International Politics Final

Multilateralism

Cooperation between three or more states.

Global governance

Working together to address problems that transcend national boundaries. Cooperative and voluntary.

International organizations

Groups of actors, organizations, or states that voluntarily come together across national boundaries to work toward a unified goal. Voluntary, across national borders, and cooperative.

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

Associations of states that come together to solve problems and are bound by a treaty.

multi-national corporations

• companies that are headquartered in one nation but have divisions and factories in other countries

• they will care about the political doings in the countries where they are involved

What do IGOs do?

• seek to solve international problems

• reduce uncertainty in a country’s behavior

• manages political conflicts

• creates interdependency

• creates a sense of shared identity and common purpose among states

Why do IGOs form?

• transnational problems require transnational solutions

• no one state has the power, authority, or capability to solve any of them alone

What are the drawbacks to IGOs?

• lack of governmental power over other member states - sovereignty

• powerful states still dominate from the inside

What are some successes and failures of the UN?

• many successes such as decolonizing territories, sexual violence as a war crime, supplying 45% of the world’s vaccines to children, and providing aid to displaced persons across the globe

• but many failures such as the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the IMF has made global south economies worse, spreading of cholera in Haiti in 2010, and they failed to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine

What is the main goal of the UN?

maintaining global peace and security through international cooperation,currently composed

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Associations of private citizens that work independently from governments and do not enter treaties or receive government funding, which allows them to do work without facing complications with government funding being taken away.

How do NGOs help IGOs?

• NGOs do on-the-ground work

• they share professional expertise

• they can work as an extension of the UN in times when the UN cannot do things for risk of losing public funding

• gather data and produce reports

• policy development, for IGOs and singular governments

• increases the legitimacy of IGOs in civil society, connecting them to civil society more

How do IGOs help NGOs?

• provide a global platform to push their agenda

• provides networking opportunities for NGOs to increase funding and resources (world conferences with speakers)

• provide legitimacy to the NGO in the eyes of states

• IGOs can put pressure on states on behalf of an NGO

Norms

Shared expectations, standards, rules, and/or laws that shape state behavior. Can be formal (laws, regulations, treaties) or informal (standards of behavior, diplomatic standards, cultural expectations).

Norm congruence

The degree of alignment or consistency between international norms and a state's existing domestic norms, laws, and practices.

Norm localization

The process by which international norms are adapted or localized to fit a particular state or activity's specific cultural, political, and legal characteristics. Top-bottom concept.

interstate conflict

war between two or more states

• armed warfare

• proxy wars

• cybersecurity

• trade wars

• sanctions

intrastate conflict

• civil war with the state

• terrorist or criminal organizations

• state-sanctioned violence (police, military, against its own people, genocide)

why has interstate conflict decreased?

• spread of democracy and democratic peace theory

• international cooperation and organizations

• nuclear weapons

• spread of free trade

how is conflict changing?

• last longer, more protracted

• harder to resolve complex, ongoing conflicts

• conflict trap

Direct violence

The use of physical force or the threat of physical force to harm people and/or property.

Structural violence

Violence that results from unequal social, economic, and political structures. Exclusions within the greater system.

• formal laws or practices like apartheid or segregation

• informal practices like limited access to healthcare, safe and affordable housing, education, jobs for marginalized groups

Cultural violence

The existence of prevailing or prominent social norms that make direct and structural violence seem 'natural' or 'right' or at least acceptable.

Global security

Maintaining security through interconnectedness and diplomacy.

State security

Focus on economic, territorial, and military resources to protect a nation and its institutions from outside threats. The state is supposed to protect its own and its citizens’ security, but many states are the source of insecurity for their citizens.

Human security

A multi-sectoral approach to security that gives priority to the people and focuses on freedom from fear, want, and the ability to live in dignity.

Negative peace

The absence of direct violence or fear of violence, keeps pre-existing structures of power intact.

Positive peace

The creation and sustaining of peaceful societies through attitudes, institutions, and structures, centers on peace instead of violence, sustainability, long-term stability, and peace.

Peacemaking

The diplomatic actions taken to resolve conflict, peace negotiations, and agreements.

What are some criticisms of liberal peace?

• colonial hegemony, perpetuates racism and classism, fails to consider the role that colonialism played in the causes of war and also in the solution that leads to peace

• causes and solutions are rooted in masculine logics, gender blindness, lack of intersectionality

• democracy does not ensure security, capitalism perpetuates inequality and exploitation

How does the crisis of liberalism affect peace?

• failure of the liberal international order to respond to complex crises

• there are significant players in the international community that are authoritarian

Peacekeeping

The process of providing security and peace-building support as countries transition from conflict to peace.

Peacebuilding

The comprehensive and long-term process aimed at preventing and/or ending conflict and fostering sustainable peace.

