Internationalism Notes PDF

Related Issue 3: To What Extent Should Internationalism Be Pursued? ​ Should Canada participate / be a leader in international organizations / agreements to make the world a better place not just for Canadians but for all people? Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ​ He comes up with the idea t...

Related Issue 3: To What Extent Should Internationalism Be Pursued? ​ Should Canada participate / be a leader in international organizations / agreements to make the world a better place not just for Canadians but for all people? Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ​ He comes up with the idea that as humans, in order to reach self-actualization (full potential), specific needs must be met ○​ You cannot reach full potential until all your needs are met ​ Connected in international is humanitarianism ○​ Humanitarianism - the promotion of human welfare. ○​ The idea that Canada should do things for the good of its citizens and help them out, not to get rich or wealthy but because it’s the right then to do ​ Does Canada have a duty to help people around the world achieve their full potential? ​ There are different types of how internationalism can be pursued: ○​ 1. Liberal Internationalism ​ Healthy interactions between different countries ○​ 2. Hegemonic Internationalism ​ The dominance of one country over another ○​ 3. Revolutionary internationalism ​ Conflict within a country Types of Foreign Policy ​ 1. Unilateralism ○​ When a country takes action by itself with or without the support of international organizations ​ Ex: 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq ​ The U.S. asked for the approval to invaded Iraq but was rejected ​ They did not have approval from the UN, but still went on with the invasion ​ They acted on their own (unilaterally) ​ 2. Isolationism ○​ Isolating themselves from the rest of the world ○​ They do not get involved in any international affairs ​ Ex. The U.S. after WW1, until the bombing of Pearl Harbor (U.S. interwar years) ​ Ex. Japan before the trip of U.S Commodore Perry to Japan (Japan up until 1853) ​ U.S. in WW2 and Japan practicing the idea of self-sufficiency ​ 3. Bilateralism ○​ Agreement between just two countries ​ Ex: North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) ​ An agreement between just Canada and the U.S. ​ 4. Multilateralism  ○​ This is when more than two countries join in an organization, sign agreements, ○​ They sign agreements with common goals and hope to meet these targets, however there is little enforcement and no penalties if these goals are not met ​ Ex: UN ​ The UN has no ability to force countries to do something they don’t want to do ○​ There are two main bodies to the UN: ​ 1. General Assembly ​ Every country has a seat in the General Assembly ​ All countries are represented ​ Speeches are made, resolutions are debated and voted on ​ Nothing of importance ​ 2. Security Council ​ Where the real power is (Most powerful) ​ Within the security council there are 5 permanent members; China, France, Russia, UK (Britain), and U.S. ○​ What makes them so powerful is that these permanent members has a veto ​ Veto - They can stop any resolution by the General Assembly from passing with their single vote ○​ This has left the UN being paralyzed / powerless on many important issues, the UN ends up doing nothing because of the veto ​ 5. Supranationalism ○​ Not only an organization with multiple countries but once a country joins this organization or once they sign the agreement, they must follow these rules or they’re kicked out ○​ Members who are part of this organization can be forced to have their laws changed ​ Ex: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ​ It is a military alliance between US, UK (Britain), France, Canada, etc ​ It was formed at the beginning of the cold war ​ The U.S. was afraid that the USSR was planning to invade West Germany and make it all communist ​ The U.S. wanted it to be known that this would be war with not only the U.S. but also all of its allies; thus they created NATO ​ Key to NATO is Article 5: an attack on any member of NATO is an attack on all of them and they will all come to that countries defense ○​ This is known as collective security ​ Another issue that has emerged is to be apart of NATO, countries must spend at least 2% of its GDP on the military  ○​ Canada has struggled to meet this goal ​ Canada believes if they do this, where will they get money to buy nuclear weapons ○​ President Trump has threatened to kick someone out of NATO if they don’t reach that goal ​ U.S. argues why are they spending all this money but other countries in NATO aren’t ​ Ex: EU (European Union) ​ Created in the 1990’s ​ It is both a political and economic organization ○​ Political Nature ​ Citizen of Europe are able to travel freely across Europe ​ Not only people, but also products ​ As well as free travel (free passage without showing passport), but also healthcare, education, etc ​ You are treated like a citizen of that country ​ The Schengen area is a free travel area in Europe that allows people to move between member countries without border controls (passports) ○​ Economic Nature ​ A big step forward for the EU was the common currency, Euro ​ Advantage to this is It makes travel and trade so much easier ○​ No tariffs (completely removed) ○​ The currency is valued all the same amount but the prices