Booklet 5 - Global Governance Flashcards
(31 cards)
Global Governance Definition
The ways in which global affairs which affect multiple nations are managed.
How does global governance regulate global economic and political systems?
- Rules countries should follow
- Monitoring whether they follow the rules
- Enforcing rules if they aren’t followed e.g. taking a country or company to international court or imposing economic sanctions like withdrawing trade
How are international agreements established?
Treaties, directives, protocols
Examples of international agencies
UN, IMF, WHO
Aims of Global Governance
Promotes growth and stability
General Issues with Global Governance
- Accepted ‘norms’ vary between cultures, for example accepted treatment of animals.
- Countries may interpret the law differently.
- Many institutions have strong links to the richest and most powerful countries which provide the largest amount of funding. This can lead to inequalities in treatment between countries.
- Countries that lag behind economically, such as many of those in Africa, may lack impact on the global governance process.
What is a ‘norm’
Acceptance of certain attitudes, practices and regulations as valid and ‘normal’ for states aspiring to a high standard of governance.
Example of a ‘norm’
The UN’s work to promote human rights and promote sustainable development.
What does the UN declaration of human rights define?
- Human rights in considerable detail
- A Human Right council has been established to press fir improvements in states and contexts where human rights are denied to people
What established a normative plan of action for sustainable development?
- 1992 conference on Environment and Development (the ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio)
- Laid the groundwork for for the Kyoto agreement in 1997 and subsequent climate change agreements and accords.
What are norms largely based around
Free-market, capitalist economic systems and democracy
How do the norms lead to global systems being reproduced?
- Countries access the benefits of being integrated into the globalised economy
- Have to adapt their economic and political systems
- Global systems are being reproduced to extend and strengthen their reach
What do international laws do?
- Set out the rules that apply to the relationships between states
- Sets out rules on many issues that states have agreed are of international importance
What do international laws cover?
- Human Rights
- International peace and security
- International trade
- International Crimes (Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes)
- The Law of War
- Economic Development
- Climate Change
Where do international, legal obligations come from?
Several different sources, including treaties, international customary law, general principles of law and United Nations resolutions
Some states view international law as a part of?
Domestic law, whereas others view it as separate to domestic law and require legislation to implement international obligations
Example of International law
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Covers navigational rights, territorial sea limits, economic jurisdiction, legal status of seabed resources beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and many more.
What does the legal binding procedure help to do?
Provides settlements for disputes between states “Possibly the most significant legal instrument of this century” (described by the UN secretary-general after its signing in 1982)
Challenges of enforcing and managing international laws
- Sovereignty, nations may prioritise their sovereignty and may resist International laws that interfere with domestic policies or interests
- More powerful countries may be able to bypass international law
- Issues often require multilateral agreements, which are hard to negotiate or enforce
- International laws rely on cooperation between nations, which can be inconsistent
- Lack of a global enforcement body
What do global institutions exist to do?
- pass and enforce laws
- decide whether a law has been broken
- act as a forum for different groups to discuss issues and sort out their differences
Two important institutions and what do they do?
IMF and the World Bank:
- Founded at the end of the Second World War by victorious allied forces and other leading industrialised nations at the Bretton Woods conference in the USA
- Helped and helps to rebuild and guide the world economy
What do actors do?
manage global affairs, impacting and contributing to the shaping of wider global systems
Examples of actors
Nation States - Reactive and Proactive
- Profit-making companies, especially TNCs - Reactive and Proactive
- NGOs - Proactive
- International Institutions - Proactive
What does being a reactive actor mean?
Putting into place/responding to an event or initiative