What is sustainable peace?

• peace and stability that is enduring and resilient

• seeks to end the cycle of violence indefinitely

• peace across time and space

• multi-sector and all-encompassing

Human rights

Fundamental rights and liberties that every person is entitled to from birth to death. They are universal, inalienable, independent, and interrelated.

Negative Rights

The right to be free from interference by the government or another person with your human rights.

Right to life

The government cannot interfere and take away the right to life. Negative right.

Freedom from torture

The right to be free from any form of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. Negative right.

Freedom of assembly

The right to peacefully gather and associate with others. Negative right.

Positive Rights

Rights that the government has to ensure are provided to individuals.

Right to food

The right to have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Positive rights.

Right to safe and affordable housing

The right to have access to adequate housing that is safe, secure, and affordable. Positive right.

Right to healthcare

The right to have access to medical services and healthcare. Positive right.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A document adopted in 1948 in Paris that sets a common standard for all people and nations, laying out fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Not legally binding.

What purpose does something serve if it is not legally binding?

• serves as a framework

• symbol of cooperation

• moral and political commitment to specific values, goals, and objectives

• promotes international norms by raising awareness and shaping global policy-making

• encourages member states to adopt such a values, goals, and objectives in their national policy

International bill of human rights

Contains the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Civil Rights vs Human Rights

Human rights are universal and cannot be taken away, while civil rights are obtained by being a legal member of a community or citizen of a state and can be taken away through due process.

Cultural Relativism

The understanding and application of human rights in a way that takes into account the cultural, social, and historical context of a particular society.

Relative Universality

Human rights are universal, but their application may vary from culture to culture.

Human Rights as an Imperial Practice

The idea that there is a superior Western morality and that human rights can be used as a tool for intervention and military action, that there is a right way to be considered a civil society.

Human Rights as Norms, Top-Down Approach

The promotion of international norms and values through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, raising awareness and shaping global policy-making, but without consideration of local norms that do not fit into the liberal peace.

Humanitarian Intervention

The use of military force or other forms of intervention to protect human rights and well-being in another state, often in response to severe human rights abuses or humanitarian crises.

Non-Intervention vs Intervention

The tension between the principle of non-intervention in domestic affairs and the responsibility to protect when states are the violators of massive human rights.

Right to Protect

The responsibility of the state to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, with the international community assisting and encouraging states to fulfill this responsibility.

Forced vs Voluntary Migration

Voluntary migration is choosing to move for economic improvement, education, or family reasons, while forced migration is compelled by cultural factors, exile, persecution, war, or slavery.

Stateless person

Someone who is not recognized as a citizen of any country under the law.

Refugee

Someone who has been forced to leave their country due to a well-founded fear of persecution and seeks international protection.

Asylum seeker

An individual who is seeking international protection and whose claim for refugee status has not yet been decided.

1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees

Establishes an international legal definition of a refugee and outlines legal protection, rights, and assistance for refugees. But, only applies to refugees before 1951, aka WW2

1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees

• amendment to the 1951 convention

• removes geographic and time-based constrictions and it now applies to everyone

Internally displaced persons (IDPs)

Individuals who flee their homes for the same reasons as refugees but do not cross an international border.

Diaspora

The movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland.

Deterrence

Policies and measures implemented by countries to create obstacles and loopholes to reject citizenship or safety for migrants.

Migration as a Gender Equality Issue

The gendered experiences and challenges faced by women in migration, including heightened risks of sexual violence, different health needs, and limited access to resources. Data is often not collected in a gender-specific way.

pros of globalization in terms of the environment

• local ideas on environmental responsibility traveling across borders and communities, norm diffusion

• greater accessibility to more resources, finances, knowledge, and technology

• development and sharing of sustainable technology

• increased understanding of how climate affects the globe (information sharing)

• global collaboration

• economic development (Green Finance, international treaties, green technology demands)

• civil society mobilization

cons of globalization in terms of the environment

• high consumption rates

• increased carbon footprint

• resource depletion

• supply chain complexity (emissions and energy consumption)

• unequal impact (increased disparities between Global North and Global South)

• civil society / political polarization

UN Conference on the Environment 1992

Earth Summit Agenda 21: A non-binding agenda for achieving sustainable development by the year 2000, focusing on the UN, multilateral organizations, and governments.

Kyoto Protocol 1997

The first legally binding international climate treaty, calling on industrial nations to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Gave Global South money to fix their economies, but did not include them in the restrictions.

Paris Climate Agreement 2015

A global agreement to limit global warming and achieve net zero emissions, with countries reporting on their progress every five years. Included Global South countries in the restrictions.

Framing

The strategies used to convince more people and governments to join efforts in addressing environmental issues.

Climate Migration

The forced migration caused by the impacts of climate change.