “individual subjectivity and culture, not only locally but globally” In addition, the French social theorist Guy DeBord emphasized in his idea of media spectacle the sophistication and ubiquity of spectacular visuals in televisions. This made TV news a form of entertainment. Although content matters in television broadcasts, visual spectacle or significance is an important element and perhaps the primary key to catching the attention of the audience.
7 safeguards the domestic economy from intrinsic shocks even if there exists a broad consensus regarding its inefficiency, Fair Trade is a different procedure to economic globalization, which surfaced as a counter to neoliberal “free trade” principles (Nicholls and Opal, 2005). Fairtrade intends to be a more moral and unbiased global economic system in which, as a matter of fact, the price is not set by the market; rather, it is negotiated obviously by both producers and consumers. While it is popular among consumers in the North, it has met only limited acceptance among producers (Ritzer, 2015). Its capacity to supply a mass market and its appropriateness to produce products are also uncertain. The third form of resistance to economic globalization connects with helping the bottom billion predicated on Collier (2007). One of the several measures that are needed is the Increasing aid. International criteria and standards can be adjusted to the needs of the bottom billion. The decrease of trade barriers would also lessen the economic marginalization of these people and their nations. When it comes to dealing with political globalization, increased accountability and transparency are the key issues. All levels of political organizations should be more liable for their actions because they are now bordered by an “ocean of opacity”, such as transnational justice systems, international tribunals, civil society, and particularly the Transparency International. Resistance to globalization is numerous, intricate, contrasting, and perplexing. This development also has the possibility to come out as the new public sphere, which may uphold progressive values such as autonomy, democracy, peace, ecological sustainability and social justice. These intensity of resistance are themselves outcomes of globalization and can be seen as globalization form below (Smith,2008). According to della Porta et al. the impetus for such a movement comes from individuals, groups, and organizations which are oppressed by globalization from above (neoliberal economic systems or aggressively expanding nations and corporations). They quest for a more democratic procedure of globalization. Nevertheless, globalization from below also requires less visible, more right-wing elements, such as the America First Party and the Taliban. The World Social Forum (WSF) is focused on addressing the insufficiency of democracy in economic and political affairs (Fisher and Ponniah). The diversity of elements required in WSF hampers the development of concrete political proposals. A significant influence on WSF has been that of cyberactivism, which is based on the “cultural logic of networking” (Juris, 32005) and “virtual movements,” such as Global Huaren. This cyberpublic was formed as a protest against the violence, discrimination, and hatred experienced by Chinese residents in Indonesia after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Global rallies denouncing the violence were made feasible through the Global Huaren which according to Ritzer “became an interesting global watchdog for Chinese interests.”
8 Globalization is not single, so the future is also multifaceted. Some foresee the continuing expansion of globalization both in general as well as in more specific globalization. Others have a further negative vision of “Mad Max” scenarios that could end the present-day period of globalization (Turner, 2007). In any case, given that there is no world government, the idea of global citizenship demands the creation of rights and obligations. In addition, accomplishing the promises of globalization and the solution to the problems of the contemporary world does not lean on a single entity or individual, but on citizens, the community, and the different organizations in societies. The dynamics of globalization demand the efforts of a whole array of inter- governmental organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank; international NGOs like Greenpeace and Amnesty International; and the citizen initiative and community action groups that extend above the nation-state level like the World Social Forum and Occupy Movement. In the long run, reforms in global governance are necessary to allow world citizens to take more role directly in all features of human life at the global level. SUMMARY/SYNTHESIS Countries and individuals around the world join numerous international organizations. Some of the well-known international organizations are the UN, ICJ, NAFTA, and NATO. The UN is one of the leading political organizations in the world and where leaders of different nation-states attend meetings and deliberate about different issues happening in their respective countries that may affect most member countries too. The UN's concerns are the military issues, economic issues, environmental issues, and human protection. The UN has different programs with specific concerns like UNICEF, UNEP, IPCC, ICJ, ICC, ITLOS, UNDG-HRM, and OHCHR. The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) particularly aims to help children around the world. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) concentrates on environmental issues while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) seeks ways to reduce climate change. The world court known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) settles disputes of member countries. Apart from that, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea play a bigger role in catching violators. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) and the UN Development Group’s Human Rights Mainstreaming Mechanism (UNDG-HRM) are funded treaties and agreement for human protection. Some remarkable Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are the Red Cross, WTO and NAFTA. They run freely without any tie up to any country. The Red Cross supply emergency relief and medial help. The WTO is an economic organization that help countries trade freely without taxes or tariffs on imports, the same as the NAFTA. Globalization and globalism are connected but the first is better described as the increase or decline in the degree of globalism which is known as the network of connections that exceed distances of different countries in the world. The two differ in the speed and thickness or intensity