are not exactly the same ​ Disadvantage to this is countries lose control of their own currency ○​ This was clearly seen in Greece in 2015 ○​ They had a massive debt and the European Union forced Greece (against their will) to make cuts to social programs, schools, hospitals, and even pensions ○​ They even controlled how much people could withdraw from banks ○​ Greece had no choice but to accept these harsh penalties  ○​ The Greek government was powerless ○​ They would have to follow these directions or get kicked out of the EU ​ If they did, their currency would have been useless ○​ Austerity - cuts to social programs ​ Ex: NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) ​ Now it's USMCA (United States-Mexico Canada Agreement) ○​ Free trade agreement between U.S., Canada, Mexico ○​ Elimination of tariff between these 3 countries ○​ Companies are free to trade within these countries (encouraged trades) ○​ Difference between EU and NAFTA is that people travelling between these 3 countries have to show their passport, to get healthcare / education / etc you have to be a citizen in the specific country, different currencies ​ Ex: WTO (World Trade Organization) ​ One of the things that made the Great Depression worst, all countries increased tariffs on imports ​ International trade was frozen, making the Great Depression worst ​ After WWII, in order to prevent a similar situation the WTO was created and it is another example of a supranational organization ​ Originally called General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ○​ This organization was created after WWII and was renamed/replace WTO ​ Countries that are apart of the WTO agree that if they have a dispute on trade with another country they will use the WTO as a neutral third party and follow the WTO's decision, even if it’s against their own national interest ​ Disadvantage: in theory they’re a neutral third party, in practice the WTO has consistently ruled in favor of U.S. transnational corporations, against developing countries, against unions ​ Ex: World Bank ​ The main purpose was to prevent another Hitler from rising ​ It’s a bank of last resort for countries in debt ​ Created when countries are desperate ​ Pro: The World Bank helps countries that need money (stabilize currency), so they don’t turn to a dictator ​ Con: The problem that has emerged is that the World Bank includes major conditions attached to these laws ○​ Major conditions: cuts to social programs, schools, hospitals, pensions, as well as the privatization of key industries (water, electricities, heat)  ​ This privatization is often done by private companies ​ These American companies then raise the price of these basic services (such as water, heat, electricity) Land Mines ​ These are explosives planted underneath the ground ​ They’re very inexpensive to use ​ The problem is, when the war is over, nobody really knows where these land mines are and it becomes very expensive and requires expertise to remove ​ Often these war torn county don’t have the money nor the expertise ​ Years later, innocent children playing in these areas are either killed or injured ​ There is a movement to permanently ban the use of landmines ​ 1997 - Canada held a conference ​ 133 countries signed what became known as the Ottawa Treaty ○​ It’s an example of multilateralism ​ Problem with this treaty major countries like Russia and the U.S. refuse to sign it ​ The countries that did sign it are still following it today NGO’S (Non-governmental organization) ​ They are not connected to any one government/country ​ Their goal is to make a better place and deal with a number of types of crisis ​ Ex. UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund), International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Doctors Without Borders, World Vision, Right To Play International Climate Change ​ It is generally accepted that there is a link between increase carbon dioxide and extreme weather patterns (droughts, floods) ​ Increase frequency of forest fires ​ The main cause of CO2 emissions are fossil fuels, oil, gas, coal ​ In the 1990’s and still today, there have been many attempts in coming up with an international agreement where all countries attempt to reduce CO2 emissions ​ 1998 - The most famous example is the Kyoto Protocol (Kyoto is a city in Japan, that’s where it was signed) ​ It was an example of supranationalism ​ It was signed by 84 countries ​ It was seen as a real breakthrough because countries agreed that they would face strict financial penalties if they exceeded CO2 targets ​ The first big problem was the U.S. ​ In the year 2000, the U.S. president was Goerge W. Bush (he’s from Texas, Texas makes a lot of oil) ​ After he won the election, he pulled the U.S. out of the Kyoto Accord  ​ He believed it was unfair and there was clear double standard ○​ One standard for developed countries (Canada, the U.S., Europe) ○​ Another separate standard for developing countries ​ They would not have to meet the standards ​ This 5.2% target did not apply with developing countries ​ After the U.S. pulled out, Canada withdrew ​ Kyoto today is died, it does not exist ​ There has been many attempts to recreate Kyoto ○​ Ex. Paris Climate Accord, Paris Peace Agreement Korea / Korean War ​ During WWII, Korea was occupied by Japan ​ After WWII, it was divided at the 38th line of latitude ​ It was split in half (North and South) ○​ The Northern part was controlled by the USSR and the Southern part was controlled by the U.S. ​ In 1949, the U.S. and the USSR withdrew from Korea but they left behind governments that were friendly to them ○​ In the North communists, and in the South democratic ​ June 1950 - North Korea invaded South Korea to unify all of Korea and make it communist ​ At the time was the Cold War, the US was following the domino theory ​ They wanted to stop the spread of communism and they feared if one country in a region fell to communism, the entire region would become communist ​ At the same time, the US saw this as the first real challenge to the legitimacy of the newly created United Nations ​ The U.S. introduced/created an U.N. resolution for the creation of a multinational force to go into South Korea to fight against the North Korean Communist ​ USSR made a mistake at the time, they have been boycotting U.N. security council meetings ○​ They were protesting against the fact that Taiwan had gotten China’s seat in the security council and the veto ​ The U.S. rushed the resolution through to avoid the USSR’s veto ​ An U.N. multinational force led by the U.S. and including other allies (including Canada, Britain, etc) was created to go into Korea ​ These were not U.N. peacekeepers, these were U.N. peacemakers ​ These become known as U.N. Peacemakers ​ On Nov 1950, U.N. troops landed in South Korea and successfully pushes North Koreans back to the 38th line of latitude ​ The U.S. made the choice to continue beyond the 38th line of latitude ​ They would unify Korea and make it all democratic ​ China saw this as a threat and sent their own soldiers into Korea to fight against the U.S. ​ It became an undeclared war fighting on Korean soil ○​ China vs. the U.S.  ​ Chinese soldiers successfully pushed back American forces back to the the 38th line of latitude ​ The American general was Douglas MacArthur ○​ He asked U.S. president at the time Harry Truman for permission to not only directly bomb China, but to use nuclear bombs ○​ President Trumen denied the request and MacArthur resigned ○​ It remained a conventional war (traditional way (guns, tanks, planes), not nuclear) ​ July 1953 - An armistice was signed​​ ​ The border remained essentially the same (North communist, South democratic) ​ Still to this day, no permanent peace agreement/treaty has ever been signed, so technically they are still at war Suez Canal ​ It was built in 1859 by the British and the French on Egyptian territory ○​ Man-made (A canal is a man-made) ​ Originally it was owned by the British and the French since they built it ​ During the Cold War / 1950’s, Egypt was led by Nassar ​ He wanted to build a hydroelectric dam (it was called the Aswan Dam) ​ It would help modernize Egypt, providing a consistent form of electricity ​ The U.S. was paying for this dam ​ The U.S. found out that Egypt was secretly buying weapons from the USSR ​ The U.S. was upset and withdrew their funding ​ Nassar needed another source of income ​ He kicked Britain and France out of Egypt ​ He took control of the Suez Canal and did not pay for it ​ Britain and France wanted to get control of the Suez Canal back ○​ Israel borders Egypt, they have been at war before ○​ Israel was and is under threat, from its neighbouring countries ○​ Britain and France encourage Israel to attack Egypt ○​ Britain and France would use this as an excuse to parachute troops back into the Suez Canal to protect it ​ October 1956 - the plan was put into effect ​ However, the problem was the USSR would side with Egypt ○​ This would force the U.S. to side with the British and the French, escalating the war and leading to the possibility of nuclear war ​ Tensions were very high ​ Canadian Prime Minister at the time was Louis St. Laurent ○​ His minister of Foreign affairs was Lester Pearson ○​ In an attempt to de-escalate the crisis, he for the first time comes up with the idea that the U.N. should create an army of peacekeepers from neutral countries to go into warzones and separate the 2 warring sides, so that they can negotiate a peace treaty ​ The U.N. resolution passed, this was the first time the idea of U.N. peacekeepers emerged  ​ They were sent to Egypt and de-escalated the situation ○​ They successfully resolved the crisis and most importantly helped to avoid nuclear war ○​ The final peace treaty included Egypt would keep the Suez Canal but would have to pay Britain and France for it ​ 1957 - Lester Pearson won the nobel peace prize for creating U.N. peacekeepers ​ 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, U.N. peacekeepers were a major icon and a major success for the U.N. ​ However in the 1990’s, the role, legitimacy and the effectiveness of U.N. peacekeepers began to be questioned ○​ There was a failure in Rwanda and later on and still today a failure in Sudan of U.N. peacekeepers failing to stop genocides ​ Rules for U.N. peacekeepers to enter a warzone are very strict ○​ 1. They cannot get involved in a country’s domestic affairs ​ Cannot get involved in a country’s sovereignty ○​ 2. U.N. peacekeeper must be invited by both sides ​ If one side refuses, the U.N. peacekeeper will not go ○​ 3. U.N. peacekeepers can only fire their weapons in self defense ​ If they are directly fired upon ○​ 4. U.N. peacekeepers must maintain neutrality at all times ​ They cannot take a side Written Final is on Related Issue 2 & Related Issue 3