Class-XII-Contemporary-World-Politics

90 Contemporary World Politics STEPS members of the developing world? Even here, there are difficulties.  Divide the class into six groups. Each group is to The developing world consists of countries at many different levels follow one of the six criteria (or more if there are of development. What about more suggestions) listed here for permanent culture? Should different cultures membership of the UN Security Council. or ‘civilisations’ be given representation in a more balanced  Each group is to make its own list of the way? How does one divide the world by civilisations or cultures permanent members based on its given given that nations have so many criterion (e.g. the group working on the cultural streams within their ‘population’ criterion will find out the which are borders? five most populous countries). A related issue was to change  Each group can make a presentation of their the nature of membership altogether. Some insisted, for recommended list and reasons why their instance, that the veto power of criterion should be accepted. the five permanent members be abolished. Many perceived the Ideas for the Teacher veto to be in conflict with the concept of democracy and  Allow the students to opt for the group whose criterion they sovereign equality in the UN and thought that the veto was no themselves favour. longer right or relevant.  Compare all the lists and see how many names are In the Security Council, there are five permanent members and common and how often India features. ten non-permanent members. The Charter gave the permanent  Keep some time for an open ended discussion on which members a privileged position to bring about stability in the world criterion should be adopted. after the Second World War. The main privileges of the five Furthermore, how was the permanent members are matter of representation to be permanency and the veto power. resolved? Did equitable The non-permanent members representation in geographical serve for only two years at a time terms mean that there should be and give way after that period to one seat each from Asia, Africa, newly elected members. A country and Latin America and the cannot be re-elected immediately Caribbean? Should the after completing a term of two representation, on the other hand, years. The non-permanent be by regions or sub-regions members are elected in a manner (rather than continents)? Why so that they represent all should the issue of equitable continents of the world. representation be decided by geography? Why not by levels of economic development? Why not, in other words, give more seats to

International Organisations 91 Most importantly, the non- JURISDICTION OF THE UN permanent members do not have the veto power. What is the veto The question of membership is a That’s very unfair! It’s power? In taking decisions, the serious one. In addition, though, actually the weaker Security Council proceeds by there are more substantial issues countries who need voting. All members have one vote. before the world. As the UN a veto, not those However, the permanent members completed 60 years of its who already have so can vote in a negative manner so existence, the heads of all the much power. that even if all other permanent member-states met in September and non-permanent members 2005 to celebrate the anniversary What are vote for a particular decision, any and review the situation. The the permanent member’s negative leaders in this meeting decided Millennium vote can stall the decision. This that the following steps should be Development negative vote is the veto. taken to make the UN more Goals? relevant in the changing context. While there has been a move to abolish or modify the veto Creation of a Peacebuilding system, there is also a realisation Commission that the permanent members are unlikely to agree to such a reform. Acceptance of the responsibility Also, the world may not be ready of the international community for such a radical step even in case of failures of national though the Cold War is over. governments to protect their Without the veto, there is the own citizens from atrocities danger as in 1945 that the great powers would lose interest in the Establishment of a Human world body, that they would do Rights Council (operational what they pleased outside it, and since 19 June 2006) that without their support and involvement the body would be Agreements to achieve the ineffective. Millennium Development Goals Condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations Creation of a Democracy Fund An agreement to wind up the Trusteeship Council It is not hard to see that these are equally contentious issues for the UN. What should a Peacebuilding Commission do? There are any number of conflicts all over the world. Which ones should it intervene in? Is it possible or even desirable for it to intervene

92 Contemporary World Politics © Pat Bagley, Cagle Cartoons Inc. in each and every conflict? Similarly, what is the responsibility The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan since 2003 has of the international community in attracted empty promises by the International Community. dealing with atrocities? What are How do you think the UN can intervene in situations like this? human rights and who should Would that require a change in its jurisdiction? determine the level of human rights violations and the course of action to be taken when they are violated? Given that so many countries are still part of the developing world, how realistic is it for the UN to achieve an ambitious set of goals such as those listed in the Millennium Development Goals? Can there be agreement on a definition of terrorism? How shall the UN use funds to promote democracy? And so on. MAP OF UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS MISSIONS ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS Sierra Western Sudan 2005- Cyprus 1964- Lebanon 1978- Afghanistan* Leone* Sahara 1991- Kosovo 1999- 2002- 2006- Georgia Israel and 1993- Syria 1974- India and Pakistan 1949- Haiti Côte d'Ivoire Ethiopia and 2004- 2004- Eritrea 2000- Liberia DR Congo Burundi Middle East Timor 2003- 1999- 2004- East 1948- 2006- * political or peacebuilding mission Adapted from http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/maplib/flag.html. Should the UN increase its peacekeeping activities? Place a star on the parts of the world where you would like to see the UN peacekeeping forces.

International Organisations 93 INDIA AND THE UN REFORMS WTO WTO India has supported the The World Trade Organisation restructuring of the UN on several (WTO) is an international grounds. It believes that a organisation which sets the rules strengthened and revitalised UN is for global trade. This organisation desirable in a changing world. was set up in 1995 as the India also supports an enhanced successor to the General Agreement on Trade role for the UN in promoting and Tariffs (GATT) created after the Second development and cooperation World War. It has 157 members (as on 1 among states. India believes that September 2012). All decisions are taken development should be central to unanimously but the major economic powers the UN’s agenda as it is a vital such as the US, EU and Japan have managed precondition for the maintenance to use the WTO to frame rules of trade to of international peace and security. advance their own interests. The developing countries often complain of non-transparent One of India’s major concerns procedures and being pushed around by big has been the composition of the powers. Security Council, which has remained largely static while the India supports an increase in Do we want to UN General Assembly member- the number of both permanent oppose the bossism ship has expanded considerably. and non-permanent members. Its of the big five or do India considers that this has representatives have argued that we want to join them harmed the representative the activities of the Security and become character of the Security Council. Council have greatly expanded in another boss? It also argues that an expanded the past few years. The success of Council, with more representation, the Security Council’s actions will enjoy greater support in the depends upon the political world community. support of the international community. Any plan for We should keep in mind that restructuring of the Security the membership of the UN Council should, therefore, be Security Council was expanded broad-based. For example, the from 11 to 15 in 1965. But, there Security Council should have was no change in the number of more developing countries in it. permanent members. Since then, the size of the Council has Not surprisingly, India itself remained stationary. The fact also wishes to be a permanent remains that the overwhelming member in a restructured UN. majority of the UN General India is the second most populous Assembly members now are country in the world comprising developing countries. Therefore, almost one-fifth of the world India argues that they should also population. Moreover, India is also have a role in shaping the the world’s largest democracy. decisions in the Security Council India has participated in virtually which affect them. all of the initiatives of the UN. Its role in the UN’s peacekeeping

94 Contemporary World Politics IAEA IAEA think that its difficulties with Pakistan will make India The International Atomic Energy ineffective as a permanent Agency (IAEA) was established in member. Yet others feel that if 1957. It came into being to India is included, then other implement US President Dwight emerging powers will have to be Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” accommodated such as Brazil, proposal. It seeks to promote the peaceful use of Germany, Japan, perhaps even nuclear energy and to prevent its use for military South Africa, whom they oppose. purposes. IAEA teams regularly inspect nuclear There are those who feel that facilities all over the world to ensure that civilian Africa and South America must be reactors are not being used for military purposes. represented in any expansion of the permanent membership since What happens if the efforts is a long and substantial those are the only continents not UN invites someone one. The country’s economic to have representation in the to New York but the emergence on the world stage is present structure. Given these US does not issue another factor that perhaps concerns, it may not be very easy visa? justifies India’s claim to a for India or anyone else to become permanent seat in the Security a permanent member of the UN in Council. India has also made the near future. regular financial contributions to the UN and never faltered on its THE UN IN A UNIPOLAR payments. India is aware that WORLD permanent membership of the Security Council also has Among the concerns about the symbolic importance. It signifies reform and restructuring of the a country’s growing importance in UN has been the hope of some world affairs. This greater status countries that changes could help is an advantage to a country in the UN cope better with a unipolar the conduct of its foreign policy: word in which the US was the the reputation for being powerful most powerful country without makes you more influential. any serious rivals. Can the UN serve as a balance against US Despite India’s wish to be a dominance? Can it help maintain permanent veto-wielding member a dialogue between the rest of the of the UN, some countries world and the US and prevent question its inclusion. America from doing whatever it Neighbouring Pakistan, with wants? which India has troubled relations, is not the only country US power cannot be easily that is reluctant to see India checked. First of all, with the become a permanent veto member disappearance of the Soviet of the Security Council. Some Union, the US stands as the only countries, for instance, are superpower. Its military and concerned about India’s nuclear economic power allow it to ignore weapons capabilities. Others

International Organisations AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 95 the UN or any other international © Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons Inc. organisation. Amnesty Secondly, within the UN, the International influence of the US is considerable. As the single largest Amnesty International is an NGO contributor to the UN, the US has that campaigns for the unmatched financial power. The protection of human rights all fact that the UN is physically over the world. It promotes located within the US territory respect for all the human rights in the Universal gives Washington additional Declaration of Human Rights. It believes that sources of influence. The US also human rights are interdependent and indivisible. has many nationals in the UN It prepares and publishes reports on human rights. bureaucracy. In addition, with its Governments are not always happy with these veto power the US can stop any reports since a major focus of Amnesty is the moves that it finds annoying or misconduct of government authorities. damaging to its interests or the Nevertheless, these reports play an important role interests of its friends and allies. in research and advocacy on human rights. The power of the US and its veto within the organisation also ensure that Washington has a considerable degree of say in the choice of the Secretary General of the UN. The US can and does use this power to “split” the rest of the world and to reduce opposition to its policies. The UN is not therefore a great balance to the US. Nevertheless, in a unipolar world in which the US is dominant, the UN can and has served to bring the US and the rest of the world into discussions over various issues. US leaders, in spite of their frequent criticism of the UN, do see the organisation as serving a purpose in bringing together over 190 nations in dealing with conflict and social and economic development. As for the rest of the world, the UN provides an arena in which it is possible to modify US attitudes and policies. While the rest of the world is rarely

