Global Governance in International Relations explained
Summary
TLDRThis script explores the concept of global governance and interdependence, highlighting key international organizations like the United Nations, NATO, WTO, and the EU. It discusses their roles in maintaining peace, security, and economic cooperation, as well as the challenges of enforcing international law. The script also touches on treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Paris Agreement, questioning the effectiveness of global governance and its influence on state behavior, all within the context of international relations theory.
Takeaways
- 🌐 Global interdependence is a political concept where nations rely on each other and have shared interests or impacts.
- 🏛️ Global governance is the system of rules and institutions that facilitate cooperation between countries smoothly.
- 🕊️ The United Nations (UN) was established post-WWII to promote peace, human rights, and development, forming a backbone of global governance.
- 📜 The UN Charter outlines principles for international cooperation, emphasizing the avoidance of war and the promotion of human rights and social progress.
- 🔒 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed to provide collective security among member countries, emphasizing mutual defense through Article 5.
- 💼 The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established to guide free trade and reduce trade barriers, including a dispute resolution mechanism.
- 🇪🇺 The European Union (EU) has more power over its member states than some other IGOs, with the ability to make binding decisions on policies like the single market.
- 📝 International treaties, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Paris Agreement, form part of global governance and international law.
- 🚫 The effectiveness of global governance is questioned due to the lack of binding enforcement on states, relying instead on cooperation and potential sanctions for non-compliance.
- 🤝 The theory of liberalism in international relations emphasizes the importance of interdependence and cooperation between states for mutual benefit.
- 🔎 Realists, however, might argue that states still primarily act in their own interests, even when participating in international agreements.
Q & A
What is the main purpose of global governance?
-The main purpose of global governance is to create a system of rules and customs that enable cooperation between states to happen smoothly, addressing issues such as security, human rights, and development.
What was the United Nations formed after and what are its main objectives?
-The United Nations was formed after the Second World War with the aim of preserving global security, upholding human rights, and fostering global development.
What are the central principles of the UN as stated in the UN Charter?
-The central principles of the UN Charter include saving generations from war, reaffirming faith in fundamental human rights, establishing conditions for justice and respect for international law, and promoting social progress and better standards of life.
What is the role of the UN Security Council in global governance?
-The UN Security Council plays a crucial role in global governance by forming the basis of international law through its resolutions, which help diplomatically resolve state differences without war.
What is NATO and why was it formed?
-NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was formed after the Second World War as a response to the growing bipolar world. It aims to provide collective security among its member countries, with the understanding that they are stronger together against outside threats.
What does Article 5 of NATO state and when was it invoked?
-Article 5 of NATO states that if any one member nation is attacked, all NATO members are pledged to come to its defense. It has only been invoked once, in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
What is the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its purpose?
-The WTO was established to guide free trade between states, reduce barriers such as tariffs, and has a dispute resolution mechanism to mediate trade disagreements, thus fostering economic interdependence.
How does the European Union differ from other international organizations in terms of power over its member states?
-The European Union operates somewhat as a supranational organization, with the power to make rules that member states must follow, such as policies regarding the single market or border controls, indicating a higher degree of integration compared to other IGOs.
What is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its main goal?
-The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed in 1970, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, ensuring that states without nuclear weapons remain non-nuclear and that nuclear power stays with the states that already possess it.
What is the Paris Agreement and its primary objective?
-The Paris Agreement, signed in 2016, aims to tackle climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy.
How do international treaties and organizations like the UN influence state behavior without formal enforcement mechanisms?
-While decisions made by organizations like the UN may not be binding, states often comply due to the desire to cooperate with the global community and the potential for sanctions or other repercussions from non-compliance.
What are the contrasting views of liberals and realists on the effectiveness of global governance?
-Liberals view global governance as crucial for states to be connected and work together for the common good, while realists may downplay its effectiveness, arguing that states primarily act in their own interests, even when part of international agreements.
