1. The Nature of World Order

The meaning of World Order
The way in which global events are influenced by major developments in political climate
Maintaining international peace and security
World order changed drastically with the fall of the USSR in 1991, suddenly stable world powers USA and USSR no longer engaged in Cold War and international power balance changed
International law attempts to promote world order

The need for world order
Interdependence and global threats
Increasing globalisation leads to greater interdependence between nations for trade etc
As seen through the global financial crisis, poor economic stability has a ripple effect across the globe
Civil war, terrorist attacks, disease epidemic etc can upset the rest of the world
Interdependence beneficial as it encourages cooperation with international law so things don’t go wrong for local economies

Development of world order over time
State Sovereignty
Originated in Treaty of Westphalia
1648
Ended wars
Beginning of concept of states and diplomacy
Multilateralism
When states act together for a common purpose
Driven by need to survive
From 17th Century onwards states developed a desire to reduce conflict
Didn’t work very well initially
Concert of Europe 1815 at end of Napoleonic Wars to prevent future European conflict
New, more destructive weaponry developed in 19th Century which provoked conscription and the Hague Conventions which prohibited certain weapons
WW1
Largely destroyed many fragile alliances/stability
World divided into two main camps; the Allies (Britain-led) and the Central Powers (German-led)
Many parties viewed the atrocities of the war as obscene and resulted in the creation of the League of Nations in 1919
Main aim = to prevent war
Policy of collective security
League had some successes in 1920s but was rendered useless because of it’s lack of powerful nations
It’s failure = Roosevelt and Churchill making the Atlantic Charter which lead to creation of UN

The nature of conflict: interstate and intrastate
Interstate

Intrastate

Access to resource as a source of conflict
States resort to violence to get what they want/need
War used to be seen globally as a legitimate way of achieving political ends
Technological advances in warfare changed that
Competition over resources = regional and global instability
In Congo people are being exploited to mine blood diamonds to fuel conflicts
USA
Has many military bases around the world
Economy dependent on energy and fossil fuels so they have bases to protect their interests in Middle East where the oil is
It was their desire to protect their oil interests in Kuwait that led to the Gulf Wars; without their political will, no action would have happened
Other
China similarly is acquiring gas, coal, iron ore, oil and food sources in Australia and Africa
In the future the struggle for resources will be worse with an increasing population and fluctuation in climate
Will probably create more refugees which causes a myriad of problems

2. Responses to World Order

The roles of;
The nation state and state sovereignty
States are the building blocks of world order
State sovereignty means that states have the right to self-govern without outside interference
State sovereignty also means states are able to make and sign international agreements and treaties
International law is based on treaties and UN Charter
States can use their sovereignty to either enforce international law inside their borders (or pressure other countries) or they can use it to keep other countries from trying to enforce international law on them by them getting involved in their affairs
State sovereignty is enshrined in the UN Charter, it forms the basis of all international law
The UNSC can override state sovereignty but all the permanent members need to agree which is hard because of differing political agendas etc
Countries are unwilling to do