96 Contemporary World Politics HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch The UN is an imperfect body, but without it the world would be Human Rights Watch is another worse off. Given the growing international NGO involved in connections and links between research and advocacy on societies and issues—what we human rights. It is the largest often call ‘interdependence’—it is international human rights hard to imagine how more than organisation in the US. It draws the global media’s seven billion people would live attention to human rights abuses. It helped in together without an organisation building international coalitions like the such as the UN. Technology campaigns to ban landmines, to stop the use of promises to increase planetary child soldiers and to establish the International interdependence, and therefore Criminal Court. the importance of the UN will only increase. Peoples and govern- united against Washington, and ments will have to find ways of while it is virtually impossible to supporting and using the UN and “balance” US power, the UN does other international organisations provide a space within which in ways that are consistent with arguments against specific US their own interests and the attitudes and policies are heard interests of the international and compromises and community more broadly. concessions can be shaped. Exercises 1. Mark correct or wrong against each of the following statements about the veto power. a. Only the permanent members of the Security Council possess the veto power. b. It’s a kind of negative power. c. The Secretary-General uses this power when not satisfied with any decision. d. One veto can stall a Security Council resolution. 2. Mark correct or wrong against each of the following statements about the way the UN functions. a. All security and peace related issues are dealt with in the Security Council. b. Humanitarian policies are implemented by the main organs and specialised agencies spread across the globe. c. Having consensus among the five permanent members on security issues is vital for its implementation. d. The members of the General Assembly are automatically the members of all other principal organs and specialised agencies of the UN.

International Organisations 97 3. Which among the following would give more weightage to India’s Exercises proposal for permanent membership in the Security Council? a. Nuclear capability b. It has been a member of the UN since its inception c. It is located in Asia d. India’s growing economic power and stable political system 4. The UN agency concerned with the safety and peaceful use of nuclear technology is: a. The UN Committee on Disarmament b. International Atomic Energy Agency c. UN International Safeguard Committee d. None of the above 5. WTO is serving as the successor to which of the following organisations a. General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs b. General Arrangement on Trade and Tariffs c. World Health Organisation d. UN Development Programme 6. Fill in the blanks. a. The prime objective of the UN is ___________________________ b. The highest functionary of the UN is called_________________ c. The UN Security Council has _____ permanent and _____non- permanent members. d. ______________________ is the present UN Secretary-General. 7. Match the principal organs and agencies of the UN with their functions: 1. Economic and Social Council 2. International Court of Justice 3. International Atomic Energy Agency 4. Security Council 5. UN High Commission for Refugees 6. World Trade Organisation 7. International Monetary Fund 8. General Assembly 9. World Health Organisation 10. Secretariat

Exercises98 Contemporary World Politics a. Oversees the global financial system b. Preservation of international peace and security c. Looks into the economic and social welfare of the member countries d. Safety and peaceful use of nuclear technology e. Resolves disputes between and among member countries f. Provides shelter and medical help during emergencies g. Debates and discusses global issues h. Administration and coordination of UN affairs i. Providing good health for all j. Facilitates free trade among member countries 8. What are the functions of the Security Council? 9. As a citizen of India, how would you support India’s candidature for the permanent membership of the Security Council? Justify your proposal. 10. Critically evaluate the difficulties involved in implementing the suggested reforms to reconstruct the UN. 11. Though the UN has failed in preventing wars and related miseries, nations prefer its continuation. What makes the UN an indispensable organisation? 12. ‘Reforming the UN means restructuring of the Security Council’. Do you agree with this statement? Give arguments for or against this position.

Chapter 7 Security in the OContemporary World edVERVIEW hIn reading about world politics, we RT lisfrequently encounter the terms ‘security’ or ‘national security’. Do we know what these terms mean? E bOften, they are used to stop debate and discussion. We hear that an C uissue is a security issue and that N pit is vital for the well-being of the country. The implication is that it reis too important or secret to be debated and discussed openly. ©We see movies in which everything esurrounding ‘national security’ is shadowy and dangerous. Security bseems to be something that is not the business of the ordinary tocitizen. In a democracy, surely this cannot be the case. As citizens of a democracy, we need to know tmore about the term security. What exactly is it? And what are oIndia’s security concerns? This nchapter debates these questions. It introduces two different ways of looking at security and highlights The concern about human security was reflected in the 1994 the importance of keeping in mind UNDP’s Human Development Report, which contends, “the different contexts or situations concept of security has for too long been interpreted which determine our view of security. narrowly… It has been more related to nation states than people… Forgotten were the legitimate concerns of ordinary people who sought security in their daily lives.” The images above show various forms of security threats.

100 Contemporary World Politics WHAT IS SECURITY? those things that threaten ‘core values’ should be regarded as being At its most basic, security implies of interest in discussions of freedom from threats. Human security. Whose core values existence and the life of a country though? The core values of the are full of threats. Does that mean country as a whole? The core that every single threat counts as values of ordinary women and men a security threat? Every time a in the street? Do governments, on Who decides about person steps out of his or her behalf of citizens, always have the my security? Some house, there is some degree of same notion of core values as the leaders and experts? threat to their existence and way ordinary citizen? Can’t I decide what is my security? dof life. Our world would be Furthermore, when we speak of threats to core values, how not saturated with security issues if intense should the threats be? Surely there are big and small ewe took such a broad view of what threats to virtually every value we hold dear. Can all those threats is threatening. be brought into the understanding of security? Every time another hThose who study security, country does something or fails to t©o NbeCEreRpTublistherefore, generally say that onlydo something, this may damage the core values of one’s country. Every time a person is robbed in the streets, the security of ordinary people as they live their daily lives is harmed. Yet, we would be paralysed if we took such an extensive view of security: everywhere we looked, the world would be full of dangers. So we are brought to a conclusion: security relates only © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. to extremely dangerous threats— threats that could so endanger core values that those values would be damaged beyond repair if we did not do something to deal with the situation. Taming Peace Having said that, we must admit that security remains a Have you heard of ‘peacekeeping force’? Do you think this is slippery idea. For instance, have paradoxical term? societies always had the same conception of security? It would be surprising if they did because

Security in the Contemporary World 101 so many things change in the RT lishedEconomyofwar world around us. And, at any given time in world history, do all © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. societies have the same conception of security? Again, it would be E bbreaks out so as to deny the amazing if six hundred and fifty C uattacking country its objectives crore people, organised in nearly 200 countries, had the same and to turn back or defeat the conception of security! Let us begin by putting the various notions of N pattacking forces altogether. security under two groups: reGovernments may choose to traditional and non-traditional conceptions of security. surrender when actually confronted by war, but they will not advertise TRADITIONAL NOTIONS: this as the policy of the country. EXTERNAL eTherefore, security policy is bconcerned with preventing war, Most of the time, when we read and hear about security we are which is called deterrence, and talking about traditional, national with limiting or ending war, which security conceptions of security. is called defence. In the traditional conception of security, the greatest danger to a Traditional security policy has War is all about country is from military threats. a third component called balance insecurity, destruction The source of this danger is of power. When countries look and deaths. How around them, they see that some can a war make ©another country which by countries are bigger and stronger. anyone secure? This is a clue to who might be a threatening military action threat in the future. For instance, endangers the core values of a neighbouring country may not sovereignty, independence and say it is preparing for attack. territorial integrity. Military action There may be no obvious reason also endangers the lives of for attack. But the fact that this country is very powerful is a sign toordinary citizens. It is unlikely that in a war only soldiers will be hurt or killed. Quite often, ordinary tmen and women are made targets oof war, to break their support of nthe war. In responding to the threat of war, a government has three basic choices: to surrender; to prevent the other side from attacking by promising to raise the costs of war to an unacceptable level; and to defend itself when war actually

102 Contemporary World Politics formalised in written treaties and © Christo Komarnitski, Cagle Cartoons Inc. are based on a fairly clear identification of who constitutes the threat. Countries form alliances to increase their effective power relative to another country or alliance. Alliances are based on national interests and hedHow do the big powers react when new countries claim nuclear can change when national RT lisstatus? On what basis can we say that some countries can be interests change. For example, the US backed the Islamic trusted with nuclear weapons while others can’t be? militants in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, E bthat at some point in the future it but later attacked them when Al C umay choose to be aggressive. Qaeda—a group of Islamic militants led by Osama bin Governments are, therefore, very Laden—launched terrorist strikes against America on 11 N psensitive to the balance of power September 2001. rebetween their country and other In the traditional view of countries. They do work hard to security, then, most threats to a country’s security come from maintain a favourable balance of outside its borders. That is because the international system ©power with other countries, is a rather brutal arena in which eespecially those close by, those there is no central authority bwith whom they have differences, capable of controlling behaviour. Within a country, the threat of or with those they have had violence is regulated by an conflicts in the past. A good part acknowledged central authority — the government. In world politics, toof maintaining a balance of power there is no acknowledged central authority that stands above is to build up one’s military power,everyone else. It is tempting to although economic and techno- think that the United Nations is such an authority or could become t logical power are also important such an institution. However, as o since they are the basis for n military power. A fourth and related presently constituted, the UN is a component of traditional security creature of its members and has policy is alliance building. An authority only to the extent that alliance is a coalition of states the membership allows it to have that coordinate their actions to authority and obeys it. So, in deter or defend against military world politics, each country has to attack. Most alliances are be responsible for its own security.