Outlines
🌐 Global Governance and International Organizations
This paragraph introduces the concept of interdependence in global politics and the role of global governance in facilitating cooperation among nations. It highlights the United Nations (UN) as a key player in this system, established post-World War II to prevent conflicts and promote human rights and development. The UN Charter is mentioned as a foundational document outlining the principles of international law and cooperation. The paragraph also discusses NATO, another significant organization for collective security, and emphasizes the importance of Article 5, which ensures mutual defense among member states. The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Union (EU) are also mentioned as crucial for economic cooperation and supranational governance, respectively.
📜 International Treaties and Global Governance
The second paragraph delves into the importance of international treaties in shaping global governance and interdependence. It discusses the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, and acknowledges the challenges of ensuring compliance, with some states developing nuclear capabilities despite the treaty. The Paris Agreement on climate change is also highlighted, with its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to sustainable energy. The paragraph raises questions about the effectiveness of global governance, given that many international agreements lack binding enforcement mechanisms. It concludes by pondering the incentives for countries to adhere to these global norms and the balance between state sovereignty and international cooperation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Interdependence
💡Global Governance
💡United Nations (UN)
💡NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
💡World Trade Organization (WTO)
💡European Union (EU)
💡International Law
💡Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
💡Paris Agreement
💡Sovereignty
💡Liberalism
Highlights
Interdependence in global politics is characterized by mutual reliance and shared interests among actors.
Global governance consists of systems and institutions that facilitate cooperation through established rules and customs.
The United Nations (UN) was formed post-World War II to diplomatically resolve state differences and avoid war.
The UN Charter outlines central principles including global security, human rights, and international law.
The UN Security Council and its resolutions form the basis of much international law.
NATO, formed in response to the Cold War, emphasizes collective security among member countries.
Article 5 of NATO ensures mutual defense support among members in the event of an attack.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) promotes free trade and reduces trade barriers like tariffs.
The European Union (EU) has more power over member states, influencing policies like the single market.
The EU requires member states to adhere to decisions made by the European Parliament.
Treaties like the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty aim to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
The Paris Agreement of 2016 focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable energy.
International organizations like the UN make decisions that are not always binding, leaving room for state sovereignty.
Compliance with global governance systems is influenced by the desire to cooperate and potential sanctions for non-compliance.
The effectiveness of global governance is questioned due to the lack of formal enforcement mechanisms.
Liberalism in international relations theory supports the idea of interconnected states working for the common good.
Realism downplays global governance, suggesting states primarily act in their own interests despite agreements.
The incentives for countries to follow global governance customs include benefits from cooperation and avoiding sanctions.
Transcripts
we see interdependence in global
politics when actors have mutual
reliance on one another have shared
interests or some sort of impact on each
other and global governance is the
collection of systems and institutions
that create the rules and customs that
enable this cooperation to happen
smoothly
let's start here by looking at some of
the international organizations or igos
that established this global governance
system in the first place and the biggie
as you probably already know is the
united nations the united nations was
formed after the second world war where
the victorious powers got together and
thought about creating a system where
diplomatically states would be able to
resolve their differences without having
to go to war and so the united nations
was established with the aim of
preserving global security but also
upholding human rights and fostering
global development we can see some of
these central principles of the un
enshrined in the un charter we the
peoples of the united nations determined
to save succeeding generations from the
scourge of war which twice in our
lifetime has brought untold sorrow to
mankind and to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights in the dignity
and worth of the human person in the
equal rights of men and women and of
nations large and small and to establish
conditions under which justice and
respect for the obligations arising from
the treaties and other sources of
international law can be maintained and
to promote
social progress and better standards of
life in larger freedom right so the un
charter aims to really clearly define
that all states should be working
together to achieve these lofty goals
and so a lot of the work the un does
especially through the un security
council and u.n security council
resolutions forms the
basis of international law
around the world and so as a major
backbone of the global governance system
in the world today another major global
governance organization and one that
aims to provide collective security is
nato or the north atlantic treaty
organization this one was also formed
after the second world war and this one
as a response to the growing bipolar
world of the soviet union and its
satellite states and the united states
and its allies in the western hemisphere
around the atlantic which is why the
