EQ3 Flashcards
(24 cards)
Development Aid
Providing humanitarian assistance to increase human development
helps country to meet its citizens HRs
Conditional loans also cause HR improvements
Example:
Malawi overturned 2010 ban on homosexuality after donor countries cut off development aid
Trade embargo
Restricting trade until a country stops HR abuses
Example:
EU Iran 2011 - concerns of HR abuses
Limited military trade to prevent violence on their citizens
Military Aid
Providing weapons or military training to stop HR abuses
Can support rebellions or the government depending on situation
Can also be withheld to protect HRs
Example:
USA withdrew military aid to Philippines in 2020 after new laws that repress fos
Indirect military action
Providing financial support or military equipment to one side in a conflict
Example:
USA supported Ethiopia in fighting Somalia in 2006 with aim of ending regional conflict
Direct military action
Countries or orgs (NATO, UN) use their own military power in another country (e.g troops, air strikes) to stop HR abuses
Example:
2011: NATO supported rebel group in Libya to overthrow oppressive govt using missile strikes and bombings
Criticisms of interventions
Hypocritical - many countries condemning Russia are accused of inhumane treatment of asylum
seekers
Selfishly motivated - ulterior motive e.g resources - HRs used as justification
Challenge national sovereignty - continuing colonial attitudes
Validity of different interventions is disagreed upon
Differing perceived aims
Hidden motives - 2015 research concluded that intervention in civil war is 100x more likely if there are large oil reserves
Opposing views about whether it will achieve its aims or not, or even make the situation worse
Concerns over disregard for national sovereignty
Different interventions are used by different players
Military action - govts only (UN has security forces but this is usually for peacekeeping missions)
Development aid - govts, IGOs, NGOs
Trade embargo - govts, IGOs
Military aid - govts, IGOs
Superpowers more likely to intervene than less powerful countries
IGOs intervene economically / politically but not militarily
NGOs promote peaceful interventions (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch) - always remain neutral
- they monitor HR abuses and use lobbying and petitions to pressure oppressive govts
- they encourage intervention from IGOs / govts due to their political influence
- they argue that military intervention should only be used as a last resort (e.g to prevent genocide)
USA Iraq Invasion 2003
‘War on Terror’
US argued intervention necessary to remove Saddam Hussein’s oppressive regime
Believed Iraq was creating WMD so global threat
Supported by some govts e.g UK but not approved by UN
Protests as people accused US of trying to secure Middle-Eastern oil reserves
Succeeded in overthrowing Saddam Hussein but led to long-term political instability
4% of people displaced from their homes
Severely damaged Iraq’s health and education systems
Types of development aid
National govts:
Usually bilateral, funds long-term national-scale projects (e.g infrastructure) aimed at promoting economic growth
Geopolitical interests can influence who they give aid to
IGOs:
Give in the form of loans (eventually paid back), often conditional (neoliberalism)
NGOs:
Humanitarian assistance for crises using public donations
Also work on a local-scale to promote long-term human development
Oxfam - development aid
Confederation of 21 NGOs
Works in 60 countries
Some funding from IGOs/govts
2021: £100mn donations + £28mn from UK govt
Provide humanitarian aid (short-term relief) during emergencies e.g Haiti 2010
Malaria - development aid success
IGOs + NGOs (e.g Nets for Life) have collaborated to tackle Malaria
This was a MDG
Funded awareness campaigns
Distributed mosquito nets, medicine and diagnosis kits
UN provided 30mn nets to Nigeria
2000-2020 Malaria death rates fell 25%
Gender equality - development aid success
IGOs e.g UN have run programmes at national/local-scales to empower women:
- small business loans to females
- training communities to recognise and prevent violence against females
- improving facilities to support maternal health
UN launched ‘Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces for Women and Girls’ global programme to reduce violence
Female school attendance increasing
Maternal mortality rates falling
Parliamentary representation rising
GII fallen in most countries since 1997
UK GII 2.4-1.0 (1997-2021)
Criticisms of development aid
Dependency - not an effective long-term approach - loan repayment can cause debt which slows development
