Global Politics

Cultural regions:
Clash of Civilizations?

NOTE: The information in the table below is extremely generalized; students should be aware that there are a large number of exceptions among the countries within each cultural region. For more information on the categories and concepts on those pages, see the Comparative Politics page.

Region	Era of independence	Status of democracy	Level of development	Common cultural traits (religion and language/ethnicity)
Jan. 13   Western industrial	1000s-1870s	Established	Advanced	Secular, Catholic, Protestant; Latin & Germanic
Jan. 15   Slavic-Orthodox	1200s-1990s	Emerging	Uneven	Atheist (?), Orthodox; Slavic
Jan. 20   Latin America	1810s-1820s	Semi- established	Uneven	Catholic; Spanish, Port., Indigenous
Jan. 22   South and East Asia	1860s-1950s	Varied	Advanced / Uneven	Hindu, atheist, Muslim, Buddhist; Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, etc.
Jan. 27   Arabic-Turkic-Islamic	1920s-1970s	Weak	Uneven	Muslim; Arabic, Turkic, Farsi, Urdu, etc.
Jan. 29   Africa	1950s-1970s	Weak	Backward	Traditional, Christian, Muslim; French, English, Indigenous

Topics

Jan. 27   Introducing Globalization and Global Issues

• Aspects and characteristics of globalization
• Advantages and disadvantages of globalization
• Globalization vs. state sovereignty
• Supporters and critics of globalization

PART ONE: Conflict and Security

Feb. 3-5   Weapons Proliferation and Conflict

• Definition of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
• History of nuclear weapons proliferation: U.S., USSR/Russia, Great Britain, France, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, N. Korea (?)
• WMDs and "rogue states": Iraq, Iraq*, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North Korea, Cuba
• Rationale for WMDs: security and prestige
• Former nuclear states: South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan
• Key arms control treaties: LTBT, NPT, BWC, CWC, SALT, ABM, START, CTBT

ALSO SEE: Nuclear proliferation ~ (interactive maps)

Feb. 10-12   Nationalism

• Ethnic nationalism vs. civic nationalism
• Functions of nationalism: identification, etc.
• Negative aspects of nationalism: imperialism, etc.
• Challenges to nationalism: self-determination taken to extreme, etc.
• Case studies:
  Yugoslavia -- A multi-national state breaking apart.
  Israel-Palestine -- Two nations claiming the same state territory.
  Kurdistan -- A nation without a state (occupied by Turkey, Iraq, Iran, & Syria).

Feb. 17-19   Human Rights

• U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948):
  1st generation -- Civic-political (no torture, exile, etc.)
  2nd generation -- Social-economic (unions, decent living stds., free education, etc.)
  3rd generation -- Solidarity (global redistribution??)
• Criticisms of U.N. human rights record: Weak enforcement, etc.
• Regional human rights implementation in Europe (ECHR) and the Americas (IACHR).
• Issues: FGM, Sovereignty and impunity (ruthless dictators), Western imperialism (?)
• Universal standards vs. cultural relativism
• U.S. foreign policy -- Presidents Wilson, F. Roosevelt, Carter, Clinton

Feb. 24-26   Peacekeeping and Peacemaking

• Alternative approaches to security:
  1) Classical (realist) -- balance of power (18th-early 20th Century)
  2) Collective security: League of Nations (1919-1936)
  3) Collective defense: rival alliance systems in Cold War (1949-1990)
  4) Common security: recognizing the security - economy link (Brandt Report, 1980)
• Conflict resolution mechanisms in U.N. Charter: Enquiry & fact-finding, mediation, etc.
• U.N. observers vs. peacekeeping vs. enforcement actions
• U.N. Security Council (5 permament members with veto power, plus 10 rotating members)
• U.N. peacekeeping operations in Former Yugoslavia, Kashmir, East Timor, Congo, etc.
• Conditions for success