organization is called the north
atlantic treaty organization right and
it's not the north american treaty
organization a lot of people seem to get
that wrong so don't be that person right
and with this one we see interdependence
because all these member countries in
nato have realized that by having the
security alliance they're stronger
together against outside threats and
rely on each other to provide the
security an important part of nato is
what's known as article 5 which states
that if any one member nation of nato is
attacked
all of the nato members are pledged to
come to its defense article 5 has only
been invoked one time however and that
was in the wake of the bombing of the
world trade center on september 11 2001
in the united states in terms of
economic cooperation creating that
economic interdependence is the world
trade organization or the wto it was
established in 1995 as the successor to
the general agreement on tariffs and
trade or what was known as gat the wto
guides free trade between states and
aims to reduce barriers to trade such as
tariffs it also has a dispute resolution
mechanism where if states feel like
other states aren't really playing by
the rules
of free trade and their agreements
between them they can take those
disputes to the wto for mediation and
now one international organization that
has a good deal more power over its
member states than some of these others
we've talked about is the european union
now the eu does kind of work as somewhat
of a supernational organization where
states elect members to sit on the
european parliament and the european
parliament does make
rules that member states have to follow
such as policies regarding the eu's
single market or border access and
border controls and unlike decisions
made by some of those other mentioned
igos states are bound by eu decisions
many of these eu member states see this
cooperation as beneficial despite the
infringement on their state sovereignty
but maybe not all states hi great
britain or should we say
bye great britain now in addition to
these intergovernmental organizations or
igos that form this system of global
governance that foster this
interdependence and cooperation between
states we also have a series of treaties
that different states have signed on to
that also help form this body of
international law and global governance
and there's lots of examples to pick
from so let's just focus on a couple
here the first is the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty signed in 1970.
now the ultimate goal with something
like these treaties on nuclear weapons
is nuclear disarmament but this one
specifically looks at making sure that
states that currently do not have
nuclear weapons
continue to not have nuclear weapons and
that nuclear power stays with the states
that have it and since this treaty was
signed most states around the world have
not developed nuclear weapons but
however states like india pakistan and
north korea have been developing nuclear
weapons and others have programs
in operation as well some critics of
something like the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty have stated
that it just helps support the global
balance of power where you have these
limited powerful states and other states
are totally shut out of that power
whereas others would say that well fewer
nuclear weapons in the world is probably
a good thing another example is the
paris agreement signed in 2016 that aims
to tackle climate change and 191
countries have signed on to this
agreement and the ultimate goal with
this one is reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and transitioning to more
clean and sustainable forms of energy
but again to what extent are nations
meeting their targets often the states
that are the biggest emitters or also
the largest economies in the world and
so it's a tricky balance to find between
economic growth and preserving economic
growth and sustainability right so let's
think back to this idea of global
governance more generally all of these
systems and institutions aim to promote
this cooperation and interdependence
between states and try to create
this idea that states should work
together for mutual benefit but a big
question here is to what extent is that
affected at the end of the day most of
these international treaties and most of
these intergovernmental organizations
are igos like the un a lot of the
decisions they make aren't binding and
states still have the sovereignty to
choose
how and when to actually abide by a lot
of these treaties so what compels states
to follow them obviously a lot of
countries just want to play nice because
you know you do something
along with the global community now
which means later on
other states will return the favor and
so there's a little bit of that at play
on the flip side there's also the danger
that going against some of these
treaties
or decisions made by like the un or the
u.n security council
might lead to other states imposing
sanctions on um a belligerent state or
things like that so
while
there's no formal enforcement mechanism
behind a lot of these there are tools in
the global toolbox if you will to ensure
compliance but a big question remains of
how effective global governance is at
all with not very many teeth that
actually enforce much of the
international law that's out there but
again
is it still better than having no
systems at all in place to begin with
and states likely wouldn't agree to much
with more teeth so
maybe a lot of these systems in their
weaker form are and better than not
having anything at all now this whole
idea of interdependence and global
governance is a very important principle
of the international relations theory of
liberalism that champions states being
connected and working together for the
common good of all on the other hand
realists would probably downplay it that
even states that join into these
international agreements or treaties are
still working for their own interests at
the end of the day right so what do you
think what incentives do countries have
in order to play by these global customs
established by this system of global
governance around the world let us know
in the comments below and if you learned
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