Security in the Contemporary World 103 TRADITIONAL NOTIONS: Again, we draw attention to contexts and situations. We know Browse through a INTERNAL week’s newspaper that the period after the Second and list all the By now you will have asked World War was the Cold War in external and yourself: doesn’t security depend on internal peace and order? How which the US-led Western alliance internal conflicts can a society be secure if there is faced the Soviet-led Communist that are taking violence or the threat of violence alliance. Above all, the two place around the inside its borders? And how can alliances feared a military attack globe. it prepare to face violence from outside its borders if it is not from each other. Some European secure inside its borders? powers, in addition, continued to worry about violence in their Traditional security must also, colonies, from colonised people therefore, concern itself with internal security. The reason it is dwho wanted independence. We not given so much importance is ehave only to remember the French that after the Second World War it seemed that, for the most fighting in Vietnam in the 1950s powerful countries on earth, internal security was more or less hor the British fighting in Kenya in assured. We said earlier that it is RT listhe 1950s and the early 1960s. important to pay attention to contexts and situations. While As the colonies became free internal security was certainly from the late 1940s onwards, their a part of the concerns of E bsecurity concerns were often ©governments historically, after the similar to that of the European Second World War there was a context and situation in which C upowers. Some of the newly- internal security did not seem to matter as much as it had in the independent countries, like the past. After 1945, the US and the N pEuropean powers, became toSoviet Union appeared to be remembers of the Cold War alliances. united and could expect peace They, therefore, had to worry about within their borders. Most of the the Cold War becoming a hot war tEuropean countries, particularly eand dragging them into hostilities othe powerful Western European b— against neighbours who might ncountries, faced no serious threats have joined the other side in the from groups or communities living Cold War, against the leaders of the within those borders. Therefore, these countries focused primarily alliances (the United States or on threats from outside their borders. Soviet Union), or against any of the What were the external threats other partners of the US and Soviet facing these powerful countries? Union. The Cold War between the two superpowers was responsible for approximately one-third of all wars in the post-Second World War period. Most of these wars were fought in the Third World. Just as the European colonial powers feared violence in the colonies, some colonial people feared, after independence, that they might be attacked by their

104 Contemporary World Politics Internally, the new states worried about threats from separatist movements which wanted to for m independent countries. Sometimes, the external and internal threats merged. A neighbour might help or instigate an internal separatist Third World Arms RT lished© Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc.movement leading to tensions E bformer colonial rulers in Europe. between the two neighbouring notThose who fight countries. Internal wars now They had to prepare, therefore, to make up more than 95 per cent of against their own all armed conflicts fought country must be C udefend themselves against an anywhere in the world. Between unhappy about N pimperial war. 1946 and 1991, there was a something. Perhaps it reThe security challenges facing twelve-fold rise in the number of is their insecurity that civil wars—the greatest jump in creates insecurity for the newly-independent countries 200 years. So, for the new states, the country. of Asia and Africa were different external wars with neighbours and internal wars posed a serious ©from the challenges in Europe in challenge to their security. etwo ways. For one thing, the new bcountries faced the prospect of TRADITIONAL SECURITY AND COOPERATION military conflict with neighbouring countries. For another, they had In traditional security, there is a recognition that cooperation in toto worry about internal military limiting violence is possible. These limits relate both to the ends and the means of war. It is now an almost universally-accepted view that countries should only go to conflict. These countries faced war for the right reasons, primarily threats not only from outside their self-defence or to protect other borders, mostly from neighbours, people from genocide. War must but also from within. Many newly- also be limited in terms of the independent countries came to means that are used. Armies must fear their neighbours even more avoid killing or hurting non- than they feared the US or Soviet combatants as well as unarmed Union or the former colonial and surrendering combatants. powers. They quarrelled over They should not be excessively borders and territories or control violent. Force must in any case of people and populations or all of be used only after all the these simultaneously. alternatives have failed.

Security in the Contemporary World 105 Traditional views of security dThe text says: “Whether Elevated or Under Attack, the Department do not rule out other forms of eof Homeland Security Terror Meter takes the uncertainty out of cooperation as well. The most important of these are dis- staying informed of the level of terror in our nation. Move the Terror armament, arms control, and confidence building. Disarmament hIndicator to the current threat level, which corresponds to how requires all states to give up certain kinds of weapons. For terrified the Americal people are of the threat of terror attacks. example, the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and RT lisTerror is all around us, and can strike at anytime. Thanks to the the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) banned the Terror Meter, you will never have to wonder how terrified you should production and possession of be. Proceed with caution”. these weapons. More than 155 states acceded to the BWC and E bto deploy a very limited number of 181 states acceded to the CWC. Both conventions included all defensive systems, it stopped them the great powers. But the superpowers — the US and Soviet C ufrom large-scale production of Union — did not want to give up N pthose systems. the third type of weapons of mass reAs we noted in Chapter 1, the destruction, namely, nuclear weapons, so they pursued arms US and Soviet Union signed a control. number of other arms control Arms control regulates the treaties including the Strategic acquisition or development of eArms Limitations Treaty II or ©weapons. The Anti-ballistic bSALT II and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The Missile (ABM) Treaty in 1972 tried to stop the United States and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Soviet Union from using ballistic missiles as a defensive shield (NPT) of 1968 was an arms control toto launch a nuclear attack. treaty in the sense that it notWhile it did allow both countries regulated the acquisition of nuclear weapons: those countries that had tested and manufactured nuclear weapons before 1967 were allowed to keep their weapons; How funny! First they and those that had not done so make deadly and were to give up the right to acquire expensive weapons. them. The NPT did not abolish Then they make nuclear weapons; rather, it limited complicated treaties the number of countries that to save themselves from these weapons. could have them. They call it security!

106 Contemporary World Politics Traditional security also conception, the referent is the state accepts confidence building as a with its territory and governing means of avoiding violence. institutions. In the non-traditional Confidence building is a process conceptions, the referent is in which countries share ideas expanded. When we ask ‘Security and information with their rivals. for who?’ proponents of non- They tell each other about their traditional security reply ‘Not just military intentions and, up to a the state but also individuals or point, their military plans. This communities or indeed all of is a way of demonstrating that humankind’. Non-traditional views they are not planning a surprise of security have been called attack. They also tell each other ‘human security’ or ‘global security’. dabout the kind of forces they epossess, and they may share Human security is about the protection of people more than the information on where those forces protection of states. Human security and state security should hare deployed. In short, confidence be — and often are — the same RT lisbuilding is a process designed tothing. But secure states do not automatically mean secure ensure that rivals do not go to war peoples. Protecting citizens from through misunderstanding or foreign attack may be a necessary condition for the security of E bmisperception. individuals, but it is certainly not Overall, traditional conceptions not © Andy Singer, Cagle Cartoons Inc. C uof security are principally Now we are talking! N pconcerned with the use, or threat That is what I call real security for real of use, of military force. In human beings. retraditional security, force is both the principal threat to security ©and the principal means of eachieving security. bNON-TRADITIONAL NOTIONS toNon-traditional notions of security go beyond military threats to include a wide range of threats and dangers affecting the conditions of human existence. They begin by questioning the traditional referent of security. In doing so, they also question the other three elements of security — what is being secured, from what kind of threats and the The cartoon comments on the massive approach to security. When we say expenditure on defence and lack of referent we mean ‘Security for money for peace-related initiatives in who?’ In the traditional security the US. Is it any different in our country?

Security in the Contemporary World 107 a sufficient one. Indeed, during bird flu and so on. No country can the last 100 years, more people have been killed by their own resolve these problems alone. And, governments than by foreign in some situations, one country armies. may have to disproportionately bear the brunt of a global problem All proponents of human such as environmental security agree that its primary degradation. For example, due to goal is the protection of global warming, a sea level rise of individuals. However, there are 1.5–2.0 meters would flood 20 differences about precisely what percent of Bangladesh, inundate threats individuals should be most of the Maldives, and threaten protected from. Proponents of nearly half the population of the ‘narrow’ concept of human security focus on violent dThailand. Since these problems are threats to individuals or, as former eglobal in nature, international UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan puts it, “the protection of cooperation is vital, even though communities and individuals from internal violence”. Proponents of hit is difficult to achieve. the ‘broad’ concept of human RT lisNEW SOURCES OF THREATS security argue that the threat E bThe non-traditional conceptions— agenda should include hunger, disease and natural both human security and global disasters because these kill far more people than war, genocide C usecurity—focus on the changing and terrorism combined. Human nature of threats to security. We ©security policy, they argue, N pwill discuss some of these threats should protect people from these rein the section below. threats as well as from violence. In its broadest formulation, the Terrorism refers to political human security agenda also violence that targets civilians toencompasses economic security edeliberately and indiscriminately. bInternational terrorism involves and ‘threats to human dignity’. Put differently, the broadest the citizens or territory of more than one country. Terrorist tformulation stresses what has groups seek to change a political context or condition that they do been called ‘freedom from want’ not like by force or threat of force. Civilian targets are oand ‘freedom from fear’, usually chosen to terrorise the nrespectively. public and to use the unhappiness of the public as a The idea of global security weapon against national emerged in the 1990s in response governments or other parties in to the global nature of threats conflict. such as global warming, international terrorism, and health The classic cases of terrorism epidemics like AIDS and involve hijacking planes or planting bombs in trains, cafes, markets

108 Contemporary World Politics and other crowded places. Since 11 September 2001 when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in America, other governments and public have paid more attention to terrorism, though terrorism itself is not new. In the past, most of the terror attacks have occurred in the Taking the train t©o NbeCEreRpTublished© Tab, Cagle Cartoons Inc.Middle East, Europe, Latin America and South Asia. not Human rights have come to be classified into three types. The first type is political rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. The second type is economic and social rights. The third type is the rights of colonised people or ethnic and indigenous minorities. While there is broad agreement on this classification, there is no agreement on which set of rights should be considered as universal Why do we always He doesn’t exist! look outside when talking about human rights violations? Don’t we have examples from our own country?

