AQA Geography A-level 3.2.1: Global Systems and Global Governance

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and definitions related to global systems and global governance.

Globalisation

The process of becoming more globally connected on a variety of scales, involving the movement of people, knowledge, ideas, goods, and money across national borders.

Capital Flows

The movement of money for investment, trade, or business production.

Labour Flows

People moving to work in another country.

Product Flows

The movement of physical goods from one country to another.

Services (Footloose Industries)

Industries that can locate anywhere without constraints from resources or other obstacles.

Information Flows

The transfer of information from one place to another via the internet, SMS, phone calls, etc.

Core Regions

Wealthier, developed countries with significant power.

Periphery Regions

Less wealthy, developing/less developed countries with less power.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

An international corporation that aims to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty.

The World Bank

A group of global institutions that give out loans for development or relief.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Investments into a foreign country with the intention of making lasting interest, where the investor has significant influence on operations.

Repatriation of Profits

Profits from TNCs making money overseas are sent back to core regions, rather than being reinvested into the economy of the periphery regions.

Bilateral Aid

Money sent from one country to another with the intention of providing help to a country in need.

Remittance Payments

Money transferred from workers in core regions back to their home country, e.g., to family.

Economic Migrants

People who have moved voluntarily for reasons of work and improved quality of life.

Refugees

People who have been forced to leave their homes and travel to another country due to fleeing conflict, or political or religious persecution, and have been granted residency by the host country or the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

Asylum Seekers

People who have left their country and are seeking asylum in another, waiting to be granted residency and become a refugee.

Product Flows

Movement of produced goods from the area of production to the area of consumption.

Offshoring

Moving a company process overseas to take advantage of lower labor costs etc.

High Level Services

Activities that generally require a higher skill level; important and complicated services that require qualified and trained professionals.

Low Level Services

Services that require less training and are mainly customer service-based.

Knowledge Economy

The industry that requires information to develop, rather than products such as agricultural produce or manufactured products.

Global Marketing

Advertising, promoting, and selling products on an international scale.

Glocalisation

Altering business practices for local interest and tastes.

Financial System

The relationship between those who borrow money, those who invest money, and the institutions that hold, give out, and take in this money.

Financial Technology

Technology that has made financial information and money easily accessible for people across the world, deepening the connections between countries

Containerisation

The process of using large shipping containers to transport goods, making global transportation cheaper.

United Nations Security Council

An international organisation that aims to diffuse disagreements and maintain international peace.

Economies of Scale

Increasing profits by producing a larger amount of products, which lowers the average price to manufacture each product.

Global Supply Chains

The organised management of product flows, from manufacturing to delivery to consumers.

Outsourcing

Hiring other companies to complete company tasks that are essential but not necessary to be completed by the company itself.

Offshoring

Relocating a company process abroad to minimize costs.

Trade Agreements

Trade agreements overseen by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that aim to benefit all parties involved by removing or lessening certain trade restrictions.

Tariff

A tax on importing and exporting goods.

NTB

Non-tariff barriers, such as quotas (a limit/fixed number of goods) or requirements

Interdependence

The theory that nations depend on each other economically, politically, socially, and environmentally.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs)

Areas within a country that do not have the same trading regulations as the rest of the country, usually with lower tariffs and taxes to increase access to markets.

Special and Differential Treatment (SDT)

Agreements put in place by the WTO to help specifically developing markets with poor access to markets through special treatment such as reduced tariffs and taxes.

Transnational Corporations (TNCs)

Companies operating across multiple countries with headquarters, production, and sales in different countries across the globe.

Vertical Integration

Taking ownership of part of the supply chain, e.g., buying a plantation.

Horizontal Integration

Taking ownership of another company, often one that is in a similar industry.

Global Governance

The process of multiple nations acting together in matters that affect the entire world.

Norm

Normal and therefore accepted behaviour.

International Laws

Legally binding documents that protect the social rights of citizens, and non-compliance can result in prosecution.

Global Institutions

International institutions that have been developed to oversee the maintenance of global systems, such as the United Nations.

IGOs

Intergovernmental Organisations, as global governance should obviously include members from around the globe so that all opinions are fairly expressed.

The Global Commons

The concept of an area that does not belong to a single country but rather to everybody, meaning every country has a right to benefit from it.