global systems

• International Monetary fund (IMF) - international corporation that aims to secure financial stability , facilitate international trade , promote unemployment , reduce poverty
• The World Bank - global institution , gives out loans for development or relief
• Bilateral Aid - money sent from one country to another with the intention of providing help to a country to need
• disaporas - groups of migrants living in another country
• interdependence is the idea that nations depend on each other economically , politically , socially and environmentally
• examples of interdependence:

  • Ukraine conflict (2022-) , major exports of grain , shortage of food in Egypt , impact on fuel prices
  • Suez Canal blocked (2021) , caused global supply chain issues = shortages of goods
• there are unequal flows in:

  • people
  • money
  • technology
  • ideas
• interdependence can often lead to issues such as unequal flows
• unequal flows of people:

  • migrants occurs from LIC to HIC
• benefits of country that migrants are flowing to:

  • migrants become intertwined in work forces and do often unwanted jobs
  • states that are home to large diaspora populations often have strong ties with diaspora's country origin
• benefits of country that people are flowing from:

  • workers send remittances to home country , help economy grow
  • those fleeing from conflicts or poor quality may have a better life in countries they move to
• problems with country that people are flowing to:

  • host country can dependent on migrant workers
  • unequal flows can cause overpopulation - pressure on services such as healthcare and migrants 'taking' jobs
• problems with people are flowing from:

  • source countries may become dependant on migrants remittances
  • migration can lead to underpopulation
  • migrants more desperate for work = susceptible to exploitation
• majority of money flows into LIC are FDI , aid , remittances while the flows into HICs are FDI and profit from product sales
• Google pay little tax as they have complex systems to avoid tax
• China is a growing power in tech

  • digital economy accounting for 30% of its GDP (2x since 2008)
• unequal flows of technology:

  • histroically majority of flows within HICS - NO demand for tech in LICS
  • HICS wish to invest in LICS due to benefits so tech that makes capital gains flows to LICS
• unequal flow of ideas:

  HICs dictate ideas of how countries should be run and how trade should be carried out. Have more money , more power over LICs
• IMF and World Bank reinforce unequal power relations between countries rather than providing a level playing field.

  • They attach loan conditions such as deregulation , privatisation
  • don't take into account receiving countries state of economy
• World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been criticised for widening the gap between LIC and HIC. Said to be biased
• WTO is 'biased' because:

  • don't represent developing countries
  • protection of HIC agriculture but pressure for LIC to open markets to international produce
  • high import duties and quotas in HIC , reduces import from developing countries
• USA withdrawn from 2016 Paris Climate agreement
• UN set up in 1945
• political interdependency

  countries are dependant on each other to solve issues that cannot be addressed by just one country e.g 2015-2016 migrant crisis where EU countries had to work together to support refugees from conflict in Syria
• environmental interdependency

  every country in the world is dependant on the rest of the world to look after the environment - e.g 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion in Ukraine. Radiation from explosion lead to increase in cancers in Ukraine , Russia and Belarus
• social interpdendence

  greater connections between people living in different countries creates social interdependence between the countries e.g 2015 - 244 million migrants worldwide.
• economic interdependence

  countries rely on each other for economic growth e.g oil is produced by one group of countries and consumed by another
• how does interdependence create inequality?

  it brings more wealth to developed countries than less developed countries and to richer people. Flows of people , money , ideas and technology are unequal
• why are flows of people unequal?

  migrations occurs from low income countries to high income countries. more people leave than enter low income countries
• benefits of unequal flows of people

  • migrants take up jobs that nobody wants to do in host country e.g 44% of cleaning workforce in London are ethnic minorities
  • area that are home to large diaspora population often have strong geopolitical ties with diaspora's country origin e.g UK and India
  • remittances - $15 billion returned back to India from UAE
• problems with unequal flows of people

  • overpopulation - pressure on healthcare and education in host country - racism
  • brain drain
  • migrant workers sometimes forced to work in dangerous conditions for little people - e.g 2022 Qatar , many died building Fifa World Cup stadium
• benefits with unequal flows of money

  • foreign direct investment to source country
  • FDi - foreign companies and countries can take advantage of cheap raw materials and low labour costs , host country benefit from foreign capital
  • foreign aid can be used to improve living standards after disaster
• problems with flows of money

  • foreign aid can cause dependance , governments get no incentive to improve their own countries
  • foreign aid an find its way to armed groups and fun conflict - FDI in agriculture can lead to peasant farmers getting evicted to create larger plantations
  • companies may pressure governments of less developed countries to pass laws that make it cheaper to invest there e.g weakening working conditions laws
• what is Neo-liberalism?

  Economic ideology emphasizing free markets and limited government intervention.
• what has Neo-liberalism lead to?

  increased trade
• problems with unequal flows of technology

  • injustice - repressive governments of less developed countries have used weapons technology sold to them by developed countries to stop protests from their own people
  • inequality - countries with latest technology can make products cheaply and have better access to information
• how does globalisation make some countries more powerful than others?

  developed countries can drive global systems to their own advantage - have lots of control over global economy and political events

  • less developed countries have limited power and can only respond to global economic and political events