Security in the Contemporary World 109 human rights, nor what the population growth occurs in just international community should six countries—India, China, do when rights are being violated. Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Among the world’s Since the 1990s, developments poorest countries, population is such as Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, expected to triple in the next 50 the genocide in Rwanda, and the years, whereas many rich Indonesian military’s killing of countries will see population people in East Timor have led to shrinkage in that period. High per a debate on whether or not the UN capita income and low population should intervene to stop human growth make rich states or rich rights abuses. There are those social groups get richer, whereas who argue that the UN Charter empowers the international dlow incomes and high population community to take up arms in egrowth reinforce each other to defence of human rights. Others argue that the national interests make poor states and poor of the powerful states will determine which instances of hgroups get poorer. human rights violations the UN RT lisGlobally, this disparity will act upon. contributes to the gap between Global poverty is another the Northern and Southern source of insecurity. World population—now at 650 crore— E bcountries of the world. Within the will reach 700 to 800 crore within 25 years and may eventually level South, disparities have also out at 900 to 1000 cror e. C usharpened, as a few countries ©Currently, half the world’s N phave managed to slow down not to population growth and raise reincomes while others have failed to do so. For example, most of the beworld’s armed conflicts now take

110 Contemporary World Politics place in sub-Saharan Africa, have to accept migrants. While Take a map which is also the poorest region refugees leave their country of of Africa and plot various of the world. At the turn of the origin, people who have fled their threats to the people’s 21st century, more people were homes but remain within national security on that map. being killed in wars in this region borders are called ‘internally not than in the rest of the world displaced people’. Kashmiri Credit: www.unhcr.org combined. Pandits that fled the violence in the Poverty in the South has also Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s led to large-scale migration to are an example of an internally seek a better life, especially better displaced community. economic opportunities, in the The world refugee map tallies dNorth. This has created almost perfectly with the world einternational political frictions. conflicts map because wars and armed conflicts in the South have International law and norms make generated millions of refugees seeking safe haven. From 1990 to ha distinction between migrants 1995, 70 states were involved in 93 wars which killed about 55 lakh (those who voluntarily leave their people. As a result, individuals, and families and, at times, whole RT lishome countries) and refugees communities have been forced to migrate because of generalised (those who flee from war, natural disaster or political persecution). fear of violence or due to the destruction of livelihoods, E bStates are generally supposed to identities and living t©o NbeCrepuaccept refugees, but they do not environments. A look at the correlation between wars and refugee migration shows that in the 1990s, all but three of the 60 refugee flows coincided with an internal armed conflict. Health epidemics such as HIV-AIDS, bird flu, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have rapidly spread across countries through migration, business, tourism and military operations. One country’s success or failure in limiting the spread of these diseases affects infections in other countries.

Security in the Contemporary World 111 By 2003, an estimated 4 crore hedKeshav, The Hindu people were infected with HIV- RT lisHow should the world address issues shown here? AIDS worldwide, two-thirds of E bas a security problem, therefore, an them in Africa and half of the rest in South Asia. In North America issue must share a minimum and other industrialised countries, new drug therapies dramatically C ucommon criterion, say, of lowered the death rate from HIV- AIDS in the late 1990s. But these threatening the very existence of treatments were too expensive to help poor regions like Africa where N pthe referent (a state or group of it has proved to be a major factor repeople) though the precise nature in driving the region backward into deeper poverty. of this threat may be different. For example, the Maldives may feel Other new and poorly threatened by global warming understood diseases such as ebola virus, hantavirus, and hepatitis C bebecause a big part of its territory have emerged, while old diseases may be submerged with the rising like tuberculosis, malaria, dengue sea level, whereas for countries in fever and cholera have mutated Southern Africa, HIV-AIDS poses into drug resistant forms that are a serious threat as one in six difficult to treat. Epidemics among adults has the disease (one in three animals have major economic for Botswana, the worst case). In effects. Since the late 1990s, 1994, the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda Britain has lost billions of dollars faced a threat to its existence as of income during an outbreak of nearly five lakh of its people were killed by the rival Hutu tribe in a ©the mad-cow disease, and bird flu matter of weeks. This shows that non-traditional conceptions of shut down supplies of poultry security, like traditional exports from several Asian conceptions of security, vary countries. Such epidemics according to local contexts. demonstrate the growing inter- todependence of states making their borders less meaningful than in the past and emphasise the need tfor international cooperation. oExpansion of the concept of nsecurity does not mean that we can include any kind of disease or distress in the ambit of security. If we do that, the concept of security stands to lose its coherence. Everything could become a security issue. To qualify

112 Contemporary World Politics © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. COOPERATIVE development organisations), SECURITY businesses and corporations, and great personalities We can see that (e.g. Mother Teresa, Nelson dealing with many Mandela). of these non- Cooperative security may traditional threats involve the use of force as a last World Blindness to security require resort. The international cooperation rather community may have to sanction not than military the use of force to deal with confrontation. Military force may governments that kill their own I feel happy when I people or ignore the misery of hear that my country dhave a role to play in combating their populations who are has nuclear eterrorism or in enforcing human devastated by poverty, disease weapons. But I don’t and catastrophe. It may have to know how exactly it rights (and even here there is a agree to the use of violence makes me and my against international terrorists family more secure. hlimit to what force can achieve), and those who harbour them. RT lisbut it is difficult to see what forceNon-traditional security is much better when the use of forc e would do to help alleviate poverty, is sanctioned and applied manage migration and refugee collectively by the international movements, and control community rather than when an individual country decides to use E bepidemics. Indeed, in most cases, force on its own. C uthe use of military force would INDIA’S SECURITY STRATEGY only make matters worse! India has faced traditional N pFar more effective is to devise (military) and non-traditional restrategies that involve threats to its security that have emerged from within as well as international cooperation. Cooperation may be bilateral (i.e. © ebetween any two countries), regional, continental, or global. It bwould all depend on the nature of the threat and the willingness toand ability of countries to respond. Cooperative security may also involve a variety of other outside its borders. Its security players, both international strategy has four br oad and national—international components, which have been organisations (the UN, the World used in a varying combination Health Organisation, the World from time to time. Bank, the IMF etc.), non- The first component was streng- governmental organisations thening its military capabilities (Amnesty International, the Red because India has been involved Cross, private foundations and in conflicts with its neighbours — charities, churches and religious Pakistan in 1947–48, 1965, 1971 organisations, trade unions, and 1999; and China in 1962. associations, social and Since it is surrounded by nuclear-

Security in the Contemporary World 113 armed countries in the South challenges within the country. Asian region, India’s decision to conduct nuclear tests in 1998 was Several militant groups from areas justified by the Indian government in terms of safeguarding national such as the Nagaland, Mizoram, security. India first tested a nuclear device in 1974. the Punjab, and Kashmir among The second component of others have, from time to time, India’s security strategy has been to strengthen international norms sought to break away from India. and international institutions to protect its security interests. India has tried to preserve national India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, supported the unity by adopting a democratic cause of Asian solidarity, decolonisation, disarmament, political system, which allows and the UN as a forum in which different communities and groups international conflicts could be of people to freely articulate their settled. India also took initiatives grievances and share political to bring about a universal and non-discriminatory non-proliferation dpower. regime in which all countries eFinally, there has been an would have the same rights and hattempt in India to develop its obligations with respect to weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, economy in a way that the vast biological, chemical). It argued for RT lismass of citizens are lifted out of ©an equitable New International poverty and misery and huge Economic Order (NIEO). Most economic inequalities are not importantly, it used non-alignment to help carve out an area of peace E ballowed to exist. The attempt has outside the bloc politics of the two not quite succeeded; we are still tosuperpowers. India joined 160 C ua very poor and unequal country. countries that have signed and N pYet democratic politics allows ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, spaces for articulating the voice twhich provides a roadmap for reof the poor and the deprived reducing the emissions of citizens. There is a pressure on ogreenhouse gases to check global the democratically elected nwarming. Indian troops have been egovernments to combine sent abroad on UN peacekeeping beconomic growth with human missions in support of cooperative security initiatives. development. Thus democracy is not just a political ideal; a The third component of Indian security strategy is geared democratic government is also a towards meeting security way to provide greater security. You will read more about the successes and failures of Indian democracy in this respect in the Compare the textbook on politics in India since expenditure by independence. the Indian government on traditional security with its expenditure on non-traditional security.

114 Contemporary World Politics STEPS ‹ Narrate the following imaginary situation of four villages settled on the banks of a river. Kotabagh, Gewali, Kandali and Goppa are villages adjoining each other beside a river. People in Kotabagh were the first settlers on the riverbank. They had an uninterrupted access to abundant natural resources available in the region. dGradually, people from different regions started coming to this region because of ethe abundant natural resources and water. Now there are four villages. With time the population of these villages expanded. But resources did not expand. Each hvillage started making claims over natural resources including the boundary of their RT lisrespective settlement. Inhabitants of Kotabagh argued for a greater share in natural resources, as they were the first settlers. Settlers of Kandali and Gewali said that as they have bigger populations than the others they both need a greater share. The people of Goppa said as they are used to an extravagant life they need a bigger E bshare, though their population is smaller in size. All four villages disagreed with each other’s demands and continued to use the resources as they wished. This led to C ufrequent clashes among the villagers. Gradually, everybody felt disgusted with the state of affairs and lost their peace of mind. Now they all wish to live the way they N phad lived earlier. But they do not know how to go back to that golden age. re‹ Make a brief note describing the characteristics of each village — the description should reflect the actual nature of present-day nations. ©‹ Divide the classroom into four groups. Each group is to represent a village. Hand eover the village notes to the respective groups. b‹ The teacher is to allot a time (15 minutes) for group discussions on how to go back to the golden age. Each should develop its own strategy. toAll groups are to negotiate freely among themselves as village representatives, to arrive at a solution (within 20 minutes). Each would put forth its arguments and counter arguments. The result could be: an amicable agreement taccommodating the demands of all, which seldom happens; or, the entire onegotiation/discussion ends without achieving the purpose. nIdeas for the Teacher Link the villages to nations and connect to the problems of security (threat to geographical territory/ access to natural resources/insurgency, and so on). Talk about the observations made during the negotiation and explain how similarly the nations behave while negotiating on related issues. The activity could be concluded by making reference to some of the current security issues between and among nations.

