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WORLD POLITICS

CH. 1 – THE END OF BIPLOARITY

What was the Soviet System?
 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) was formed after the socialist revolution of 1917
in Russia. This revolution was based on socialist ideology and opposed capitalism. This was the
biggest revolution in human history to abolish private property and to established principle of
equality. Only communist party can rule over the country and no other party are allowed. The
economy was controlled and planed by state.
 After the second world war, East European countries were liberated from Fascist forces by
Soviet army. These countries joined USSR on basis of socialist ideology. This group of countries
having same economic system are called as second world or the socialist block. This block has
signed Warsaw pact, a military alliance headed by the USSR.
 The Soviet Union was most developed country after USA at that time. It had a complex
communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron and steel, machinery production
and good transport sector, that connect all areas. It has domestic consumer industry that
produced everything from pins to car but the quality did not match western capitalist countries.
 The standard of living is minimum and government give subsidy to basic necessities including
health, education and other welfare scheme. There was no unemployment. All the resources like
land and productive assets were owned by State.
 Lack of democracy and the absence of freedom of speech makes the life of citizen very difficult.
Jokes and cartoons over political leadership were banned. One party system represented by
Communist party has controlled all institution and was unaccountable to the people. The people of
fifteen countries refused the leadership of USSR and managed their own cultural affairs because
they are neglected by the leadership of USSR and Russia dominated everything.
 The Soviet Union has enough weapon to match with US but these weapons are behind Western
technology. The Western technology has invested in better infrastructure including political and
economic development. In 1979, the Soviet invaded Afghanistan which has weakened their system.
Productivity and technology have fallen behind the western. This led to shortages in all consumer
goods. Food imports increased every year. The soviet economy declined after 1970s.

Gorbachev and The Disintegration

 Mikhail Gorbachev become general secretary of the communist party of Soviet Union in 1985. To
compete with West, reforms were necessarily. In USSR, Gorbachev decided to normalize relations
with USA and establish reforms in USSR. The people of the East European country started to
protest against their own government and Soviet control. Gorbachev did not react to these
protest and communist system started collapsing.
 Gorbachev initiated the policies of economic and political reform and democratization within the
country. The reforms were opposed by leaders within the Communist party. A coup from
communist party tried to established communist formula once again but the people had tasted
freedom and didn’t want communist style of living. Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero in
opposing this coup. Yeltsin won the popular election of Russian republic and the power started
shifting from communist to republic specially in Eastern Europe which was earlier controlled by
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USSR on military basis. The Central Asian republic did not ask for independence and wanted to
remain within the Soviet federation. Under the leadership of Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus
declared themselves as independent countries. Capitalism and democracy were followed.
 After the disintegration of USSR, the formation of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
came as a surprise to the other republics. Russia was now accepted as a successor state of the
Soviet Union. It was given seat in UN security Council in place of Soviet Union. It was the only
nuclear state after cold war and carried out some nuclear disarmament measures with the US.
The old Soviet Union was thus dead and buried.

Why Did The Soviet Union Disintegrate?

 How a strong communist structure fall? The foremost reason for this disintegration is the internal
weakness of political and economic institutions of USSR. Economic stagnation for many years led
to severe consumer shortages. Why this system become weak? Because the Soviet economy used
much of its resources in maintaining a nuclear and military arsenal. This led to a huge economic
burden.
 At the same time, ordinary citizens became more knowledgeable about the economic advance of
the West. They could see the disparities between their system and the systems of the West.
They were told that their system was better than the western but the reality gave them a
psychological shock.
 The Communist Party that had ruled the Soviet Union for over 70 years was not accountable to
the people. People got alienated by slow and stifling administration. Rampant corruption and the
inability of the system to correct mistakes. The communist party bureaucrats gained more
privileges than ordinary citizens.
 Gorbachev promised to cope up with these reforms and tried to catch up the western technology.
But failed to achieve the solution of the problem. This is because when Gorbachev loosened the
system and carried out the reforms, the prediction of the people got higher and they were not
satisfied with these reforms. The members of the communist party were also not satisfied with
the reforms carried out by Gorbachev. They felt that their power and privileges were eroding and
Gorbachev was moving too quickly. In this ‘tug of war’, Gorbachev lost support on all sides and
divided public opinion. Those people also left who supported Gorbachev earlier.
 Another reason was the rise of nationalism in the various republics including Russia and Baltic
countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Georgia etc. proved to be the final and immediate cause for
the disintegration. Internal struggle between the people and communist govt. caused rise of
nationalism. The reforms of Gorbachev also increased the feelings of nationalism people revolted
against the communist govt.

Consequences of Disintegration
 Disintegration has ended the cold war confrontations. The capitalist system has overruled the
socialist system of economy. The arms race and competition of military and nuclear weapons was
also ended and tried to establish new peace.
 Secondly the nature of world politics was also changed. Only two possibilities were in scene –
either the remaining superpower will dominate world politics and create unipolar world or
different countries or group of countries plays important role or multipolar system of politics will
be established. As a result USA, the capitalist economy became sole power and aided world’s
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financial institutions. Institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund became
powerful advisors to all these countries since they gave them loans for their transitions to
capitalism.
 The end of Soviet bloc means the emergence of new countries. The East European countries joined
NATO. The central Asian countries want to use their advantage of geographical situation and have
good relation with the Russia, US, China and the west. Many new countries joined the international
system with different in ideology.

Shock Therapy in Post-Communist Regime

 The socialist-communist formula was declined and changed into democratic-capitalist system. The
countries like Russia, Central Asian and East European are influenced by World bank and IMF to
change their model is called as shock therapy.
 All the countries are required to shift their economy to capitalist which means to uproot USSR
system totally. Privatization of all the state property was done and ownership was opened for the
public. Collective farms were replaced by private farming and capitalism in agriculture.
 Shock therapy also involved a drastic change in the external orientation of these economies.
Development was based on trade rather than domestic consumption. Foreign Direct investment
was encouraged for the regulation of currency.
 All the countries from Soviet bloc have their separate economic system which was linked with the
western countries. Now the whole world is guided and controlled by western economic system
through many financial institutions.

Consequences of Shock Therapy

 The shock therapy has ruined the economies of post USSR countries rather than their
development. The large state controlled industrial units were to be sold to private ownership in
Russia. Many industries were restructured according to market force and this led to
disappearance of these industries. This was the largest garage sale in history as valuable
industries were sold at throwaway prices. Most citizens sold their vouchers in black market for
the need of money.
 The value of Russian currency Ruble falls down. The rate of inflation was so high that people lost
all their savings. The collective farm system disintegrated leaving people without food security,
and Russia started to import food. The GDP of Russia in 1999 was less than what was in 1989.
 The old system of social welfare was systematically destroyed. The withdrawal of government
subsidies pushed large sections of the people into poverty. A mafia emerged in most of these
countries and started controlling many economic activities. Russia was divided between rich and
poor regions. There was now great economic inequality between people.
 The democratic institution was not given more attention in these countries and followed the
Russian formula of strong president with weak parliament. Central Asian countries became
authoritarian with president having more powers. The president of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
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appointed themselves to power for the next ten years. An independent judiciary was yet to be
established.
 Most of the economies of these countries revived after ten years of disintegration and the reason
was the export of natural resources like oil, natural gas and minerals. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are major oil and gas producers. Other countries were
benefitted due to income from pipelines crossing their territories and they gets rent for this.

Tensions And Conflicts

 Most of the countries faced internal and external conflicts just after the disintegration. In
Russia, two republics, Chechnya and Dagestan, have had violent separatists’ movements. Military
bombing was used to control this movements causing human right violations.
 Tajikistan, Azerbaijan had witnessed the civil wars within their provinces. In Georgia, the demand
for independence has come from two provinces, resulting in a civil war. Many new countries like
Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia were fighting over the river waters. All this has led to
instability, making life difficult for the ordinary citizen.
 The central Asian republics have large deposits of hydrocarbons giving them the economic benefit.
Central Asia has also become a zone of competition between outside powers and oil companies.
After 9/11, USA established some military bases and paid these countries for using their lands.
The countries like USA, China, India and Pakistan wants to established good relations with these
countries because of oil resources.
 In eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two, with the Czechs and the Slovaks
forming independent countries. But the conflict takes place in Yugoslavia in 1991 which was
resulted in four new countries of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbs opposed
this which was followed by non-serbs massacre.