Corruption - aid money/resources stolen by corrupt govts
Corrupt govts receiving aid increases corruption according to studies
However placing conditions on aid can largely help prevent this
Haiti - development aid failure
30% poverty in 2021
2010 eq killed 220-300k people
Displacement caused creation of tent cities with poor living conditions
Cholera outbreak killed 9k by 2016
$10bn raised in aid internationally
NGOs worked on a local scale to provide immediate relief (UN, RC, Oxfam) - they funded shelters, home repairs and restoring clean water access
However govt misused majority of aid
500k in temporary shelters 2 yrs later
Only 40% of aid spent in 18 months, and condition was that it was all spent in that time
Lack of government coordination
Lack of involvement from local people - top-down approach
Large amount of money spent on NGO accommodation
Superpowers/TNCs role in environmental degradation
Key players in economic development of poorer countries - pay money in return for resource exploitation - environmental damage
Unexploited resources often found in developing rural areas where indigenous peoples live
Activities like mining/deforestation displaces these minority groups, neglecting their rights to their land which they depend on for livelihoods and have deep cultural/ancestral connections to
Also problems include water/air pollution - minority groups often have less fos which means less action taken to solve these problems
Niger Delta - oil exploitation
Reserves exploited by TNCs since 1950s
Now become one of the wealthiest countries in SS Africa
Minority group: Ogoni people
- fishing and farming
- rivers considered sacred
Oil drilling and oil spills have caused loss of Ogoni land
Wells and rivers polluted - water supply, disrupts livelihoods (fishing)
Niger Delta lower HDI than the rest of Southern Nigeria
1993: communities protested against laying of a new pipeline
- Police and military killed 1000 people and made 30k homeless (destroyed villages)
Justification of military interventions
Countries use military interventions to advance their own strategic/political/economic interests (e.g to support an ally, gain access to land and resources)
Superpowers link: Countries get to show off their military strength which increases their power and reputation
Human rights are often used as an excuse to use military force
Crimea Annexation 2014
Aim to secure strategic military assets e.g Sevastopol Naval Base, reclaim land that was historically Russian and inhabited by ethnic Russians
Russian 2014 census claims 65% of Crimeans are ethnic Russians
Syria Civil War
USA + allies support pro-democracy rebels
Russia, Iran and emerging powers support the authoritarian govt
There are global strategic interests in the outcome of the war due to Syria’s important location in the Middle East
2013 - Evidence of Syria attacking civilians with chemical weapons - against Geneva Convention
2014 - USA carried out air strikes on Syria
2018 - More evidence of chemical attacks - UK and France also sent air strikes
These countries argue that military intervention was necessary here
Justification of military aid
Main suppliers are pro-HR countries like USA
Main recipients are often HR-abusing countries like SA, India
This brings into question the validity of this aid and countries’ positions on HRs, as recipient countries often use the aid to violate HRs
This suggests that HR support can be influenced by strategic interests rather than good intentions
Saudi Arabia largest military aid importer (12%)
USA largest military aid exporter (36%)
UK military aid to Saudi Arabia
£15bn 2015-2020
Saudi govt accused of HR violations e.g bombing civilians in Yemen
~8000 killed since 2015
NGOs like Amnesty International claim UK is responsible for this
UK may be hesitant to stop military aid to SA as it will threaten importing economic ties / trading relationships (oil resources)
War on Terror
9/11 killed 3k people in 2001
Bush declared wot in response
Direct military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, military aid to Somalia and Yemen
UN SC didn’t approve but USA argued they were justified - fighting terrorism, protecting HRs, defending USA
Afghanistan - J: Taliban, women’s rights
Iraq - J: wmd, Saddam Hussein
USA use of torture
War on Terror involved USA itself committing HR abuses
USA criticised as hypocritical
Prisoners tortured in Al Ghraib Prison in Iraq
Prisoners as young as 12 held in Guantanamo Bay and tortured without fair trial
USA has undermined its justification for these interventions
UDHR prohibits torture