Security in the Contemporary World 115 1. Match the terms with their meaning: Exercises i. Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) ii. Arms Control iii. Alliance iv. Disarmament a. Giving up certain types of weapons db. A process of exchanging information on defence matters between nations on a regular basis ec. A coalition of nations meant to deter or defend against military hattacks d. Regulates the acquisition or development of weapons RT lis2. Which among the following would you consider as a traditional security concern / non-traditional security concern / not a threat? E ba. The spread of chikungunya / dengue fever b. Inflow of workers from a neighbouring nation C uc. Emergence of a group demanding nationhood for their region N pd. Emergence of a group demanding autonomy for their region ree. A newspaper that is critical of the armed forces in the country 3. What is the difference between traditional and non-traditional ©security? Which category would the creation and sustenance of ealliances belong to? 4. What are the differences in the threats that people in the Third World bface and those living in the First World face? to5. Is terrorism a traditional or non-traditional threat to security? 6. What are the choices available to a state when its security is threatened, according to the traditional security perspective? t7. What is ‘Balance of Power’? How could a state achieve this? o8. What are the objectives of military alliances? Give an example of na functioning military alliance with its specific objectives. 9. Rapid environmental degradation is causing a serious threat to security. Do you agree with the statement? Substantiate your arguments.

116 Contemporary World Politics notExercises 10. Nuclear weapons as deterrence or defence have limited usage against contemporary security threats to states. Explain the statement. 11. Looking at the Indian scenario, what type of security has been given priority in India, traditional or non-traditional? What examples could you cite to substantiate the argument? 12. Read the cartoon below and write a short note in favour or against the connection between war and terrorism depicted in this cartoon. t©o NbeCEreRpTublished© Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc.

OCNEnhaavtpiurotreanrlm8ReensotNuarCncdeEs RpTublishedVERVIEW reThis chapter examines the growing significance of environmental as well ©as resource issues in world politics. eIt analyses in a comparative bperspective some of the important environmental movements against the backdrop of the rising profile of toenvironmentalism from the 1960s onwards. Notions of common property resources and the global tcommons too are assessed. We also odiscuss, in brief, the stand taken by nIndia in more recent environmental The 1992 Earth Summit has brought environmental issues to debates. Next follows a brief account the centre-stage of global politics. The pictures above show of the geopolitics of resource rainforest and mangroves. competition. We conclude by taking note of the indigenous peoples’ voices and concerns from the margins of contemporary world politics.

118 Contemporary World Politics ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS Throughout the world, IN GLOBAL POLITICS cultivable area is barely expanding any more, and a In this book we have discussed substantial portion of existing ‘world politics’ in a fairly limited agricultural land is losing sense: wars and treaties, rise and fertility. Grasslands have been decline of state power, the overgrazed and fisheries over- harvested. Water bodies have relationship between the Politics in forests, governments that represent their suffered extensive depletion politics in water, countries in the international and pollution, severely politics in arena and the role of inter - restricting food production. atmosphere! What is not political then? dgovernmental organisations. In According to the Human eChapter 7, we expanded the scope Development Report 2006 of the not United Nations Development of world politics to include issues Programme, 1.2 billion people in developing countries have no hlike poverty and epidemics. That access to safe water and 2.6 RT lismay not have been a very difficult billion have no access to sanitation, resulting in the step to take, for we all think that death of more than thre e governments are responsible for million children every year. controlling these. In that sense Natural forests — which help E bthey fall within the scope of world stabilise the climate, moderate C upolitics. Now consider some other water supplies, and harbour a majority of the planet’s issues. Do you think they fall biodiversity on land—ar e being cut down and people are N pwithin the scope of contemporary being displaced. The loss of t©o be reworld politics? biodiversity continues due to the destruction of habitat in a reas which are rich in species. A steady decline in the total amount of ozone in the Earth’s stratospher e (commonly referred to as the ozone hole) poses a real danger to Around the Aral Sea, thousands of people have had to leave their ecosystems and human homes as the toxic waters have totally destroyed the fishing industry. health. The shipping industry and all related activities have collapsed. Coastal pollution too is Rising concentrations of salt in the soil have caused low crop yields. increasing globally. Although the open sea is relatively clean, Numerous studies have been conducted. In fact locals joke that if the coastal waters ar e everyone who’d come to study the Aral had brought a bucket of water, the sea would be full by now. Source: www.gobartimes.org

Environment and Natural Resources 119 becoming increasingly polluted RT lishedGlobalWarming largely due to land-based E bWhy do you think the fingers are designed like chimneys and the activities. If unchecked, intensive human settlement of world made into a lighter? coastal zones across the globe C uof the Earth’s resources against the© Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. will lead to further N pbackdrop of rapidly growing world deterioration in the quality of repopulation. International agencies, marine environment. including the United Nations You might ask are we not Environment Programme (UNEP), talking here about ‘natural phenomena’ that should be studied ebegan holding international in geography rather than in political bconferences and promoting science. But think about it again. detailed studies to get a more If the various governments take steps to check environmental coordinated and effective response degradation of the kind mentioned above, these issues will have to environmental problems. Since political consequences in that sense. Most of them are such that then, the environment has no single government can address them fully. Therefore they have to emerged as a significant issue of become part of ‘world politics’. Issues of environment and natural global politics. resources are political in another deeper sense. Who causes The growing focus on Collect news environmental degradation? Who environmental issues within the clippings on arena of global politics was firmly reports ©pays the price? And who is consolidated at the United Nations linking Conference on Environment and environment responsible for taking corrective Development held in Rio de and politics action? Who gets to use how much Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992. in your own of the natural resources of the This was also called the Earth locality. Earth? All these raise the issue of Summit. The summit was towho wields how much power. They are, therefore, deeply political questions. tAlthough environmental oconcerns have a long history, nawareness of the environmental consequences of economic growth acquired an increasingly political character from the 1960s onwards. The Club of Rome, a global think tank, published a book in 1972 entitled Limits to Growth, dramatising the potential depletion

120 Contemporary World Politics countries of the First World, generally referred to as the ‘global North’ were pursuing a different environmental agenda than the poor and developing countries of the Third World, called the ‘global South’. Whereas the Northern states were concerned with ozone © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. © NbeCEreRpTublishedAre there different perspectives from which the rich and the poordepletion and global warming, the tocountries agree to protect the Earth? Southern states were anxious to address the relationship between attended by 170 states, thousands economic development and environmental management. t of NGOs and many multinational corporations. Five years earlier, The Rio Summit produced conventions dealing with climate o the 1987 Brundtland Report, Our change, biodiversity, forestry, and n Common Future, had warned that recommended a list of development traditional patterns of economic practices called ‘Agenda 21’. But it left unresolved considerable differences and difficulties. There was a consensus on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility. This approach to development is commonly known as ‘sustainable development’. The problem however was how exactly this was to be achieved. Some critics have pointed out that Agenda 21 was biased in favour of economic growth rather than ensuring ecological conservation. Let us look at some of the contentious issues in the global politics of environment. THE PROTECTION OF GLOBAL COMMONS growth were not sustainable in the ‘Commons’ are those resources long term, especially in view of the which are not owned by anyone demands of the South for further but rather shared by a community. industrial development. What was This could be a ‘common room’, a obvious at the Rio Summit was ‘community centre’, a park or a that the rich and developed river. Similarly, there are some

Environment and Natural Resources 121 ANTARCTICA The Antarctic continental region extends over 14 million square kilometres and comprises 26 per cent of the world’s wilderness area, representing 90 per cent of all terrestrial ice and 70 per cent of planetary fresh water. The Antarctic also extends to a further 36 million square kilometres of ocean. It has a limited terrestrial life and a highly productive dmarine ecosystem, comprising a few plants (e.g. microscopic algae, fungi and lichen), emarine mammals, fish and hordes of birds adapted to harsh conditions, as well as the hkrill, which is central to marine food chain RT lisand upon which other animals are dependent. The Antarctic plays an important role in maintaining climatic equilibrium, and deep ice cores provide E ban important source of information about greenhouse gas concentrations and C uatmospheric temperatures of hundreds and thousands of years ago. N pWho owns this coldest, farthest, and windiest continent on globe? There are two claims about it. Some recountries like the UK, Argentina, Chile, Norway, France, Australia and New Zealand have made legal claims to sovereign rights over Antarctic territory. Most other states have taken the opposite view that the Antarctic is a part of the global commons and not subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of any state. These ©differences, however, have not prevented the adoption of innovative and potentially far-reaching rules efor the protection of the Antarctic environment and its ecosystem. The Antarctic and the Arctic polar regions are subjected to special regional rules of environmental protection. Since 1959, activities in the barea have been limited to scientific research, fishing and tourism. Even these limited activities have not prevented parts of the region from being degraded by waste as a result of oil spills. t toareas or regions of the world which Cooperation over the global are located outside the sovereign commons is not easy. There have been many path-breaking ojurisdiction of any one state, and agreements such as the 1959 ntherefore require common governance by the international Antarctic Tr eaty, the 1987 community. These are known as Montreal Protocol, and the 1991 res communis humanitatis or Antarctic Environmental Protocol. global commons. They include the A major problem underlying all Very soon we will earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica ecological issues relates to the have ecological (see Box), the ocean floor, and difficulty of achieving consensus degradation of the outer space. on common environmental moon!