India And Post-Communist Countries

 India has good relations with the post-communist countries but have strongest relations with
Russia. Indo-Russian relations are embedded with trust and common interest. Indian heroes have
household in post-communist countries. Indian Hindi songs were heard by the people of these
countries.
 Russia and India share a vision of a multipolar world order. Multi polar world means coexistence
of several powers in the international system with collective response and also negotiated
settlements of international conflicts. More than 80 bilateral agreements have been signed
between India and Russia as part of the Indo-Russian Strategic Agreement of 2001.
 India stands to benefit from its relationship with Russia on issues like Kashmir, energy supplies,
sharing information on international terrorism and balancing its relations with China. Russia stands
to benefit from this relationship because India is the second largest arms market for Russia. The
Indian military gets most of its hardware from Russia. Since India is oil importing country, Russia
has assisted it during the oil crisis.
 India is seeking to increase its energy imports from Russia and the republics of Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan. Cooperation with these republics includes partnership and investment in oilfields.
Russia is important for India’s nuclear energy plans and assisted India’s space industry by giving
the cryogenic rocket when India needed it. Russia and India have collaborated on various scientific
projects.
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CH 2 ALTERNATE CENTRES OF POWER

EUROPEAN UNION
 Second world war has shattered the conditions and economies of the European countries.
European countries decided to reconstruct their economies and rebuilt their structures with
mutual understanding and cooperation.
 After world war ll, Cold war has integrated the European countries for first time. The USA gives
massive financial aid to European countries to reconstruct their economies, was called as Marshall
Plan. Acc. to this plan, European Economic Cooperation (EEC) was established in 1948 to cooperate
each other on trade and economic issues.
 The Council of Europe was established in 1949 for the political cooperation between European
countries. The Economic developing process was continued by forming European Economic
Community in 1957. Finally in 1992, after the collapse of USSR, European Union was established
on the issues of foreign and security policy, home affairs and creation of single currency.
 The European union has established political relations along with the economic issues. The EU
acts as a nation rather than a organisation. The EU has its own flag, anthem, founding date,
currency but did not agree upon a single constitution. They also deal upon same foreign and
security policies. It has also given special reservations to new joining countries.
 The EU has economic, political and diplomatic, and military influence. The EU is the world’s biggest
economy with a GDP of more than $12 trillion in 2005, slightly larger than that of the United
States. Euro has threatened the dominance of US Dollar. The trade is also thrice of US. They
have influenced the markets of Asia and Africa.
 The EU has also influenced the policies of WTO and UNO. The EU also has political and diplomatic
influence. Two EU countries, France and Britain, holds permanent seats in UN security council. It
has also forced UN on some US related issues like Iran’s Nuclear programme. It has better
diplomatic dialogue with China over human rights and environmental degradation.
 On military basis, EU has second largest military after USA. Two EU members, France and Britain
have 550 nuclear warheads jointly. It is also the world’s second most important source of space
and communications technology.
 In some cases, the EU members have their personal foreign and defence relation with other
countries. For eg. Britain (PM Tony Blair) and many newly joined EU countries supported US on
Iraq invasion issue but Germany and France opposed this. Denmark and Sweden have not accepted
Euro as its currency. Britain wants itself to move out. This limits the ability of the EU to act in
matters of foreign relations and defence.

ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN)

 This region, as in world map has suffered the economic and political consequences of repeated
colonialism by European countries and Japan. This region was facing serious problem of poverty
and economic backwardness and also to join any superpower or remain aloof. The NAM was also
unable to influence these countries.
 ASEAN was established in 1967 by five countries- Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand by signing Bangkok declaration. The objectives of ASEAN were primarily to
accelerate economic growth through social and cultural development. A secondary objective was
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to promote regional peace and stability based on the rule of law and the principles of the United
Nations Charter. Later on, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Combodia joined ASEAN.
 The relations of ASEAN countries were not formal and they had respect for the sovereignty of
other nations. ASEAN is the one of the fastest growing economy of the world. In 2003, besides
economic objectives, ASEAN has formed three pillars named as, ASEAN Security Community,
ASEAN Economic Community, and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
 The ASEAN Security community was based on that border dispute will not convert into armed
confrontations. By 2003, ASEAN countries promised to uphold peace, neutrality, cooperation, non-
interference and respect for national difference and sovereign rights. The ASEAN regional forum
(ARF), established in 1994 for the coordination of security and foreign policy.
 ASEAN is less growing economy as compare to the US, Japan, China etc. The objective of ASEAN
Economic community is to create common market and production base within ASEAN countries.
The Economic community would also engage in solving economic disputes and creating free trade
area for investments. The US and China are also approaching ASEAN countries for free economic
trade.
 ASEAN is rapidly growing into a very important regional organisation. Its vision 2020 has defined
an outward looking role for ASEAN in international community. ASEAN wants to rebuild its
economies and to resolve economic disputes. Some disputes are solved by these efforts like the
Combodian conflicts, the east Trimor crisis, etc. The ASEAN countries meets annually to discuss
East Asian cooperation.
 The growing economies of ASEAN has attracted the developing economies of China and India.
India, during the cold war did not give attention towards ASEAN countries but in recent times, it
had approached towards these countries. India has signed FTAs with two ASEAN countries,
Singapore and Thailand. It is the only regional association in Asia that provides a political forum
where Asian countries and the major powers can discuss political and security concerns.

THE RISE OF THE CHINESE ECONOMY

 The third alternate centre of power is China. China’s economy has been growing fast since 1978
and been projected that it will overtake US as the world largest economy in 2040. China has been
the fastest growing economy since the reforms first began there. China has been the Economic
icon in East Asia and hence influenced all the ASEAN countries. The factors other than economy,
like population, land mass, resources, regional location of China adds to its powers.
 People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949 after communist revolution led by Mao. Its economy
was based on Soviet Model. China also followed the Capitalist model of economy. The model was
to create a state-owned heavy industries sector from the capital accumulated from agriculture.
Foreign exchange was shortened and technology was not easy to buy. China decided to substitute
imports by domestic goods.
 This capital model brings industrial revolution in China. Employment and welfare were given to all,
Education system was reformed, Health facilities were improved in Chinese development. Economy
was growing with the rate of 5-6% but it was not sufficient for rapid growing population.
Agriculture production was not sufficient to meet the needs of industrialisation. China’s industrial
production was not good and though international trade and per capita income was very low.
 Chinese economy was reformed in 1970s when China ends its political and economic isolation and
establish relations with the USA in 1972. Four modernisations (agriculture, industry, science and
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technology and military) were implemented in 1973. Open door policy was initiated in 1978 by Deng
Xiaoping, for the greater productivity by investments of capital and technology from abroad.
 China followed its own path in introducing a market economy. They changed their economy step by
step. The privatisation of agriculture in 1982 was followed by the privatisation of industry in 1998.
Special Economic zones were set by the government, where foreign investors could set up their
business with minimum barriers.
 The new economic policies helped the Chinese economy to break from stagnation. Privatisation of
agriculture led to a remarkable rise in agricultural production and rural incomes. Rural industry
was developed with the help of rural savings. Chinese economy, including both industry and
agriculture, grew at a faster rate. SEZs have increased foreign trade. China has become the most
important destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) anywhere in the world. It has large
foreign exchange reserves that now allow it to make big investment in other countries. China
joined WTO in 2001, which further increased its foreign trade shares.
 Chinese economy has increased very fast but there are some drawbacks along with growth.
Unemployment has risen in China with nearly 100 million people looking for jobs. Female
employment and conditions of work are as bad as in Europe of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Environmental degradation and corruption have increased. There was inequality between rural and
urban population and coastal and inland public.
 But overall China has emerged as great economic power which enabled it to influence the world
economies. Its issues with the US, Japan, ASEAN and Russia were resolved with economic
considerations. The issue with Taiwan should be resolved with the help of economic negotiations.
China’s rise as a economic power is threaten to the neighbouring countries like ASEAN, India,
Pakistan etc. It has also created markets in Africa and Latin America also.

INDIA – CHINA RELATIONS

 India and China, both are economic powers in Asia. Both the countries have good relations in the
past. Various kingdoms from both sides influenced the other areas beyond borders. This influence
was political, economic and cultural. But did not overlapped each other. First time in 20th century,
they confronted with each other on economic basis.
 When India regained its independence and also China ends its communist revolution successfully,
it was hoped that both will come together to shape their future and involve in world’s trade. In
the middle, the slogan of Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai was popular. But the issue over border between
both these countries have ruined this hope. In 1962, A conflict over border in Arunachal Pradesh
and Aksai chin in Ladakh between these countries led to armed war. In 1950, China controlled over
Tibet region.
 This war in 1962 causes many military losses to India and had negative impacts over their relations
which continued till 1976 and were at lowest point. After that relations were slowly improved in
80s by change in foreign policy of China. A series of talks to resolve the border issue were also
initiated in 1981.
 After cold war, the relations between India and China were significant. Their relations now have
a strategic as well as an economic dimension. Both view themselves as rising powers in global
politics, and like to play major role in Asian Economy.
 Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China in December 1988 provided the impetus for an improvement in India–
China relations. Both the governments want to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border. They
have also signed agreements on cultural exchanges and cooperation in science and technology.
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Both the economies were growing at a very rapid rate of 30% after 1999. Bilateral trade between
India and China has increased from $338 million in 1992 to more than $18 billion in 2006. Both
countries have same policies related to International economic institutions.
 In 1998, after the successful nuclear test by India, It was assumed that the relations between
both the countries will be affected, but was wrongly interpreted. China helped out Pakistan on
nuclear basis. It had also made better military relations with Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri lanka.
Indian and Chinese leaders and officials visit Beijing and New Delhi with greater frequency, and
both sides are now becoming more familiar with each other. Increasing transportation and
communication links, common economic interests and global concerns should help establish a more
positive and sound relationship between the two most populous countries of the world.

