global governance case studies

What role did remittances play in Somalia in 2012?

Remittances accounted for 50 percent of GNI and 80 percent of all investment in Somalia, with 40 percent of Somalians relying on them for basic needs before US/UK banks withdrew services due to terrorist financing concerns involving Al-Shabaab.

What milestone did India reach regarding remittances in 2023?

India became the largest recipient of remittances globally, receiving over USD 100 billion.

What are the key characteristics of subsistence farmers in Karnataka or Uttarakhand, India, regarding technology and income?

They exemplify being 'switched-off' with an annual income around $300 USD (£240 GBP) for the poorest 20% of households and only about 31% rural internet usage.

What drives the economic flow of female labour from countries like the Philippines and Indonesia to Singapore?

Relative poverty and an 'aspiration gap', where women migrate as Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) to meet Singapore's high structural demand for outsourced care.

Why do low-skilled Indian labourers migrate to the UAE?

Driven by relative poverty, low wages, and family debt in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala, workers migrate to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for construction and service jobs.

Why do Indian healthcare professionals migrate to the UK to work for the NHS?

It is a prime example of 'brain drain' where professionals flee professional stagnation, low relative wages, heavy workloads, and burnout in India's public sector.

What trade barrier do West African cotton farmers in Mali and Burkina Faso face?

Unfair market access caused by US and EU agricultural subsidies and dumping, which depress world cotton prices by 10 to 20 percent.

How does London function as a global hub for migration?

It uses policies like Tier 1 Investor visas and tech visas to attract global elites, wealthy investors, and skilled professionals from across the Commonwealth and EU.

What targeted visa scheme does Silicon Valley use to attract elite migrants?

The H-1B visa scheme.

What historical British legislation facilitated migration from the Caribbean after World War II?

The British Nationality Act 1948, which gave all Commonwealth citizens the right to live and work in the UK, exemplified by the Windrush generation.

What was the impact of the 2004 EU enlargement (A8 accession)?

It granted Eastern European citizens (e.g., Poles, Romanians) the legal right to live and work across the EU without a visa, driving large-scale economic migration to Western EU states like the UK and Germany.

What are the main impacts of the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh?

It created the world's largest refugee camp hosting over 1.1 million refugees, leading to severe forest clearing, soil erosion, groundwater depletion, and strained local labour markets.

What socioeconomic factors drive rural-to-urban migration in Bihar, India?

High poverty (33%), low per capita income (~₹50,000 / £480 per year), low literacy (70%), and low daily agricultural wages driving millions to cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

How has agricultural mechanisation affected rural employment in India?

Increased use of tractors (sales rising from 250,000 in 2001 to over 900,000 in 2021) reduced manual labour demand, pushing workers from agricultural states like Punjab to urban centers.

How have Special Economic Zones (SEZs) impacted China's development?

Zones like Shenzhen grew from a fishing village to over 17 million people by 2020 by offering preferential policies and tax breaks to attract foreign manufacturing investment.

What are some key examples of India's Special Economic Zones (SEZs)?

India had 270 operational SEZs as of 2023, including Noida (an IT/electronics hub employing 300,000+) and Tamil Nadu (attracting automakers like Hyundai and Ford).

What caused internal displacement in the Gambella region of Ethiopia?

Government land lease programmes granting extensive tracts of land to foreign investors (from Saudi Arabia and India) for commercial farming, forcibly evicting indigenous Nuer and Anuak farmers.

What is the Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) programme in Tanzania?

A government initiative turning hundreds of thousands of hectares of land into irrigated block farms for export crops, which has resulted in the controversial eviction of indigenous Maasai herders.

What was the scale of the British Empire's naval power at its peak around 1920?

Britain ruled over 20% of the world's population and 25% of its land area, maintaining a Royal Navy twice the size of Germany's to protect global trade routes.

Why is the South China Sea strategically important for China and global trade?

Almost a third of global crude oil and over half of global LNG pass through it, making it vital for energy transport to Asian consumers.

What are the core objectives of Russia's national marine policy?

Preserving sovereignty in internal/territorial waters and protecting exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf resources for energy and development.

How did US ocean policy shift between the Obama and Trump administrations?

Obama's policy focused on marine conservation, climate change, and 'stewardship', whereas Trump's policy shifted focus to economic growth, domestic energy production, and national security.

What was the significance of the Torrey Canyon disaster in 1967?

A supertanker spill releasing 119,000 tonnes of oil off the UK/French coast, killing 15,000 seabirds and remaining the UK's worst-ever environmental disaster.

What is the background of China's claims in the Spratly Islands?

China built man-made islets with airstrips and military facilities in the South China Sea within its "nine-dash line". A 2016 UN tribunal ruled these claims unlawful, prompting a US freedom-of-navigation response.

What are the main geopolitical tensions surrounding the Arctic Ocean?

Retreating sea ice is exposing trillions in oil, gas, and minerals, leading to overlapping claims by Canada, Russia, Norway, Denmark, and the US, alongside increased shipping and tourism interests.

What is the conflict surrounding the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska?

A massive copper and gold mining project near Bristol Bay threatens the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery and local Native American subsistence cultures, leading to heavy local and corporate opposition.

What caused the collapse of the Grand Banks fishery in Newfoundland, Canada?

Decades of overfishing driven by advanced trawling technology, sonar, and political pressure to maintain jobs, culminating in a government fishing moratorium in 1992 that devastated local communities.

What is the Lamlash Bay No Take Zone in Scotland?

Scotland's first No Take Zone (Isle of Arran), established via statutory instrument in 2008 to prohibit all fishing, which has successfully helped species like lobsters and crabs regenerate.

What is the Tainui Atea Marine Protected Area in French Polynesia?

Currently the largest fully protected Marine Protected Area in the world, covering over 363,000 square kilometers to safeguard coral reefs, pelagic ecosystems, and migratory marine species.