122 Contemporary World Politics NCEreRpTublishedOne of the biggest catastrophes in Africa in the 1970s, a drought turned the best cropland in five countries into ©cracked and barren earth. In fact, the term environmental refugees came into popular vocabulary after this. eMany had to flee their homelands as agriculture was no longer possible. Source: www.gobartimes.org not to bFind out more agendas on the basis of vague ocean floor, the crucial issue here scientific evidence and time is technology and industrial frames. In that sense the development. This is important discovery of the ozone hole over because the benefits of the Antarctic in the mid-1980s exploitative activities in outer revealed the opportunity as well space are far from being equal as dangers inherent in tackling either for the present or future global environmental problems. generations. about the Similarly, the history of outer COMMON BUT DIFFERENTIATED Kyoto Protocol. space as a global commons shows Which major that the management of these RESPONSIBILITIES countries did areas is thoroughly influenced by not sign it? And North-South inequalities. As with We have noted above a difference in the approach to environment why? the earth’s atmosphere and the

Environment and Natural Resources 123 between the countries of the North that they bear in the international and the South. The developed pursuit of sustainable development countries of the North want to in view of the pressures their discuss the environmental issue societies place on the global as it stands now and want environment and of the technological everyone to be equally responsible and financial resources they for ecological conservation. The command.” developing countries of the South feel that much of the ecological The 1992 United Nations degradation in the world is the Framework Convention on product of industrial development Climate Change (UNFCCC) also undertaken by the developed provides that the parties should countries. If they have caused more degradation, they must also dact to protect the climate system take more responsibility for undoing the damage now. “on the basis of equity and in Moreover, the developing countries are in the process of industrialisation eaccordance with their common but and they must not be subjected hdifferentiated responsibilities and to the same restrictions, which apply to the developed countries. respective capabilities.” The Thus the special needs of the developing countries must be RT lisparties to the Convention agreed taken into account in the development, application, and that the largest share of interpretation of rules of inter- historical and current global ©national environmental law. This E bemissions of greenhouse gases argument was accepted in the Rio h a s o r iginated in developed Declaration at the Earth Summit in 1992 and is called the principle C ucountries. It was also of ‘common but differentiated N packnowledged that per capita responsibilities’. emissions in developing countries toThe relevant part of the Rio reare still relatively low. China, Declaration says that “States India, and other developing tshall cooperate in the spirit of countries were, therefore , global partnership to conserve, eexempted from the requirements bof the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto oprotect and restore the health nand integrity of the Earth’s Protocol is an international agreement setting targets for ecosystem. In view of the different contributions of global environmental industrialised countries to cut degradation, states have common but differentiated responsibilities. their greenhouse gas emissions. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility Certain gases like Carbon dioxide, Methane, Hydro-fluoro carbons etc. are considered at least partly responsible for global warming - the rise in global temperature which may have catastrophic consequences for life on Earth. The protocol was That’s a cool agreed to in 1997 in Kyoto in principle! A bit like Japan, based on principles set the reservation out in UNFCCC. policy in our country, isn’t it?

124 Contemporary World Politics COMMON PROPERTY availability to the poor in much of RESOURCES the world. The institutional arrangement for the actual Common property represents management of the sacred groves common property for the group. on state-owned forest land The underlying norm here is that appropriately fits the description members of the group have both of a common property regime. rights and duties with respect to Along the forest belt of South the nature, levels of use, and the RTEI ’ SlisIhedI heard about somemaintenance of a given resource.India, sacred groves have been Through mutual understanding traditionally managed by village rivers being sold in and centuries of practice, many communities. Latin America. How village communities in India, for example, have defined members’ NDIA S TAND ON E bcan common rights and responsibilities. A C uproperty be sold? combination of factors, including NVIRONMENTAL SSUES privatisation, agricultural intensi- fication, population growth and India signed and ratified the 1997 ecosystem degradation have Kyoto Protocol in August 2002. caused common property to India, China and other developing dwindle in size, quality, and countries were exempt from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol because their contribution to the SACRED GRNOVES IrN eINpDIAProtecting nature for religious reasons is an ancient practice in many traditional societies. Sacred ©groves in India (parcels of uncut forest vegetation in the name of certain deities or natural or eancestral spirits) exemplify such practice. As a model of community-based resource management, groves have lately gained attention in conservation literature. The sacred groves can be seen as a bsystem that informally forces traditional communities to harvest natural resources in an ecologically sustained fashion. Some researchers believe that sacred groves hold the potential for preserving not only biodiversity and ecological functions, but also cultural diversity. toSacred groves embody a rich set of forest preservation practices and they share characteristics with common property resource systems. Their size ranges from clumps of a few trees to several hundred acres. Traditionally, sacred groves have been valued for their embodied spiritual and tcultural attributes. Hindus commonly worshipped natural objects, including trees and groves. Many otemples have originated from sacred groves. Deep religious reverence for nature, rather than resource scarcity, seems to be the basis for the long-standing commitment to preserving these nforests. In recent years, however, expansion and human settlement have slowly encroached on sacred forests. In many places, the institutional identity of these traditional forests is fading with the advent of new national forest policies. A real problem in managing sacred groves arises when legal ownership and operational control are held by different entities. The two entities in question, the state and the community, vary in their policy norms and underlying motives for using the sacred grove.

Environment and Natural Resources 125 ©emission of greenhouse gases NCEreRpTublishedthat the major responsibility of during the industrialisation period curbing emission rests with the (that is believed to be causing today’s global warming and climate edeveloped countries, which have change) was not significant. baccumulated emissions over a long However, the critics of the Kyoto period of time. toProtocol point out that sooner or India’s international negotiating I get it! First they later, both India and China, along position relies heavily on destroyed the earth, with other developing countries, principles of historical now it is our turn to responsibility, as enshrined in do the same! Is that twill be among the leading UNFCCC. This acknowledges that our stand? ocountributors to greenhouse gas developed countries are responsible nemissions. At the G-8 meeting in for most historical and current greenhouse gas emissions, and June 2005, India pointed out that emphasizes that ‘economic and the per capita emission rates of the social development are the first developing countries are a tiny and overriding priorities of the fraction of those in the developed developing country parties’. So world. Following the principle of India is wary of recent discussions common but differentiated responsibilities, India is of the view

126 Contemporary World Politics within UNFCCC about introducing conclusions was that there had binding commitments on rapidly been no meaningful progress with industrialising countries (such as respect to transfer of new and Brazil, China and India) to reduce additional financial resources and their greenhouse gas emissions. environmentally-sound technology India feels this contravenes the on concessional terms to very spirit of UNFCCC. Neither developing nations. India finds it does it seem fair to impose necessary that developed not restrictions on India when the countries take immediate country’s rise in per capita carbon measures to provide developing emissions by 2030 is likely to still countries with financial resources represent less than half the world and clean technologies to enable them to meet their existing daverage of 3.8 tonnes in 2000. commitments under UNFCCC. eIndian emissions are predicted to India is also of the view that the SAARC countries should adopt a rise from 0.9 tonnes per capita in common position on major global environment issues, so that the h2000 to 1.6 tonnes per capita in r egion’s voice carries greater RT lis2030. weight. The Indian government is ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENTS: already participating in global ONE OR MANY? E befforts through a number of We have, so far, looked at the way governments have reacted at the programmes. For example, India’s international level to the challenge of environmental degradation. But C uNational Auto-fuel Policy some of the most significant responses to this challenge have mandates cleaner fuels for come not from the governments but rather from groups of environ- N pvehicles. The Energy Conservation reAct, passed in 2001, outlines initiatives to improve energy ©efficiency. Similarly, the Electricity eAct of 2003 encourages the use of renewable energy. Recent trends bin importing natural gas and encouraging the adoption of clean tocoal technologies show that India has been making real efforts. The government is also keen to launch mentally conscious volunteers a National Mission on Biodiesel, working in different parts of the using about 11 million hectares world. Some of them work at the of land to produce biodiesel by international level, but most of 2011–2012. And India has one of them work at the local level. These the largest renewable energy environmental movements are programmes in the world. amongst the most vibrant, A review of the implementation diverse, and powerful social of the agreements at the Earth movements across the globe Summit in Rio was undertaken by today. It is within social movements India in 1997. One of the key that new forms of political action are born or reinvented. These

Environment and Natural Resources 127 movements raise new ideas and examples) are faced with enormous long-term visions of what we pressures. Forest clearing in the should do and what we should not Third World continues at an Let’s find do in our individual and collective alarming rate, despite thre e out about lives. Here are just a few decades of environmental activism. ‘Chipko examples to show that diversity The destruction of the world’s last Movement’. is an important trait of remaining grand forests has contemporary environmental actually increased in the last decade. The minerals industry is one of the most powerful forms of industry on the planet. A large number of economies of the South movements. The forest movements of the South, in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, dMalaysia, Indonesia, continental Africa and India (just to list a few ARE FORESTS “WILDERNERSS”T? lisheWhat distinguishes the forest movements of the South from © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. those of the North is that the forests of the former are still E bpeopled, whilst the forests of the latter are more or less devoid of human habitat or, at least, are perceived as thus. C uThis explains to some extent the prevailing notion of wilderness in the North as a ‘wild place’ where people do N pnot live. In this perspective, humans are not seen as part of renature. In other words, ‘environment’ is perceived as ‘somewhere out there’, as something that should be protected from humans through the creation of parks and ©reserves. On the other hand, most environmental issues in ethe South are based on the assumption that people live in the forests. bWilderness-oriented perspectives have been predominant in Australia, Scandinavia, North America and New Zealand. toIn these regions, there are still large tracts of relatively ‘underdeveloped wilderness’, unlike in most European countries. This is not to say that wilderness campaigns are entirely missing in the South. In the Philippines, green torganisations fight to protect eagles and other birds of prey ofrom extinction. In India, a battle goes on to protect the alarmingly low number of Bengal tigers. In Africa, a long ncampaign has been waged against the ivory trade and Do you agree with the efforts made by ecologists? Do you agree with the way ecologists are the savage slaughter of elephants. Some of the most famous portrayed here? wilderness struggles have been fought in the forests of Brazil and Indonesia. All of these campaigns focus on individual species as well as the conservation of the wilderness habitats, which support them. Many of the wilderness issues have been renamed biodiversity issues in recent times, as the concept of wilderness has been proved difficult to sell in the South. Many of these campaigns have been initiated and funded by NGOs such as the Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF), in association with local people.