JAPAN
 Japan is the one of the fastest growing Economy of the world. Japan has very few natural
resources and imports most of the its raw materials.
 It is the second largest economy in the world. It is the only Asian member of the G-8. It is the
tenth most populous nation in the world.
 Japan is the only nation that suffered the destruction caused by nuclear bombs.
 It is the second largest contributor to the regular budget of the UN, contributing almost 20 per
cent of the total.
 Japan has a security alliance with the US since 1951.
 Although Japan’s military expenditure is only one per cent of its GDP, it is the fourth largest in
the world.

Do you think that Japan can be considered as alternate power in world that can threaten US
hegemony? What are the agreements signed by both the countries, India and Japan, in 21 st century?
Explain in brief.

CH 3 - CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIA

WHAT IS SOUTH ASIA
 South Asia is mostly known for the rivalry between India and Pakistan. South Asia consists the countries
of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives. It is covered with Great Himalayas
in north, Indian Ocean in south and Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea in East and West respectively. China,
Myanmar and Afghanistan have also minor role in South Asia but not included in this region. The diversity
of this region is very different but geographical features are same. The cultural and linguistic features are
not much different because all these countries are the part of Indian mainland in the past.
 The political system in all south Asian countries are very different. India and Sri Lanka have successfully
operated democratic system after their independence. The democratic system has many limitations but it
is true to say that India has implemented it successfully.
 Pakistan and Bangladesh have experienced both civilian and military rule after the independence. This
situation was till the end of the cold war. After cold war democratic governments were elected under
Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. But again, military rule takes place under Parvez Musharaf. Nepal was
constitutional monarchy till 2006 and after that restoration of democracy takes place. Bangladesh and
Nepal both has initiated democratic system in later period.
 Bhutan is still a monarchy but King has initiated multi party politics which shows some sign of democracy.
Maldives was a sultanate till 1968 and after presidential form of government is initiated. In 2005 multi
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party politics was initiated by the parliament and Maldivian Democratic Party dominates the political affairs
of the country.
 There is mixed record for all these countries in the past but they have tried to initiate democratic form.
A survey in the recent past in these countries shows the support for democracy by the citizens. They think
that democracy is suitable for their country than any other ruling system. This shows that South Asian
countries are developing and competing the Western countries because it was believed that democratic
system can only be successful in developed countries. Study the table for comparison between the western
and South Asian countries and also timeline showing events in South Asia.

THE MILITARY AND DEMOCRACY IN PAKISTAN

 After framing its constitution, General Ayub Khan took over the administration of the country and got
elected later. But soon give up the office because of dissatisfaction. Again, General Yahya Khan took over
the throne. During this period, Bangladesh crisis takes place and after a war with India, East Pakistan was
freed and named as Bangladesh. After this, an elected government under the leadership of Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto came to power in Pakistan from 1971 to 1977. The Bhutto government was removed by General Zia-
ul-Haq in 1977. General Zia ul Haq faced some issues regarding democracy and once again elected
government under Benazir Bhutto was established in 1988. During this period the politics was centered
around Benazir’s party, The Pakistan People’s party and the Muslim League which last till 1999. And again in
1999 General Parvez Mushraf stepped in and removed PM Nawaz Sharif. He himself elected as President in
2001. Pakistan continued to be ruled by Army rulers and sometimes they held elections to give democratic
image.
 Several factors are responsible for the failure of stable democracy in Pakistan. The social dominance of
military and Aristocracy has overthrown elected government and established military rule. Conflicts with
India has made military more powerful. It was blamed that political parties will ruin security system because
of their selfishness. And so, the Army rule is justified. Democracy has not been fully successful in Pakistan
but Press and some human right movement are strong enough to raise public voice.
 The lack of genuine international support for democratic rule in Pakistan has further encouraged the
military to continue its dominance. The USA and other Western countries have supported Military rule in
Pakistan for their own reason. They argue that Pakistan is a Nuclear power and Also the center point of
Global Islamic Terrorism, and hence to protect nuclear weapon to not to fall in hands of terrorist groups,
Military rule is the better option than elected government.

DEMOCRACY IN BANGLADESH
 Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. It consisted of the partitioned areas of Bengal and
Assam from British India. The people of this region were forced to impose Urdu language which was mostly
spoken in West Pakistan. Bengali people protested against West Pakistan culture (Urdu language) and tried
to save their own Bengali culture and language under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. Sheikh
demanded autonomy for the eastern Pakistan.
 In 1970’s general assembly election. Awami League of Sheikh won all the seats of Eastern Pakistan secured
majority but government dominated by the West Pakistani leaders refused this victory and Sheikh Mujib
was arrested. Under the military rule of General Yahya Khan, the Pakistani army tried to suppress the mass
movement of the Bengali people. Thousands were killed by the Pakistan army. This led to a large-scale
migration into India, creating a huge refugee problem for India. India supported the demand of Bengalis
and helped them financially and militarily. This results in a war between India and Pakistan in December
1971. The war ends with the surrender of Pakistani army in Eastern Pakistan and accepting it as an
independent country named Bangladesh.
 Bangladesh drafted its constitution declaring faith in secularism, democracy and socialism. In 1975 Sheikh
Mujib shifted the parliamentary form of govt. to Presidential form and abolished all the parties except his
Awami League. This led to conflicts and tensions. Sheikh was assassinated in a dramatic manner by military
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uprising in Aug 1975. The new military ruler Ziaur Rehman, formed his own Bangladesh National Party and
won elections of 1979. He was assassinated and another military takeover followed under the leadership of
Lt Gen H. M. Ershad. The people of Bangladesh soon rose in support of the demand for democracy. Students
were in the forefront. Lt. Ershad allowed these movements and later He was elected as President for 5
years. Mass public movement forced him to step down in 1990. Elections were held in 1991 and after that
multi party democratic system was established.

MONARCHY AND DEMOCRACY IN NEPAL

 Nepal was a Hindu Kingdom in the past and then constitutional monarchy in modern period for many years.
Through this period, common people want more responsive system of government. But the King retained full
control over the government and restricted the expansion of democracy.
 After a strong pro-democracy movement, king accepted the demand of democracy in 1990. But it has many
troubles. During the nineties, the Maoists of Nepal were successful in spreading their influence in many
parts of Nepal. They believed in armed revolution against the king. This led to a violent conflict between
the Maoist guerrillas and the armed forces of the king. Some time, there was a triangular conflict among
the monarchist forces, the democrats and the Maoists. In 2002, the king abolished the parliament and
dismissed the government, thus ending even the limited democracy that existed in Nepal.
 After a massive prodemocracy struggle in 2006, the king was forced to restore the house of
representatives that had been dissolved in April 2002. The largely non-violent movement was led by the
Seven Party Alliance (SPA), the Maoists and social activists.
 Nepal’s transition to democracy is not complete. A history is created in Nepal by writing a new constitution
by its constituent assembly. Even now some people support monarchy to have link with past. The Maoist
groups have agreed to suspend armed struggle. They want overall social and economic development. But all
parties did not support on this matter. Also, India’s interference in Nepal is suspicious in future.

ETHNIC CONFLICT AND DEMOCRACY IN SRI LANKA

 Democracy was successfully implemented just after the independence in 1948. But some ethnic group
demands to secede a part from its mainland.
 After independence, the politics of Ceylon was dominated by the leaders those represents Sinhala
Community. Many Tamils migrated from India to Sri Lanka before the independence and it continued after
the independence. The Sinhala nationalist opposed this migration because they think that Sri Lanka belongs
to them only. From 1983 onwards, Tamil militants formed an organization called Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE), that fought an armed struggle against Sri Lankan army and demanded Tamil Eelam (a separate
country) for the Tamils of Sri Lanka. The LTTE controls the northeastern parts of Sri Lanka.
 This problem involves the people of Indian Origin and thus Tamil people of India pressurize Indian govt to
protect the interests of Tamil in Sri Lanka. Indian govt from time to time tried to negotiate with Sri Lankan
govt on the Tamil issue. In 1987 India directly enters into this matter and signed an agreement with Sri
Lankan govt to send troops to stabilize relations between Tamils and Sri Lankan govt. Eventually, the Indian
Army got into a fight with the LTTE. Also, Sri Lankans didn’t like the interference of India in its internal
affairs and due to this Indian Peace Keeping Forces were pulled out in 1989 without attaining objectives.
This crisis went violent. The Scandinavian countries like Norway and Iceland tried to negotiate this issue
with Sri Lanka govt.
 Apart from this controversial issue, Sri Lanka had registered considerable economic growth along with high
level of human development. Sri Lanka is one of the developing countries that successfully control the rate
of growth of population and also liberalize its economy. For many years it had the highest per capita gross
domestic product and also maintained democratic political system.

