Edexcel A-Level Geography - MIS Case Study

Schengen Area

- core-periphery polarisation

- free movement of labour has helped international core-periphery pattern to develop

- the EU core region = Southern England, Northern France, Belgium + most of Western Germany

- World Cities = London, Paris, Brussels + Berlin

- Most national borders within EU were removed in '95 (Schengen Agreement)

- easier movement of people and goods (no passports needed)

- UK didnt sign (wanted to keep border controls)

- Schengen Agreement in 2007-8 allowed free movement of labour to wherever in most demand

- fears of terrorism = questions the wisdom of free movement

Singapore Migration Policy

- was an EE now is developed

- 5 million people

- great ethnic diversity

- due to past British colonial port

- 4th largest financial centre

- many global businesses + institutions have their HQ in Singapore

- many international schools

Japan Migration Policy

- <2% foreign/foreign born

- despite Japan growing as a major global hub from '60s

- tough for newcomers to settle permanently (migration rules)

-pass-or-go home test

- success rate of <1%

- Japan = ageing pop

- 3 workers per 2 retirees - 2060

- many people think the Japanese gov need to relax the rules

Australia Migration Policy

- proportion of foreign workers in AUS is lower = restrictive migration policies

- current points system for economic migrants

- 2013 = 190,000 economic migrants were granted access to AUS

- top 5 source countries = India, china, UK, Philippines + Pakistan

how does environmental change influence global patterns of migration?

- climate change

- environmental refugees

- leave regions where agri is threatened

- Syria's refugee crisis = desertification

- cliamte change intensifies rural poverty

- movers who were economic migrants become environmental migrants due to incerasingly hostile environment

how does economic events influence global patterns of migration?

- global financial crisis 2007-8

- really bad impact on migration

- world GDP shrank

- net migration from Poland fell to its lowest level since 50s

- globalisation has a 'reverse gear'

- future projections for global migrations and urbanistion = treated with caution

- economic systems can become unstable

how does political event influence global patterns of migration?

- new conflicts can trigger randomly

- diversify global migration flows

- since WW2 political regime changes have promoted ethnic groups to flee states

- parts of N Africa, central Africa and the ME - political factors even more important influence on migration than globalisation

- 12 mill ppl have been displaced since the start of the Syrian War

Iceland Vs Singapore

(Cultural Unity)

- physical isolation of Iceland = pop experienced strong sense of common identity

- cultural homogeneity

- many cultural traditions born from hardship

- persisting rituals = foster community cohesion

- 2008 - Maccies left Iceland - high prices had deterred ppl

- land was taken over by a local company - selling only Icelandic food (global culture in retreat)

- young icelanders avid consumers of global culture

- 30,000 tourists a year

- inhabitants:tourists = highest in the world - may lead people wanting to live there forever

- leading to greater cultural diversity

- Singapore = cultural melting pot of Malay, Chinese, Indian and EU

- 'singlish' - variant of english

- lots of different religions (Buddhists, Taoists, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs)

- major strategic role (1926-1946) - military and trading hub under British administration

- political decision to make it a free port - encouraged migration from China, India, Indonesia, Malay and ME

- after independence - S = faster growing 'asian tiger' has the world's 3rd highest GDP

Contested Borders - Rwanda

- Tutsi + Hutu ppl in 90s

- spread to DRC and Uganda

- 98-08 = 5mil dead

- due to colonisation

- legacy of colonisation is a host of unstable states that lack cultural coherence

- DRC is home to 240 ethnic groups = joined under Belgian Rule in 1800s

- finally got independence in 60s

- cultural diversity has led to huge challenge in post-colonial unity

- major factor contributing to DRC conflict

Contested Borders - Ukraine and Russia

*including 2022 war*

- Russian borders have changed many times

- Russia annexed part of Ukraine in 2014

- Putin's excuse was that ethnic Russians were being abused in Ukraine for wanting to be russian

- from 1700 onwards, Crimea belonged to Russia

- Ukraine = independent state in 1991

- controversial - many ethnic russians still living there

- conflict in 2014 - led to part of crimea being annexed

- international community condemned it but no-one actually did anything to prevent it (ofc)

Contested Borders - Iraq and Syria

- unhappy fit between state borders

- boundary drawn by UK and Fra (1916)

- led to large Kurdish pop (25mil) spread out now across; Turkey, Iran, Iraq + Syria

- Large Sunni + Shia Muslim pops also divided by Sykes-Picot Agreement

- lots of conflict (terrorism)

- Daesh (IS) and al-Qaeda have show little respect for borders or human rights

- Daesh = advantage of power vacuum in Iraq - created a withdrawal of allied troops

- declared a 'caliphate' - took control over several areas across the 2 countries

- daesh wages a 'jihad' against all other religions

- soldiers pursued a strategy of murdering minority communities (Christian Assyrians, Kurds, Shabaks, Turkmens and Yazidis)

- activities are war crimes and genocide

World Bank

1944

- Washington DC

- give advice

- loans

- grants

- for the reduction of poverty

- promotion of economic development

- offer long-term assistance rather than crisis support

International Monetary Fund

1944

- Washington DC

- monitor economic and financial development of countries

- lend money when they are facing financial difficulty

- helped to provide for countries across the development spectrum

- 2010-15 almost US$40 billion was lent to Greece

World Trade Organisation

1947 + 1995

- Geneva (Switzerland)

- formulate trade policy agreements + settle disputes

- promote free trade on global scale

- trying to get 162 member countries to agree on something is hard

- wealthy countries failing to agree on how far trade in agri should be liberalised

- the fast growth of EEC (China)

Montreal Protocol

1987

- Canada

- steps to fight against Ozone Depletion

- CFC's banned

Climate Change Agreement

- first raised as an issue in 1992

- plagued by uncertainty

- which nation should be responsible for the majority of the carbon emissions

- international co-op = shit, basically, nothing has been done and if anything has been done it is really slow and minimal

CITES

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

- 1975

- adopted by 181

- saved ne-ne- bird + Arabian oryx

- rising wealth in China, Indonesia + S Korea = increased trade of ivory + rhino horn

Antarctic Treaty System

1959

- 53 nations

- no one owns the arctic

- only for scientific research

- lacks indigenous people

UNCLOS

- UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

- vast global treaty

- covers navigational rights

- territorial sea limits

- economic jurisdiction

- legal status of seabed resources

- conservation management

- protection of the marine environment + ecosystems

- EEZ management (200 miles from a state's shoreline)

- rights of landlocked states - have the right to access the ocean for purpose of 'enjoying the high seas'

what does the UN do?

maintains international peace and security

- sanctions

- UN troops - armed forces from member states to keep the peace

- war crime trials

- healthcare and shelters for refugees

UN troops in DRC

- UN deeply involved in trying to resolve this

- 1991 - US$10bil on deployment

- largest allocation of UN funds and troops there has ever been

- 20,000 troops since

- can fire weapons if necessary

- has left the country dependent on external support to guarantee political stability

- 2005 - Uganda must compensate DRC for taking natural resources that took the lives of 5 mil ppl

- war crime trials in 2012 (Lubanga (leader of Congolese Patriots) conscripting children under the age of 15 to kill ethnic Lendus)