PART TWO: The Global Economy

Mar. 2-4   International Trade

• Rapid expansion in world economy since World War II, esp. in East Asia
• Alternative approaches to political economy:
  Classical liberal approach: Adam Smith, David Ricardo ("comparative advantages")
  Mercantilist/nationalist approach: Friedrich List, Alexander Hamilton
  Marxist approach: Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin
  Structuralist/dependency approach (a blend of nationalism and Marxism): Raul Prebisch, etc.
• Trade policy: protection of industry (tariffs, quotas), VERs, export subsidies, etc.
• Controversies over distribution of trade benefits among economic sectors, regions, and classes
• Values dilemma: child labor, environmental protection, etc.
• Bretton Woods institutions: IMF, World Bank, WTO (replaced GATT)
• Foreign policy: power and peace (hegemonic stability theory)
• Nationalist resistance to international trade (left AND right)

SPRING BREAK

Mar. 16-18   International Capital Flows

• 19th Century international finance: gold standard
• Post World War I crises: collapse of gold standard
• Post World War II stability under Bretton Woods system
• Dollar crisis (1969-), oil crisis (1973-), debt crisis (1982-), East Asian financial crisis (1997-)
• Types of private capital flows: FDI, loans, etc.
• Asian Tigers ("Four dragons"): South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore
• Issues: debt restructuring, IMF conditionality, foreign aid
• Policies: correcting balance of payments deficits via budget austerity, devaluation, etc.
• Regulation of international finance? Protesters vs. neoliberals ("Race to the bottom"?)

Mar. 23-25   Poverty

• Africa has the highest percent of poor; the highest number of poor live in Asia.
• Measuring poverty: problems in choosing a threshold
• Measuring global inequality: Cash Income vs. Purchasing Power Parity
• Other measures: nutrition, health, education
• Economic growth, development, and inequality
• Conditions for escaping the poverty trap and attaining a "virtuous cycle"
• Policies for sustainable development: credit, infrastructure, laws, institutions, etc.

PART THREE: Development

Mar. 30   Population and Migration

• "Age structure" and population growth: for a given fertility rate, younger societies grow faster.
• Population density and fertility rates vary by region. (See charts and maps.)
• Thomas Malthus: population growth will outpace food supply, leading to famine.
• Alternative approaches: Marxist, cornucopian, structuralist
• "Demographic transition" in Europe and North America
• Rural-to-urban migration in Third World: sprawling slums
• U.N. population conferences in 1974, 1984, and 1994 (Cairo)
• Conservative opposition in U.S. to funding birth control or abortion.
• China's one-child policy
• U.S. immigration policy; refugees

Apr. 1   Women and Development

• Patriarchy: Gender roles differentiated as humanity became civilized
• First "Development Decade" (1960s) -- U.N. Development Program
• Criticism from Third World: "Group of 77" called for "New International Economic Order."
• Greater understanding of role of women in 2nd & 3rd Development Decades -- Esther Boserup
• International Women's Year (1975) began series of conferences and new programs.
• Push for equal rights, representation of women in parliaments and cabinets
• Gradual transition from patriarchy to partnership

Apr. 6   Children

• UNICEF -- Connection between child misery and global development issues
• Child labor -- often "bonded" (Pakistan, Taiwan, Morocco, Colombia, Madagascar, U.S.A.)
• Child prostitution (Brazil, India, Thailand)
• Child soldiers (Afghanistan, Chechnya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, etc.)
• Child beggars, pickpockets (Peru), drug addicts (Colombia), garbage scavengers (Philippines)
• Child mortality -- declining rate, but still 1/3 of all deaths
• Convention on Rights of the Child (1989) -- U.S. did not ratify
• Transition to market economies and breakdown of families (?)
• NOTE: Countries listed above are examples cited in the textbook or lectures, and aren't necessarily the worst cases.

Apr. 8   Health

• WHO -- Damage due to undernutrition can be permanent
• Overnutrition in rich countries leads to heart disease, colon cancer, etc.
• AIDS -- mostly heterosexual transmission in Third World; ignorance, fear, shame
• Cholera -- new strains resist antibiotics; related to poor sanitation (Peru 1991!)
• Drugs -- heroin, cocaine/crack, tobacco
• Community health education programs for new mothers
• Immunization campaigns -- Smallpox eradicated in 1977, Polio soon?