INDIA-PAKISTAN CONFLICT
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 In South Asia many internal conflicts have taken place after cold war that didn’t affect the international
community. But some major conflicts are also initiated that drew attention of the international community.
One such conflict is between India and Pakistan. Just after the independence the first conflict takes place
on the issue of Kashmir. Pakistan claimed that Kashmir belongs to them and a war takes place in 1947-48.
This results in the division of Kashmir separated by Line of control. In 1965 again a war takes place over
this issue but it was not resolved. In 1971, a war initiated between these countries over the issue of
migration of people from East Pakistan. Pakistan lost this war but Kashmir issue remained unsettle.
 India also had conflict over control of Siachen glacier and acquisition of arms. Both the countries have
initiated arms race between them which leads to acquiring nuclear weapons. When India conducted nuclear
explosion in 1998 in Pokaran, Pakistan responded within few days by carrying nuclear test in the Chagai hills.
After that both countries signed agreement over using of Nuclear weapons.
 Both the governments are suspicious of each other. The Indian government blamed Pakistan government
for initiating violent activities in Kashmir by helping Kashmiri militants with arms, Training, money and
protection to carry out terrorist strikes against India. Indian government also blamed that Pakistan has
helped Khalistani militant with arms during the period 1985-95. The spy agency ISI of Pakistan is involved
in many anti India campaign in North east, operating secretly through Bangladesh and Nepal. The Pakistan
govt in turn blamed India for fomenting trouble in the province of Sindh and Balochistan.
 India and Pakistan also have had problems over the sharing of river waters. In 1960, with the help of World
Bank they signed Indus Water treaty. There are some minor issues in this treaty over the use of water of
this river. The two countries are not in agreement over the demarcation line in Sir Creek in the Rann of
Kutch. This area is important due to sea resources.

INDIA AND ITS OTHER NEIGHBOURS

 The governments of India and Bangladesh have had differences over several issues including the sharing of
the Ganga and Brahmaputra river waters. India is also unhappy of illegal immigration of Bangladeshi people.
Bangladesh also encourages Anti India Islamic groups. Bangladesh also refuses to allow Indian troops to
move through its territory to northeastern India. It also didn’t allow India or Myanmar to export natural
gas from its territory. Bangladesh govt feels that India tries to have regional bully over use of river water.
The two countries have not succeeded in resolving their boundary dispute.
 Despites these differences, both countries also cooperate on many issues. Economic relations have improved
considerably in the last ten years. Bangladesh is a part of India’s Look East policy that wants to link up with
Southeast Asia via Myanmar. Both have cooperated over disaster management and environmental problems.
 India and Nepal have good relations as both countries allows their citizens to travel and work freely without
visas and passports. India has objected sometimes on the issue of friendship between Nepal and China.
Indian security agencies see the Maoist movement as threat to internal security by helping Naxalite
movement through Bihar to the Andhra in south. Many people think that India is interfering in Nepal’s
internal affairs. Nepal, a landlocked country is dependent on India for its foreign trade through sea routes.
Indo-Nepal relations are fairly stable and peaceful. Many issues like trade, scientific cooperation,
electricity generation have joined both the countries for better development in future.
 The relation between India and Sri Lanka have ups and downs. The issue of Tamils has made India to think
about the relations with Sri Lankan government. India signed a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka, which
strengthened relations between two countries. India’s help in post-tsunami reconstruction in Sri Lanka has
also brought the two countries closer.
 India enjoys a very special relationship with Bhutan too and does not have any major conflict with the
Bhutanese government. Bhutan govt had helped to uproot the militants in the northeastern India. India is
involved in big hydroelectric projects in Bhutan and remains the Himalayan kingdom’s biggest source of
development aid.
 India’s relation with the Maldives remain warm and cordial. In November 1988, when some Tamil militants
from Sri Lanka attacked the Maldives, the Indian air force and navy reacted quickly to the Maldives’ request
 12

to help stop the invasion. India has also contributed towards the Maldives economic development, tourism
and fisheries.
 The smaller neighbor countries are very suspicious of India’s intentions. The smaller countries fear that
India wants to be a regionally dominant. But India does not like political instability in these countries
because western powerful countries can gain influence like in case of Pakistan.
 Not all conflicts in South Asia are between India and its neighbors’. Nepal and Bhutan, as well as Bangladesh
and Myanmar, have had disagreements in the past over the migration of ethnic Nepalese into Bhutan and
the Rohingyas into Myanmar, respectively. Bangladesh and Nepal have had some differences over the future
of the Himalayan river waters.

PEACE AND COOPERATION

 For better coordination between south Asian countries, a major organization called SAARC (South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation) was formed in 1985 for multilateral means. Unfortunately, due to
persisting political differences, SAARC has not had much success. SAARC members signed the South Asian
Free Trade (SAFTA) agreement which promised the formation of a free trade zone for the whole of South
Asia.
 SAFTA was signed in 2004 and came into effect on 1 January 2006. It aims was to lower trade tariffs up
to 20%. But some neighbor countries thought that India wants to invade South Asia through commercial
means. India thinks that SAFTA is good platform for economic as well as political development. Some Indian
economists thinks that SAFTA has no worth as India has signed bilateral trade agreements with Bhutan,
Nepal, And Sri Lanka.
 The case of India and Pakistan is very complicated as both the countries have many conflicts to resolve.
These issues are barrier for the trade and economic relations. Social activists and prominent personalities
have collaborated to create an atmosphere of friendship among the people of both countries. A number of
bus routes have been opened up between the two countries. Trade between the two parts of Punjab has
increased substantially in the last five years. Visas have been more easily given.
 No region exists in a vacuum. China and the United States remain key players in South Asian politics. India
China relations have improved but China’s strategic relations with Pakistan are irritant for India. After
1991, India and China have rapidly increased their economy.
 American involvement in South Asia has rapidly increased after the Cold War. The US has had good relations
with both India and Pakistan since the end of the Cold War. The countries of South Asia mostly followed
the US development formula that is Capitalism. A large population of South Asia works in America and this
limits The US to take any step in this area.
 Now the question is that will the South Asia improve its conditions and give attention on better economic
and political relations or remains the conflict prone area and create unnecessary problems for their citizens.
Whole world is approaching South Asia for better markets and also the easy availability of natural
resources. All the countries of South Asia should grab this opportunity and develop themselves as an
economic power.
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CH 4 INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Why International Organizations?
• Can International organizations solve the problems of war and conflicts in the world? The answer of
this question is partially. In some cases, UN has failed to control war like situations but in some
cases, it represents great hope to humanity and peace. There are many views regarding the
importance of UN. International organizations cannot solve everything but helps with matters of
war and peace. They also help countries cooperate to make better living conditions for us all.

• War is the not the solution of any problem. If war like conditions emerges than they can be settled
by bilateral agreements. An international organization is not super state that its decisions are
bounded over any country. It is created by member countries itself to resolve their problems
peacefully.

• International Organizations are helpful in another way. Some issues are so challenging that they can
be solved by joint efforts only. For example, to eradicate any disease or facing natural disaster,
joint efforts are needed. All types of environment problems like increase of CFC will leads to increase
in sea level causing harm to coastal areas, needed help of all countries to solve this issue. All
countries can make efforts within their area to control pollution that is a world-wide problem.

• Now the problem arises that if all the nations agreed upon cooperating each other than who will lead,
who will bear its cost, how the benefit of cooperation be shared etc. The answer is that an
international organization will form rules and regulations that are followed by all the member
nations strictly. The organization should be transparent and all the nations will believe in its
existence. No one will cheat. After the second world war, The USA and its allies had won and it
was felt that they will fulfil their all desires and wishes powerfully. Here the importance of UN has
emerged and all the member countries agreed upon this provision.

Evolution of the UN
• The destruction of first world war encouraged the world to form an international organization to
deal with such conflicts. As a result, League of nations was formed but it failed and just after 20
years second world war takes place which was more disastrous than first one.

• The UN was founded as a successor to the League of Nations. It was established in 1945 immediately
after the Second World War. The organization was set up through the signing of the United Nations
Charter by 51 states. The UN’s objective is to prevent international conflict and to facilitate
cooperation among states. It was also aimed that all the countries should work on social and economic
development.

• In 2006, there are 192 member states in UN General assembly having one vote each and all are
independent countries. The five most powerful countries after second world war are permanent
members and constitutes UN Security council.
 14

• The Secretary general is the important representative head of UN. Antonio Guterres is the 9th
(From 1st Jan 2017) and present secretary general from Portugal. He succeeded Ban Ki Moon of
Korea.

• The UN security council and General assembly discuss on war and peace situation and differences
between member states. The UN consists of different structure and agencies. Social and economic
issues are dealt with by many agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC),
the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
among others.

Reform of The UN After the Cold War

• Reform is the continuous process and is needed in changing environment. The UN has also accepted
the path of reform in changing world. Two basic kinds of reforms face the UN: reform of the
organization’s structures and processes; and a review of the issues that fall within the jurisdiction
of the organization. Almost member countries agreed upon these reforms but they didn’t agree upon
what, how to do.