128 Contemporary World Politics are now being re-opened present, there has been a spurt in to MNCs through the mega-dam building in the South, liberalisation of the from Turkey to Thailand to South global economy. The Africa, from Indonesia to China. mineral industry’s India has had some of the leading extraction of earth, its anti-dam, pro-river movements. use of chemicals, its Narmada Bachao Andolan is one pollution of waterways of the best known of these An entire and land, its clearancemovements. It is significant to note community erupted of native vegetation, its that, in anti-dam and other in protests against a displacement of communities, environmental movements in proposed open- amongst other factors, continue India, the most important shared cast coal mine idea is non-violence. project in Phulbari dto invite criticism and resistance town, in the North- ein various parts of the globe. One RESOURCE GEOPOLITICS West district of Dinajpur, good example is that of the Resource geopolitics is all about Bangladesh. Here who gets what, when, where and several dozen hPhilippines, where a vast network how. Resources have provided women, one with RT lisof groups and organisations some of the key means and motives her infant child, are of global European power chanting slogans campaigned against the Western expansion. They have also been the against the Mining Corporation (WMC), an focus of inter-state rivalry. Western proposed coal mine geopolitical thinking about project in 2006. E bAustralia-based multinational resources has been dominated by the relationship of trade, war and not company. Much opposition to the power, at the core of which were overseas resources and maritime C ucompany in its own country, navigation. Since sea power itself rested on access to timber, naval Australia, is based on anti-nuclear timber supply became a key priority for major European powers N psentiments and advocacy for the from the 17th century onwards. rebasic rights of Australian The critical importance of ensuring indigenous peoples. ©Another group of movements eare those involved in struggles against mega-dams. In every bcountry where a mega-dam is being built, one is likely to find toan environmental movement opposing it. Increasingly anti-dam movements are pro-river uninterrupted supply of strategic movements for more sustainable resources, in particular oil, was and equitable management of river well established both during the systems and valleys. The early First World War and the Second 1980s saw the first anti-dam World War. movement launched in the North, namely, the campaign to save the Throughout the Cold War the Franklin River and its surrounding industrialised countries of the forests in Australia. This was a North adopted a number of wilderness and forest campaign as methods to ensure a steady flow well as anti-dam campaign. At of resources. These included the

Environment and Natural Resources 129 deployment of military forces near exploitation sites and along sea- lanes of communication, the stockpiling of strategic resources, efforts to prop up friendly governments in producing countries, as well as support to multinational companies and favourable international NCEreRpTublishedsubstantial rise in oil demand. agreements. Traditional Western Saudi Arabia has a quarter of the strategic thinking remained eworld’s total reserves and is the bsingle largest producer. Iraq’s concerned with access to known reserves are second only supplies, which might be to Saudi Arabia’s. And, since substantial portions of Iraqi threatened by the Soviet Union. A territory are yet to be fully explored, there is a fair chance particular concern was Western that actual reserves might be far © Andy Singer, Cagle Cartoons Inc. larger. The United States, Europe, control of oil in the Gulf and Japan, and increasingly India and China, which consume this strategic minerals in Southern petroleum, are located at a considerable distance from the and Central Africa. After the end region. of the Cold War and the Water is another crucial resource that is relevant to global disintegration of the Soviet Union, the security of supply continues to worry government and business decisions with regard to several minerals, in particular radioactive materials. However, oil continues to be the most ©important resource in global strategy. The global economy relied on oil for much of the 20th century as a portable and indispensable fuel. The immense wealth toassociated with oil generates political struggles to control it, and the history of petroleum is talso the history of war and struggle. Nowhere is this more oobviously the case than in West nAsia and Central Asia. West Asia, specifically the Gulf region, accounts for about 30 per cent of global oil production. But it has about 64 percent of the planet’s known reserves, and is therefore the only region able to satisfy any

130 Contemporary World Politics EVERYONE IS PLAYING CRUDE! \"The list of petroleum based products in our lives is endless. Toothbrush, pacemaker, paints, inks, ....Oil provides the energy for 95 per cent of the world's transportation needs. The whole industrialised world survives on petroleum. We cannot imagine living without it. There are billions of barrels of it under the earth for us to use. Y et there are disputes between countries. Why here is one of the problems\" I belong to the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Black Gold. I am what they call filthy rich. Ever since black gold was found in my Kingdom things have never been the same again. Mr. Bigoil and his government came prospecting one day. We struck oil...and a ddeal. They armed me to the teeth till it hurt. So when I grin my subjects look at me with awe. In return Bigoil and sons get to buy eall my oil and loyalty. I am happy and rich and so are they. I turn my blind eye to their military in this holy land. hI value precious things. Bigoil says his President values freedom and democracy. So I keep both safely under lock and RT liskey in my land. NCErepubMr. Bigoil Sheikh Petrodollah King of the land of Black Gold CEO of Bigoil and sons As advised, I did ask myself what can I do for my country. My country has an enormous appetite for oil. So ...provide it with oil of course! I believe in the free market system. Free to dig up oil in far away countries, free to create pliable tin-pot dictators to keep local populations at bay and free to destroy ecology. We play no politics but pay them at election campaigns and get them to invest in our compa n y. That way we don't have to embarrass ourselves by foolishly waving and smiling at TV cameras. © eLeading the good life A new beauty is parked outside our garage. Awesome! Isn't it?... bsleek chrome finish, power steering, automatic gears. Excellent pick up and great mileage too. It is low on emissions too...gentle on the atmosphere, you know. Global warming and all that stuf .f toNow we really are in hurry to zoom off and lead the good life...God Save Everyone!...vvrrroooommmmm t Toppleton defends freedom and democracy. That's why he is so generous with guns and missiles. Like the ones he gave us to fight the invading Ruffians. He even o trained us. We did not realise that it was the oil they were after. Bigoil is always trying n to woo us. But we are too busy playing war games. Now we have rules of our own. Mr & Mrs Gobbledoo Toppleton's govt. kept changing its rules. Not fair we said. Some of us now hate Toppleton, his government and his people. Of course their bullets and missiles come in handy when we have to beat them at their game. Make no mistake, we are Errorists. Errorists Loose cannonballs Adapted from http://www.gobartimes.org/gt_covfeature2.htm

Environment and Natural Resources 131 (lower riparian) state’s objection to pollution, excessive irrigation, or the construction of dams by an upstream (upper riparian) state, which might decrease or degrade the quality of water available to the downstream state. States have used force to protect or seize freshwater resources. How are these Examples of violence include conflicts different those between Israel, Syria, and from the many water Jordan in the 1950s and 1960s conflicts within our own country? dover attempts by each side to © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. edivert water from the Jordan and The larger part of the Earth is water than Yarmuk Rivers, and more recent ©the land and yet the cartoonist decides hthreats between Turkey, Syria, RT lisand Iraq over the construction of to show larger image of the land than water. How does the image show the dams on the Euphrates River. A scarcity of water? number of studies show that politics. Regional variations and E bcountries that share rivers — and the increasing scarcity of many countries do share rivers — tofreshwater in some parts of the C uare involved in military conflicts world point to the possibility of disagreements over shared water with each other. tresources as a leading source of N repTHE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES oconflicts in the 21st century. AND THEIR RIGHTS nSome commentators on world eThe question of indigenous politics have referred to ‘water bpeople brings the issues of wars’ to describe the possibility environment, resources and of violent conflict over this life- sustaining resource. Countries that politics together. The UN defines share rivers can disagree over many things. For instance, a typical indigenous populations as disagreement is a downstream comprising the descendants of peoples who inhabited the present territory of a country at the time when persons of a different culture or ethnic origin arrived there from other parts of the world and overcame them. Indigenous people today live more in conformity with their particular social, economic, and cultural customs and traditions than the institutions of the country of which they now form a part.

132 Contemporary World Politics present day island states in the Oceania region (including Australia and New Zealand), were inhabited by the Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian people over the course of thousands of years. They appeal to governments to come to terms RT lishedIn the context of world politics,with the continuing existence of indigenous nations as enduring what are the common interests of communities with an identity of their own. ‘Since times E bapproximately 30 crore immemorial’ is the phrase used by indigenous people all over the indigenous peoples spread world to refer to their continued occupancy of the lands from C uthroughout the world including which they originate. The N pIndia? There are 20 lakh worldviews of indigenous societies, irrespective of their indigenous people of the geographical location, ar e strikingly similar with respect to reCordillera region of the land and the variety of life systems supported by it. The loss of land, Philippines, 10 lakh Mapuche which also means the loss of an economic resource base, is the ©people of Chile, six lakh tribal not epeople of the Chittagong Hill © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. Why don’t we hear Tracts in Bangladesh, 35 lakh much about the indigenous people bNorth American natives, 50,000 and their movements? Is the Kuna living east of Panama Canal media biased against them? toand 10 lakh Small Peoples of the Soviet North. Like other social movements, indigenous people speak of their struggles, their agenda and their rights. The indigenous voices in world Spoonful of Ecology politics call for the admission of indigenous people to the world Do you agree with this perspective community as equals. Indigenous where a man from an urban people occupy areas in Central (developed!) area becomes greedy for and South America, Africa, India nature? (where they are known as Tribals) and Southeast Asia. Many of the