Apr. 20   Natural Resources

• Dilemma between sovereignty and resource dependence: Cooperation or conflict?
• Nonrenewable resources are prone to conflict if supply is finite.
• Renewable resources can be prone to conflict if consumption exceeds regeneration.
• Boundary resources are less conflict prone because of principle of sovereignty.
• Transboundary resources are more prone to conflict because of overlapping sovereignty claims.
• Renewable, Boundary resources (e.g., forests) -- Debt for nature swaps in Costa Rica (& Brazil?)
• Renewable, Transboundary resources (e.g., fish) -- Canada vs. Europe; U.N. Law of Sea
• Nonrenewable, Transboundary resources (e.g., water ?) -- Turkey, Syria, Iraq
• Nonrenewable, Boundary resources (e.g., oil) -- Iraq, Kuwait; Does U.S. military presence in Mideast artifically reduce cost of energy?
• Is a petroleum-based economy consistent with sustainable development?

PART FOUR: The Environment

Apr. 27   Atmosphere; Wildlife Conservation

• Global warming: mainly due to CO2 (but mixed evidence acc. to Pat Michaels)
• Depletion of the ozone layer: mainly due to CFCs
• Acid rain (mainly due to sulfur in coal smoke): less in U.S. now, more in China
• U.N. conferences at Stockholm, Rio de Janeiro, Kyoto, Berlin
• Alternatives: national quotas, tradable pollution "rights," or market incentives (taxes, etc.)?
• Oceans: depleted fish stocks, endangered coral reefs
• Land: critical habitats in forests & wetlands

SEE: Wildlife conservation ~ (interactive maps & photos, plus links to NGOs)

PART FIVE: Conclusion

Apr. 29   The "War on Terrorism" *

• Wide variety of terrorist movments: Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Brotherhood, Irgun (extreme Zionists), Kurdish People's Party, Tamil Tigers (Sri Lanka), ETA (Basques in Spain), Irish Republican Army, Shining Path (Peru), FARC (Colombia)
• Origins of Arab-Islamic terrorism: Failure of secular nationalism, rise of extreme puritanism
• Target of terrorism: Almost always against democracies, which are susceptible to division.
• Strategy of terrorists: Unknown; Osama bin Laden called for destruction of Western Civilization.
• Tactics of terrorists: Conceal identity of perpetrators so as to instill confusion, fear, and despair.
• Misleading stereotypes of terrorists: Sentimental (dovish): they're just misguided reformers vs. Hysterical (hawkish): they're despicable criminal thugs.

ALSO SEE: War on terrorism debate ~ (class survey, chronology, links to articles)

Apr. 29   Future Prospects

• Alternatives to addressing global problems:
  1) World government -- Gradual transition or all at once? Loose federation? WTO as a model?
  2) Regionalism -- NAFTA, APEC, EU, etc.
  3) Decentralization -- Separatism in Canada (Quebec), Russia (Chechnya), etc. NGOs!
  4) Status quo -- "Whatever"...
• Hope and concern over interconnected problems of poverty, environmental destruction, etc.
• Civic action -- Equal Exchange -- Just say no to "Juan Valdez"!

Research / information links

Newspapers, magazines

Washington Post

New York Times

The Wall Street Journal

The Washington Times

Christian Science Monitor

Time magazine

The Economist (British)

Financial Times (British)

Associated Press

Reuters

Broadcasters

MS-NBC -- includes Newsweek magazine

Cable News Network

PBS ~ Public broadcasting, funded by viewers like you.

C-SPAN

The BBC ~ Public broadcasting, funded by British taxpayers.

Government sources

CIA World Factbook ~ Everything you ever wanted to know about every country.

U.S. State Department

United Nations

U.N. Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

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Any questions?

I have tried to make this web site as accessible and comprehensive as possible, to help students learn what is most important in this course. Nevertheless, there are bound to be a few issues that need clarification, both in terms of how the course is run and in terms of the subject material itself. Whatever it is that you need to ask, you are always welcome to contact me via e-mail (e-mail) or telephone (???-????), or to stop by and visit during my office hours (see above). Please don't wait until the last minute before coming to talk to me!