• The biggest discussion takes place over the structure and functioning of the Security Council. First
was to increase permanent and non-permanent members in Security Council specially from Asia,
Africa and South America. The US and other Western countries want improvements in the UN’s
budgetary procedures and its administration.

• On the issue of jurisdiction of UN, some countries and experts want the organization to play a
greater role in peace and security missions, while others want its role to be confined to development
and humanitarian work (health, education, environment, population control, human rights, gender and
social justice).

• The UN was established in 1945 after second world war. What were its motive and what it had
achieved in reality after cold war are mentioned below: - ► The
Soviet Union has collapsed? ► The US is the strongest power. ► The relationship
between Russia, the successor to the Soviet Union, and the US is much more
cooperative. ► China is fast
emerging as a great power, and India also is growing rapidly. ► The economies of Asia
are growing at an unprecedented rate. ► Many new countries have
joined the UN (as they became independent from the Soviet Union or former communist
states in eastern Europe). ► A whole new set of challenges confronts the
world (genocide, civil war, ethnic conflict, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate
change, environmental degradation, epidemics).
The question arises that the work of UN is satisfactory or not? And
if the answer is no then what necessary changes should be made to work better.

Reform of Structures and Processes

• In 1992, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution. The resolution reflected three main
complaints: ► The Security Council no longer represents contemporary political realities. ► Its
 15

decisions reflect only Western values and interests and are dominated by a few powers. ► It lacks
equitable representation.

• The growing demand of restructuring the UN has forced secretary general to initiate enquiry for the
reforms. The UN has proposed to increase new members in security council having following criteria:
- A major economic and military power, contributes in UN budget, large human resources, respects
human rights and democracy and should make council more representative in the world.

• The above given criteria depend on the eligibility. How should be the economic power or military power
calculated or the countries having large population are more eligible. Further more what type of
representation should a country needed to be qualified for member of Security council. May be the
seat is decided on the basis of one each from continents or the chance is given to any developing
nation.

• Some members insisted that the Veto powers of the permanent members should be abolished. This
is a very controversial issue to use Veto power since its beginning. It has ruined the sovereignty of
many nations.

• In the Security Council, there are five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. The
Charter gave the permanent members a privileged position to bring about stability in the world after
the Second World War. The main privileges of the five permanent members are permanency and the
veto power. The non-permanent members serve for only two years at a time and give way after that
period to newly elected members. A country cannot be re-elected immediately after completing a
term of two years. The non-permanent members are elected in a manner so that they represent all
continents of the world.

• Non permanent members do not have veto power. What is veto power? In taking decisions, the
Security Council proceeds by voting. All members have one vote. If all the permanent and non-
permanent members vote for any decision and any one permanent member vote against the decision
in negative member than the decision will be stalled. This negative vote is called as veto power.

• This veto power should be abolished or modify so that permanent member should not use for their
personal desire or motive. Any radical step can be taken by powerful country by using veto which can
harm the whole humanity.

Jurisdiction of the UN
 As the UN completed 60 years of its existence, the heads of all the member-states met in September
2005 to celebrate the anniversary and review the situation. The leaders in this meeting decided that
the following steps should be taken to make the UN more relevant in the changing context. ☻ Creation
of a Peacebuilding Commission ☻ Acceptance of the responsibility of the international
community in case of failures of national governments to protect their own citizens from atrocities
☻ Establishment of a Human Rights Council ☻Agreements to achieve the 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
 These are the contentious issue for the UN. There are many conflicts in the world. Which one should
be given priority is the most confusing decision for the UN? How atrocities should be handled by UN?
What types of human rights should be secured by UN? Many countries in the world are developing
and UN has to achieve its developmental goals in given circumstances. How should the terrorism and
 16

terrorist activities should be tackled? All these questions have broadened the working area of UN
and also the responsibility.

India and The UN Reforms

 India has supported the restructuring of the UN on several grounds. India also supports the
development agenda of UN because it leads to international peace and security. India also questioned
the limitation in expanding the security council and its nature of working. It favours in increasing the
members of security council for more representation.
 The number of members in security council were increased from 11 to 15 in 1965 but the permanent
members remained same. India argues of making the developing nations as permanent members so
that they can also have role in decisions of the world.
 India supports an increase in the number of both permanent and non-permanent members. The
security council has actioned many decisions of international community so it is needed to increase its
permanent members.
 India itself has promoted to be permanent member of security council. India is the second most
populous country, having largest democracy, involves in all the activities of UN, active role in UN peace
keeping force, regular financial contribution to UN etc. The country’s economic emergence on the
world stage is another factor that perhaps justifies India’s claim to a permanent seat in the Security
Council. It signifies a country’s growing importance in world affairs.
 Some countries questioned the permanent membership of India like our neighbour Pakistan. Some
countries are concerned about India’s nuclear weapons capabilities. Other countries feel that if India
is included than emerging powers like Germany, Japan, South Africa should also be accommodated.
They also feel that South America and Africa continent should be given proper representation. All
these concerns points that it is not so easy for India to be a permanent member of security council.

The UN in a Unipolar World

 Unipolar means that the hegemony holds by US after the cold war. Can UN handle the powerfulness
of US after the cold war or it is able to maintain balance between US and rest of the world. Firstly,
US stands as only super power after disintegration of USSR. US power cannot be easily checked
because Its military and economic power allow it to ignore the policies of UN.
 Secondly, within the UN the influence of US is considerable. US contribute the large amount of
financial aid to UN. The head office of UN is located in Washington which gives physical importance
to US. The US also has many nationals in the UN bureaucracy. US can stop any country damaging its
interest by using veto. The appointment of secretary general is based on the will of US.
 The UN is not therefore a great balance to the US. Although UN has tried to project many discussions
between US and rest of the world. UN tried to cope with 190 countries and their economic and social
problems with the help of US. The UN tries to modify the US policies and attitude according to the
rest of the world. Its difficult to match the power of US for rest of the world so UN provides some
space for the arguments.
 The UN is an imperfect body, but without it the world would be worse off. It is important to have an
organisation which can holds the problems of seven billion people from common stage and without any
partiality. At the same time, all the countries should support UN for their own interest and for well-
being of humanity including US.
 17

CH 5 – SECURITY IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

WHAT IS SECURITY?
 Security normally means freedom from threat. Human life is full of threat at every stage. Threats are of
different level according to the situation. The world is facing threats one or the other way. Overall if the
core values of human beings are threatened, it needs to be secured. Now the core values have different
dimensions. In this case the core values of whole nation are to be considered combinedly.
 Now the threats are classified as intense or extense. Should all threats be secured by the same authority?
If one country wants to secure its citizens, then it is chance to damage the core values of other country.
All the daily threats should be challenged by all persons.
 So, the conclusion is that security is given against those threats which leads to effect the core values of
large population. But the society always have simple meaning of threats. The biggest society is 700 crore
people of 211 countries and that is to be secured first. There are two conception of security: - Traditional
and Nontraditional conceptions.

TRADITIONAL NOTIONS: EXTERNAL

 The traditional threat to any nation is military threat that takes place in ancient times also. The source of
this danger is another country which by threatening military action endangers the core values of
sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. Normally in this threat ordinary people are targeted
to break the support. Many innocent citizens were killed and threatened.
 In this type of military action, government has three basic choices- To surrender, to prevent attack by
promising to raise cost of war and third to defend itself from attacks and also to make other forces to
turn back. Normally all countries want to avoids war. So, the security policy is concerned with preventing
war, which is called deterrence, and with limiting or ending war, which is called defence.
 The third component of traditional security is balance of power. Balance of power means when two powerful
country exists in the world and wants to influence the world with their military and economic power. This
shows that who can threat any nation. This issue is faced mostly by neighbouring countries. It is not known
that country is preparing for attacks or not. A favorable balance should be maintained between neighbouring
countries having conflicts in the past. Technological, Military and economic power should be used to maintain
balance with other countries.
 The fourth component of traditional security is alliance building. An alliance is a coalition of states that
coordinate their actions to deter or defend against military attack. Most alliance are formalized in written
treaties. Countries form alliances to increase their effective power relative to another country or alliance.
Alliances are based on national interests and can change when national interests change. For example, USA
backed Terrorists in Afghanistan against USSR and attacked them after 9/11 attack.
 The main traditional view of security is that threats from borders. No central authority can control this
situation. Inner threats can be tackled by government but outer threats are out of range. UN do not have
such powers to avoid the war like conditions between two nations. The UN is a creature of its members and
has authority only to the extent that the membership allows. So, in world politics, each country has to be
responsible for its own security.