Environment and Natural Resources 133 most obvious threat to the survival experiences. The World Council of Indigenous of indigenous people. Can political Peoples was formed in 1975. The Council autonomy be enjoyed without its became subsequently the first of 11 indigenous attachment to the means of NGOs to receive consultative status in the UN. physical survival? Many of the movements against globalisation, discussed in Chapter 9, have focussed on the In India, the description rights of the indigenous people. ‘indigenous people’ is usually applied to the Scheduled Tribes RT lishedSTEPS who constitute nearly eight per cent of the population of the ‹ Each student is asked to list any ten items they country. With the exception of small communities of hunters and consume/use every day. gatherers, most indigenous populations in India depend for E b(The list could include — pen/paper/eraser/ their subsistence primarily on the cultivation of land. For centuries, computer/water etc.) if not millennia, they had free access to as much land as they C u‹ Ask students to calculate the amount of natural could cultivate. It was only after N presources being used to make these items. (For the establishment of the British colonial rule that areas, which had finished products like pen/pencil/computer previously been inhabited by the Scheduled Tribe communities, reetc., students will calculate the amount of were subjected to outside forces. Although they enjoy a resources and for items like water they could constitutional protection in calculate the amount of electricity used for ©political representation, they have epurifying and pumping along with gallons of b water). Each would calculate and arrive at an not got much of the benefits of development in the country. In approximate figure. fact they have paid a huge cost for development since they are the Ideas for the Teacher tosingle largest group among the Collect the approximate figures from each student and people displaced by various sum up all to arrive at total resources consumed by the developmental projects since students of that particular class. (Teacher is to act as a facilitator and allow students to do the calculations.) tindependence. oIssues related to the rights of Project this figure to other classes of the same school, then nthe indigenous communities have to schools across the country. The country figure could be been neglected in domestic and used to measure the amount of resources being used by international politics for very long. schools in other countries too. (The teacher is to have During the 1970s, growing background information about the resources being used international contacts among by students in a few select countries. While selecting indigenous leaders from around countries, teacher should ensure that the selected countries the world aroused a sense of belong to the developed / developing countries category). common concern and shared Ask students to imagine the amount of resources we are consuming and also to estimate future consumption.

134 Contemporary World Politics Exercises 1. Which among the following best explains the reason for growing concerns about the environment? a. The developed countries are concerned about protecting nature. b. Protection of the environment is vital for indigenous people and natural habitats. c. The environmental degradation caused by human activities has become pervasive and has reached a dangerous level. d. None of the above. 2. Mark correct or wrong against each of the following statements about the Earth Summit: da. It was attended by 170 countries, thousands of NGOs and many eMNCs. b. The summit was held under the aegis of the UN. hc. For the first time, global environmental issues were firmly RT lisconsolidated at the political level. d. It was a summit meeting. 3. Which among the following are TRUE about the global commons? E ba. The Earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, ocean floor and outer space C uare considered as part of the global commons. b. The global commons are outside sovereign jurisdiction. N pc. The question of managing the global commons has reflected the reNorth-South divide. d. The countries of the North are more concerned about the ©protection of the global commons than the countries of the South. e4. What were the outcomes of the Rio Summit? b5. What is meant by the global commons? How are they exploited and polluted? to6. What is meant by ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’? How could we implement the idea? 7. Why have issues related to global environmental protection become t the priority concern of states since the 1990s? o 8. Compromise and accommodation are the two essential policies n required by states to save planet Earth. Substantiate the statement in the light of the ongoing negotiations between the North and South on environmental issues. 9. The most serious challenge before the states is pursuing economic development without causing further damage to the global environment. How could we achieve this? Explain with a few examples.

O NCChEreRpTublishedVERVIEW © apter 9In this final chapter of the book we elook at globalisation, something b Globalisationthat has been referred to in many chapters of this book and textbooks of many other subjects. We begin toby analysing the concept of globalisation and then examine its causes. We then discuss at length tthe political, economic and cultural oconsequences of globalisation. Our ninterest is also in studying the impact of globalisation on India as well as how India is affecting globalisation. We finally draw attention to resistance to globalisation and how social movements in India also form part of this resistance.

136 Contemporary World Politics THE CONCEPT OF She now has an opportunity to GLOBALISATION take on a job and begin an independent career, which the Janardhan works in a call centre. women of her family had never He leaves late in the evening for dreamt of earlier. While some of work, becomes John when he her relatives are opposed, she finally decides to go ahead enters his office, acquires a new So many Nepalese accent and speaks a different because of the new opportunities workers come to language (than he does when he is that have been made available to India to work. Is that at home) to communicate with his her generation. globalisation? clients who are living thousands All three examples illustrate an notGo through dof miles away. He works all night, aspect each of what we call ewhich is actually day time for his globalisation. In the first instance newspapers Janardhan was participating in the for a week overseas customers. Janardhan is globalisation of services. and collect Ramdhari’s birthday purchases tell clippings on hrendering a service to somebody us something about the movement anything RT liswho in all probability he is neverof commodities from one part of related to the world to another. Sarika is globalisation. likely to meet physically. This is his faced with a conflict of values daily routine. His holidays also do partly originating from a new not correspond to the Indian opportunity that earlier was not available to the women in her E bcalendar but to those of his clients family but today is part of a reality that has gained wider who happen to be from the US. acceptability. C uRamdhari has gone shopping If we look for examples of the N pto buy a birthday gift for his use of the term ‘globalisation’ in real life, we will realise that it is nine-year old daughter. He has used in various contexts. Let us look at some examples, different repromised her a small cycle and from the ones that we have looked above: decides to search the market for ©something he finds affordable as ewell as of reasonable quality. He finally does buy a cycle, which bis actually manufactured in China but is being marketed in toIndia. It meets his requirements of quality as well as affordability, and Ramdhari decides to go ahead with his purchase. Last Some far mers committed year, Ramdhari on his daughter’s suicide because their crops insistence had bought her a failed. They had bought very Barbie doll, which was originally expensive seeds supplied by a manufactured in the US but was multinational company being sold in India. (MNC). Sarika is a first generation An Indian company bought a learner who has done remarkably major rival company based in well throughout her school and Europe, despite protests by college life by working very hard. some of the current owners.

Globalisation 137 Many retail shopkeepers fear This chapter has that they would lose their a series of images livelihoods if some major about political, international companies open economic and retail chains in the country. cultural aspects of globalisation, taken A film producer in Mumbai from different parts was accused of lifting the story of the world. of his film from another film made in Hollywood. NbeCEreRpTublished A militant group issued a Much of the Chinese statement threatening college stuff that comes to girls who wear wester n India is smuggled. clothes. Does globalisation lead to smuggling? These examples show us that globalisation need not always be positive; it can have negative consequences for the people. Indeed, there are many who believe that globalisation has more negative consequences than positive. These examples also show us that globalisation need not be only about the economic issues, nor is the direction of influence always from the rich to ©the poor countries. Since much of the usage tends to be imprecise, it becomes important to clarify what we mean by globalisation. Globalisation as a concept fundamentally deals towith flows. These flows could be of various kinds — ideas moving from one part of the world to another, tcapital shunted between two or omore places, commodities being traded across borders, and people nmoving in search of better livelihoods to different parts of the world. The crucial element is the ‘worldwide interconnectedness’ that is created and sustained as a consequence of these constant flows.

138 Contemporary World Politics Globalisation is a multi- While globalisation is not dimensional concept. It has caused by any single factor, political, economic and cultural technology remains a critical manifestations, and these must be element. There is no doubt that adequately distinguished. It is the invention of the telegraph, w rong to assume that the telephone, and the microchip globalisation has purely economic i n m o re r e c e n t t i m e s h a s Isn’t globalisation a dimensions, just as it would also revolutionised communication new name for imperialism? Why do be mistaken to assume that it is a between different parts of the we need a new purely cultural phenomenon. The world. When printing initially name? impact of globalisation is vastly came into being it laid the basis for the creation of nationalism. not duneven — it affects some societies So also today we should expect that technology will affect the Digital Economy more than others and some parts way we think of our personal but also our collective lives. eof some societies more than others The ability of ideas, capital, — and it is important to avoid commodities and people to move more easily from one part hdrawing general conclusions of the world to another has RT lisabout the impact of globalisationbeen made possible largely by technological advances. The without paying sufficient attention pace of these flows may vary. to specific contexts. For instance, the movement of capital and commodities will E bCAUSES OF GLOBALISATION most likely be quicker and C uWhat accounts for globalisation? wider than the movement of N pIf globalisation is about the flows peoples across different parts of reof ideas, capital, commodities, and the world. people, it is perhaps logical to ask Globalisation, however, does if there is anything novel not emerge merely because of the availability of improved © eabout this phenomenon. communications. What is Globalisation in terms of bthese four flows has taken place through much of human history. However, tothose who argue that there is something distinct about important is for people in © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc. contemporary globalisation different parts of the world to point out that it is the scale recognise these interconnections and speed of these flows with the rest of the world. that account for the Currently, we are aware of the uniqueness of globalisation fact that events taking place in in the contemporary era. one part of the world could have Globalisation has a strong an impact on another part of the historical basis, and it is world. The Bird flu or tsunami important to view contem- is not confined to any particular porary flows against this nation. It does not respect backdrop. national boundaries. Similarly,

Globalisation 139 when major economic events take place, their impact is felt outside their immediate local, national or regional environment at the global level. POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES NbeCEreRpTublished One of the debates that has been generated as a consequence of contemporary p rocesses of globalisation relates to its ongoing political impact. How does globalisation affect traditional conceptions of state sovereignty? There are at least three aspects that we need to consider when answering this question. At the most simple level, globalisation results in an erosion of state capacity, that is, the ability of government to do what they do. All over the world, the old ‘welfare state’ is now giving way to a more minimalist state that performs certain core functions ©such as the maintenance of law and order and the security of its citizens. However, it withdraws from many of its earlier welfare functions directed at economic toand social well-being. In place of the welfare state, it is the market that becomes the prime tdeterminant of economic and social priorities. The entry and the oincreased role of multinational ncompanies all over the world leads to a reduction in the capacity of governments to take decisions on their own. At the same time, globalisation does not always reduce state capacity. The primacy of the state