TRADITIONAL NOTIONS: INTERNAL

 What should an authority do if there is an internal threat of violence? Traditional security also deals with
the internal security. Till second world war, the internal peace was not on priority but after the war USA
and USSR both focused on the peace within their borders. European countries never had threat within the
boundaries and they focused on external threats only.
 What type of external threats should these powerful countries faced? After second world war, world was
divided in two powerful camps. One was led by USA and the other by USSR. Both alliances had military
 18

threats from other. Some European countries worried about the violence caused by colonized people for
independence. Some of these are French fighting in Vietnam in 1950s and British fighting in Kenya in 1960s.
 Most of the countries got freedom in late 1940s and have joined the any one of cold war alliances. All the
countries worried for the cold war not to be changed in hot war. The main issue was between neighbor
countries who have joined different alliances. 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. Newly independent countries were feared of being attacked by former colonial
ruler if they have joined different alliance.
 The security challenges facing the newly-independent countries of Asia and Africa were different from the
challenges in Europe in two ways. For one thing, the new countries faced the threat of military conflict with
neighbouring countries. For another, they had to worry about internal military conflict. These countries
faced threats not only from outside their borders, but also within the boundary. They are feared more to
neighbor countries than USA or USSR. They quarreled over borders and territories or control of people
and populations.
 Internally, the new states worried about threats from separatist movements which wanted to form
independent countries. Sometimes, the external and internal threats merged. A neighbour might help an
internal separatist movement leading to tensions between the two neighbouring countries. Internal wars
now make up more than 95 per cent of all armed conflicts fought anywhere in the world. Between 1946 and
1991, The number of internal conflicts rises twelve times showing the greatest jump in 200 years. So, for
the new states, external wars with neighbours and internal wars posed a serious challenge to their security.

TRADITIONAL SECURITY AND COOPERATION

 Cooperation can limits the violence. It can ends the war and it means. War should be the last option when
a country wants to protect itself or to avoid any genocide. Also the means of war are limited in use. Armies
should avoid killing or hurting non-combatants as well as unarmed and surrendering combatants. They should
not be excessively violent. Force must in any case be used only after all the alternatives have failed.
 The most important forms of traditional security are disarmament, arms control and confidence building.
Disarmament means to give up all types of weapons. In 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the
1992 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) banned the production and possession of these weapons. More
than 155 states acceded to the BWC and 181 states acceded to the CWC. Both super powers didn’t agreed
to give up the weapons of mass destruction that is nuclear weapons.
 Arms control regulates the acquisition or development of weapons. The Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty
in 1972 tried to stop the United States and Soviet Union from using ballistic missiles as a defensive shield
to launch a nuclear attack. This treaty also stops them from large scale production of these systems.
 Number of arms control treaties were signed between USA and USSR during cold war including SALT II
and Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 was
an arms control treaty in the sense that it regulated the acquisition of nuclear weapons: those countries
that had tested and manufactured nuclear weapons before 1967 were allowed to keep their weapons; and
those that had not done so were to give up the right to acquire them. The NPT did not abolish nuclear
weapons but had limited the number of countries that could have them.
 Traditional security also accepts confidence building as a means of avoiding violence. Confidence building is
a process in which countries share ideas and information with their rivals. They tell each other about their
military intentions and their military plans. This is a way of demonstrating that they are not planning a
surprise attack. In short, confidence building is a process designed to ensure that rivals do not go to war
through misunderstanding or misperception. The traditional conceptions of security relates with the use or
threat of military forces. In traditional security, force is both the principal threat to security and the
principal means of achieving security.
 19

NON-TRADITIONAL NOTIONS
 Non traditional notions of security are beyond military threats and includes wide range of threats and
dangers. This type of security infers question that what is being secured; from what kind of threats and
the approach to security? In traditional security government should secure its territory and state. Whereas
non traditional security is expanded and includes whole mankind and called as human security or global
security.
 Human security means security of people more than state. Protecting citizens from foreign attack may be
a necessary condition for the security of state. during the last 100 years, more people have been killed by
their own governments than by foreign armies.
 All aspects of human security agreed upon the protection of individuals as a primary goal. It is said by UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan that “the protection of communities and individuals from internal violence”
is a narrow concept of human security. The broad concept of human security means that they should be
secured from hunger, disease, natural disaster, genocide and terrorism combined. In its broadest
formulation, the human security agenda also encompasses economic security and ‘threats to human dignity’.
It gives stress on Freedom from want and Freedom from fear.
 The idea of global security emerged to secure people from global warming, international terrorism, health
epidemics like AIDS and bird flu etc. No country can resolve these problems alone. For example, due to
global warming, a sea level rise of 1.5–2.0 meters would flood 20 percent of Bangladesh, inundate most of
the Maldives, and threaten nearly half the population of Thailand. Since these problems are global in nature,
international cooperation is vital, even though it is difficult to achieve.

NEW SOURCES OF THREATS

 Terrorism refers to political violence that targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately. International
terrorism involves the citizens or territory of more than one country. Civilian targets are usually chosen to
terrorise the public and to use the unhappiness of the public as a weapon against national governments or
other parties in conflict. The classic cases of terrorism involve hijacking planes or planting bombs in trains,
cafes, markets and other crowded places. Terrorism was paid more attention after the 9/11 attack but it
has roots in past also. The terror attacks have been attempted in Middle East, Europe, Latin America etc.
in the past.
 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. What right should be considered as universal right is
a question of conflicts. Since the 1990s, events such as Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the genocide in Rwanda,
and the Indonesian military’s killing of people in East Timor have led to a debate to stop human rights
abuses. Some people argues that international community should take up arms to defence themselves. While
other argue that powerful nations according to their national interest will decide that which instances of
human rights violation will UN acts upon.
 Global poverty is another source of insecurity. World population eventually level out at 900 to 1000 crore.
Currently, half the world’s population growth occurs in just six countries—India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria,
Bangladesh and Indonesia. Among the world’s poorest countries, population is expected to triple in the next
50 years, whereas many rich countries will see population shrinkage in that period. High per capita income
and low population growth make rich states or rich social groups get richer, whereas low incomes and high
population growth reinforce each other to make poor states and poor groups get poorer.
 There is a gap between the northern and southern countries of the world. The south countries. South
countries have managed to lessen the disparities by slowing down the population and raising income. For
example, most of the world’s armed conflicts now take place in sub-Saharan Africa, which is also the poorest
region of the world. More people were being killed in wars in this region combined to rest of the world.
 20

 Poverty in the South has also led to large-scale migration to seek a better life, especially better economic
opportunities, in the North. International law and norms make a distinction between migrants (those who
voluntarily leave their home countries) and refugees (those who flee from war, natural disaster or political
persecution). States are generally supposed to accept refugees, but they do not have to accept migrants.
The people who have fled their homes but remain within national borders are called ‘internally displaced
people’. Kashmiri Pandits that fled the violence in the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s are an example of
an internally displaced community. Millions of refugees fled to north to live better life. From 1990 to 1995,
70 states were involved in 93 wars which killed about 55 lakh people. Many communities jointly migrated
because of generalized fear of violence and internal armed conflicts.
 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. The infection of these
countries move from one place to another. By 2003, an estimated 4 crore people were infected with
HIVAIDS worldwide, two-thirds of them in Africa and half of the rest in South Asia. In North American
Countries, new drug therapies have cured these diseases. But these treatments are very expensive for poor
regions of Africa and this throws them into deeper poverty.
 Other new and poorly understood diseases such as Ebola virus, hantavirus, and hepatitis C have emerged,
while old diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, dengue fever and cholera have mutated into drug resistant
forms that are difficult to treat. Epidemics among animals have major economic effects. Britain have lost
billions of export from Asian countries due to the shut down of supplies caused by mad cow diseases and
bird flu.
 Security does not mean to include any type of diseases but it mean that a threat of diseases that can effect
several people at the same time. For example, the Maldives may feel threatened by global warming because
a big part of its territory may be submerged with the rising sea level, whereas for countries in Southern
Africa, HIV-AIDS poses a serious threat as one in six adults has the disease (one in three for Botswana,
the worst case). In 1994, the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda faced a threat to its existence as nearly five lakh of
its people were killed by the rival Hutu tribe in a matter of weeks. So the traditional and non traditional
conceptions vary according to the local context.

COOPERATIVE SECURITY
 Cooperation is required to face all types of threats rather than military force. Military force may have a
role to play in combating terrorism or in enforcing human rights, but it is difficult to see apply force to
help alleviate poverty, manage migration and refugee movements, and control epidemics. Military can make
matter worse.
 Cooperation may be bilateral, regional, continental or global on the basis of nature of threat and willingness
of countries to respond. Cooperative security may also involve a variety of other players both national and
international like (the UN, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the IMF etc.), non-governmental
organisations (Amnesty International, the Red Cross, private foundations and charities, churches and
religious organisations, trade unions, associations, social and development organisations), businesses and
corporations, and great personalities like Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela.
 Cooperative security may involve the use of force as a last resort. The international community can allow
military force against any government that kill their own people or ignore the seriousness of poverty or
diseases. It may have to agree to the use of violence against international terrorists and those who harbour
them. Non traditional security is best when force is used by the permission of international security.

INDIA’S SECURITY STRATEGY

 India has faced traditional (military) and non-traditional threats to its security that have emerged from
within as well as outside its borders. Its security strategy has four broad components. The first component
was strengthening its military capabilities because India has been involved in conflicts with its neighbours
— Pakistan in 1947–48, 1965, 1971 and 1999; and China in 1962. India’s decision to conduct nuclear tests in
 21

1998 was justified by the Indian government in terms of safeguarding national security as it was surrounded
by nuclear armed countries.
 The second component of India’s security strategy has been to strengthen international institutions to
protect its security interests. Our first Prime minister JL Nehru supported the concept of decolonization,
Disarmament, and to settle international conflicts. It also signed on the agreements limiting the use of
weapons causing mass destruction like nuclear, chemical etc. It also formed NAM to avoid countries to join
any of the superpower for their insecurity. India joined 160 countries that have signed and ratified the
1997 Kyoto Protocol, which provides a roadmap for reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases to check
global warming. Indian troops have been sent abroad on UN peacekeeping missions.
 The third component of Indian security strategy is geared towards meeting security challenges within the
country. Several militant groups from areas such as the Nagaland, Mizoram, the Punjab, and Kashmir among
others have sought to break away from India. India tried to preserve national security by adopting
democratic political system and also allows different communities to live freely according to their rituals
and norms.
 Finally, India had also managed its economy in a way to provide minimum livelihood to its citizens to avoid
poverty and malnutrition. Economic inequalities are reduced in recent years. There is a pressure on the
democratically elected governments to combine economic growth with human development. Thus a
responsible democratic government of India provides its citizens with better living standard, affordable
education, basic health facilities, equal opportunities to earn and last but not the least, a proper security
system.

CH 6 ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Environmental Concerns in Global Politics

 Environment is a geographical issue but also among the important issues of the world politics.
Some important issues related to natural needs are discussed here: ► Throughout the
world, cultivable area is decreasing and agricultural land is losing its fertility. Grasslands and
Fisheries are overused. Water bodies are polluted extensively. ► According to the Human
Development Report 2006 of the UNDP, 1.2 billion people in developing countries have no access
to safe water and 2.6 billion have no access to sanitation, resulting in the death of more than 3
million children every year. ►Natural forests helps in stabilise the climate, moderate water
supplies, and controls majority of the planet’s biodiversity on land—are being cut down and people
are being displaced. This results in destruction of habitat in areas which are rich in species.
► The depletion of Ozone layer results in real danger to ecosystem and human health.
► Coastal areas are heavily polluted due to excessive degraded material used in factories. The
people living near the coasts suffers the most. Most population lives near the coast.

All the problems of the environment cannot be solved by any single government. A joint effort of the
world community will face the problems effectively and efficiently. Issues of environment and natural
resources are political in another deeper sense. Because we can’t target a single country for any
environmental degradation. All the resources should be used by all the countries combinedly.

 The environmental awareness among people started since the 1960s onwards. A book called Limits
to Growth published by A think tank, The Club of Rome depicts that earth’s resources are limited
as compared to the rapid growth of population. United Nations under the guidance of UNEP holds
many international conferences to promote awareness for environment problems. This shows that,
it is a issue of global politics.
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 The issue of environment was raised at the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development held in Rio de Generio, Brazil, in June 1992. This was also called the Earth Summit.
The Summit was attended by 170 states, thousands of NGOs and many multinational corporations.
A Brundtland report had warned that the pattern of economic growth is not sustainable. The Rio
Summit said that the rich and developed countries of the first world, has a different environment
agenda than the poor and developing countries of the south world or third world. The northern
countries are concerned with ozone depletion and global warming, while southern countries are
trying to establish relationship between economic development and management.
 An agenda 21 was published by Rio summit dealing with climate change, biodiversity, forestry, etc.
There was a consensus on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility. This approach
to development is commonly known as ‘sustainable development’. Some criticized that Agenda 21
focused on economic growth.

The Protection of Global Commons

 Commons are the resources that is used by whole world combinedly. These regions are away from
the jurisdiction of any state and are hold by any international community. These are called as
global commons. They include the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor, and outer
space. Cooperation over common issues is very difficult. Many protocols have been signed such as
The Antarctica treaty in 1959, Montreal protocol in 1987 etc. The environmental problems should
be tackled jointly such as in case of ozone hole found over Antarctica.
 Similarly, the outer space is also dealt with seriousness, especially in case of north south
inequalities. The earth’s atmosphere and ocean floor are also crucial issues which mainly depends
upon the development of technology because they can be used by the future generations.

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 marine ecosystem, comprising a few plants (e.g. microscopic
algae, fungi and lichen), marine mammals, fish and hordes of birds adapted to harsh conditions.
 The Antarctic plays an important role in maintaining climatic equilibrium, and deep ice cores
provide an important source of information about greenhouse gas concentrations and atmospheric
temperatures of hundreds and thousands of years ago.
 The question arises that who owns these resources? Some countries 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.
 The Antarctic and the Arctic polar regions are subjected to special regional rules of
environmental protection. Since 1959, activities in the area 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.
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Common But Differentiated Responsibilities

 The approach towards environment is different of north and south countries. The North
developed countries want all the countries to come together for the ecological conservation but
south developing countries blames that the ecological degradation is the result of rapid
industrialisation by the developed countries and these north countries are responsible for
covering the damage. Restrictions should be different for the north and south countries.
Developing countries are at the stage of initial development and they should not be restricted
equally to the developed countries. This argument was accepted in the Rio Declaration at the
Earth Summit in 1992 and is called the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities.
 The Rio Declaration says that states shall cooperate in the spirit of global partnership to
conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem. State may have
the different contribution for same problems according to their responsibility. The developed
countries should bear sustainable development to save the environment.
 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides responsibilities
to nations accordance with common and respective capabilities. It is agreed upon that large
emission of greenhouse gases (SO2, Methane which are responsible for global warming) is shared
by developed countries and developing countries holds small share. So, countries like India and
China are exempted from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is an
international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas
emissions. The protocol was agreed to in 1997 in Kyoto in Japan.

Common Property Resources

 The common property groups means that members of the group have both rights and duties with
respect to the nature, levels of use, and the maintenance of a given resource. Many villages in
India have secured environment problems by mutual understanding and responsibilities.
 A combination of factors like privatisation, Agricultural intensification, population growth has
caused common property where size, quality and availability to poor is of much importance. For
example, the forests of south India are managed and controlled mainly by village authorities by
mutual understanding.

India’s Stand on Environmental Issues

 India signed and ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in august 2002. India and China are exempted
from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol because of developing category. But the critics
opposed this and said that India and China along with the developed countries will be responsible
for the large emission of greenhouse gases. India reacted by saying that the per capita emission
of the developed countries is very large as compared to them. India says that according to the
differentiated responsibilities, major responsibility to decrease emission lies with developed
countries.
 India at UNFCCC quoted that developed countries are emitting greenhouse gases since the
industrialisation begun. So, it asked UNFCCC to give some rebate to rapid industrialising countries
of modern time such as India, China and Brazil. India’s per capita emission of greenhouse gases in
2030 will be less than half of the world’s average of 3.8 tonnes in 2000. Indian emissions are
predicted to rise from 0.9 tonnes per capita in 2000 to 1.6 tonnes per capita in 2030.
 24

 The Indian government is already participating in global efforts through a number of programmes.
For example, National Auto Fuel Policy mandates cleaner fuels for vehicle, the energy conservation
act of 2001 forms to improve energy efficiency, Electricity act of 2003 outlines use of renewable
energy etc. Recent trends in importing natural gas and encouraging the adoption of clean coal
technologies show that India has been making real efforts. National Mission on Biodiesel has been
launched, using about 11 million hectares of land to produce biodiesel by 2011–2012.
 India has implemented the agreements of the Earth Summit at Rio in 1997. One of the major keys
is to transfer new and additional financial resources and environmental friendly technology to the
developing and under developed countries. So that these countries should follow the path of
development under the commitments of UNFCCC. India also wants to adopt common environmental
solutions for the SAARC countries.

Environmental Movements: One or Many?

 Different governments have tried to control environmental degradation but to face the real
challenge of this problem, many groups at national and international level have worked seriously.
These environmental movements are amongst the most vibrant, diverse, and powerful social
movements across the globe today. Due to these movements, many new ideas and long-term vision
were implemented by the governments.
 The forest movements of the South, in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, continental
Africa and India are faced with enormous pressures. The destruction of the world’s last remaining
grand forests has actually increased in the last decade. The mineral industries of the third world
countries has affected the most of the forest resources. It causes many problems like extraction
of the earth, pollution due to use of chemicals, clearance of natural vegetation, etc. One good
example is that of the Philippines, where a vast network of groups and organisations campaigned
against the Western Mining Corporation (WMC), an Australia-based multinational company. This
company was opposed by the people of Australia itself.
 Another example is struggle against the mega dam’s construction. This movement was for the
protection of river flow and valleys. The early 1980s saw the first anti-dam movement launched
to save the Franklin River and its surrounding forests in Australia. This was a wilderness and
forest campaign as well as anti-dam campaign. India has had some of the leading anti-dam, pro-
river movements. Narmada Bachao Andolan is one of the best known of these movements. The
most important thing is to note that these movements are of nonviolent manner.

Resource Geopolitics
 Resource geopolitics is all about who gets what, when, where and how. Western geopolitical
thinking about resources has been dominated by the relationship of trade, war and power.
European has started exploring the sea routes since 17th century for the development of their
business. These sea routes were used widely for the supply of oil during the world wars.
 Throughout the Cold War the industrialised countries of the North adopted a number of methods
to ensure a steady flow of resources. Western countries has deployed military forces near the
exploitation sites and sea lanes communication routes. Both the USA and USSR tried well to
control the resources and routes during the cold war. A particular concern was Western control
 25

of oil in the Gulf and strategic minerals in Southern and Central Africa. After the end of cold
war, it was worried about the control of the oil and natural minerals of the central Asia.
 The global economy relied on oil for much of the 20th century as a portable and indispensable
fuel. The history of the petroleum is the history of war. The central Asia and gulf region of the
world constitutes 30 percent of the world’s oil production. But it has about 64 percent of the
planet’s known reserves. Saudi Arabia has a quarter of the world’s total reserves and is the single
largest producer. Iraq’s known reserves are second only to Saudi Arabia’s. The developed and fast
developing countries like USA, European, China, Japan and India are located far from this region
and not easy to dominate.
 Water is also the most crucial resource of today’s world. The increasing scarcity of freshwater
has alarmed the world of coming conflicts due to this problem. Some commentators on world
politics have referred to ‘water wars’ to describe the possibility of violent conflict over this life
sustaining resource. The conflicts started with the sharing of river water among countries. The
problem raised is that the countries of downstream faces pollution, excessive irrigation and
construction of the dams by the upstream nations causing degradation of the water available for
the downstream countries. States have used force to protect freshwater resources. Example of
the violent activities is the dispute between Israel, Jordan and Syria in 1950-60 over the sharing
of water of Yarmuk river. A number of studies show that countries that share rivers are involved
in military conflicts with each other.

The Indigenous People and Their Rights

 The UN defines indigenous populations as comprising the descendants of peoples who inhabited
the present territory of a country at the time when persons of a different culture arrived there
from other parts of the world. Indigenous people lives with more conformity in their territory as
compared to other places. The first right over the resources of a place is of indigenous people.
Approximately 30 crore indigenous peoples spread throughout the world including India. There
are 20 lakh indigenous people of the Cordillera region of the Philippines, 10 lakh Mapuche people
of Chile, six lakh tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, 35 lakh North American
natives, 50,000 Kuna living east of Panama Canal and 10 lakh Small Peoples of the Soviet North.
Like other social movements, indigenous people speak of their struggles, their agenda and their
rights.
 Indigenous people occupy areas in Central and South America, Africa, India (where they are known
as Tribals) and Southeast Asia. Many 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. The indigenous people demand their government to protect their
interests and existence at their origin places. The loss of land, which also means the loss of an
economic resource base, is the most obvious threat to the survival of indigenous people.
 In India, the description ‘indigenous people’ is usually applied to the Scheduled Tribes who
constitute nearly eight per cent of the population of the country. With the exception of small
communities of hunters and gatherers, most indigenous populations in India depend for their
subsistence primarily on the cultivation of land. First time during the British India the place of
indigenous were explored by the outsiders. Our scheduled tribes enjoy constitutional right in
political representation but do not share in development of the nation. In fact, they have paid a
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huge cost for development since they are the single largest group among the people displaced by
various developmental projects since independence.
 Issues related to the rights of the indigenous communities have been neglected in domestic and
international politics for very long but they became active in 1970s. The World Council of
Indigenous Peoples was formed in 1975. The Council became subsequently the first of 11
indigenous NGOs to receive consultative status in the UN.

CH 7 GLOBALISATION
The Concept of Globalisation
 Janardhan, also called as John, An employee of multinational company works in US based company. He
communicate his clients who are thousand miles away from him and never likely to meet physically with them.
He worked for whole night as it is day time for his customers. His holidays are also decided according to
the US calendar.
 Ramdhari wants to buy a birthday gift for his daughter who is nine years old. He decided to buy cycle but
was not under his budget. After searching in whole market, he found a cycle made in China which is
affordable to him. He purchased it. Last year also he gifted a barbie doll to his daughter which was
manufactured in USA and sold in India.
 Sarika is a first generation learner who has completed her schooling and college by working hard. She has
an opportunity to do job which is very difficult as her family member opposed this. But she finally decide
to go ahead to avail the new opportunities.
 All the examples are related to the concept of globalization. Janardhan is doing global service, Ramdhari
purchased an item which was manufactured abroad and Sarika faced the problem of old generation thinking
but overcome that and started new journey.
 All these examples gives us the term called globalization. Some examples like:
► Some farmers committed suicide because their crops failed and because the costly seeds were
supplied by the MNC. ►
An Indian company bought Europe based company which was opposed by customers. ► Many
retailers were feared that they will lose their livelihood if the major international companies open their
chains in the country. ► A
Bollywood film producer was accused for copying the another film of Hollywood. ► A militant
group issued a statement threatening college girls wearing western clothes. These examples shows that
globalization may have negative effects also. Some countries believe that globalization has more negative
effects than positive. Globalisation is not concerned to economic issue or influence from rich to poor.
 So, globalization is needed to be clarified. Fundamentally it deals with the flows. These flows are of various
kinds- ideas moving from one part of the world to another, capital link between two or more places,
commodities being traded across borders, and people moving in search of better livelihoods to different
parts of the world.
 Globalisation is a multidimensional concept. It includes political, economic and cultural concepts. Normally it
is assumed that globalization refers to the economic aspects or cultural concept which is wrong dimension.
It is a wide concept and difficult to judge without specific any study.

Causes of Globalisation
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 Globalisation is about the flow of ideas, capital, commodities And people because in human history these
four factors were the main concepts. In present era, the concepts are the same but the speed and scale of
flow has increased.
 Globalisation is not caused by any single factor but eventually it has changed with the development of the
technology such as telegraph, telephone etc. In recent times invention of microchip and internet has
revolutionized communication sector in different parts of the world. Invention of printing has laid the basis
of Nationalism.
 The ability of ideas, capital, commodities and people to move more easily from one part of the world to
another has been made possible largely by technological advances. The pace of flow varies like capital and
commodities moves faster and wider than the people in different parts of the world.
 Globalisation mainly emerged to connect the citizens of the country to the rest of the world. Event takes
place in one part of the earth effects the other part. The Bird flu or tsunami is not confined to any
particular nation. It does not respect national boundaries. Major economic or political event impacts the
global or regional environment.

Political Consequences
 One of the important impact causing globalization is political causes. How globalization effects the
sovereignty of the nation? This will be answered in three concepts. At first, It is decided by the capacity
of the nation that at what level it meets the demand of the citizens. All the nations wants to perform core
functions like maintenance of law and order and security of its citizen on its own. A welfare state considers
on the economic and social priorities of the citizens and to meet these demands, one have to depends upon
the MNCs and this reduces the decision capacity of the state.
 At the same time, globalisation does not always reduce state capacity. The primacy of the state is its
political status which should not be challenged. The old rivalries of the countries are ignored at the world
level. They continues to discharge its essential functions like law and order and national security. States
continue to be important.
 In some respects, globalizations boosts the development of some states. They receive enhanced
technologies and information from abroad to boost their development. With this information, the state is
better able to rule, not less able. Thus, states become more powerful than they were earlier as an outcome
of the new technology.

Economic Consequences
 This part of globalization impacts the most. The role of international institutions like IMF and WTO plays
vital role in determining economic policies of the state. Economic globalisation involves many factors other
than these international institutions. A much broader way of understanding of economic globalisation
requires us to look at the distribution of economic gains, i.e. who gets the most from globalisation and who
gets less, indeed who loses from it.
 Economic globalisation usually involves greater economic flows among different countries of the world. Some
of them are voluntarily and others are forced by international institutions. This flow is of various types like
of capital, people and ideas. Globalisation has involved greater trade in commodities across the globe. The
import duties are reduced by some countries to inflow the commodities.
 Flow of the capital has been also increased. This means that rich countries can invest the capital in other
developing and underdeveloped countries where the chances of return increases. Globalisation has also led
to the flow of ideas across national boundaries through the spread of internet and computer related
services. But this development is not equal in whole world because developed countries are aware to the visa
related policies. They are aware of the jobs of their own citizens.
 Globalisation has led to similar economic policies adopted by governments in different parts of the world,
this has generated vastly different outcomes in different parts of the world. Economic globalisation has
created an intense division of opinion all over the world. Some people are worried about the social justice
 28

that it will benefit only a small section of the population while those who are dependent on government for
jobs and welfare schemes should be improvised. These economically backward people should be protected
by the negative effects of the globalization. Many movements all over the world has takes place to
safeguard the interests of the weaker people and countries. Some economists have described economic
globalisation as recolonisation of the world.
 Supporters of the economic globalization advocates that it will generate economic growth and increase
trade among the countries of the world. They also argue that globalization is the demand of time and we
should adopt it inevitably. It cannot be denied that the increase in globalization has connected the
governments, businesses, and ordinary people move in different parts of the world easily.

Cultural Consequences
 Globalisation has also affected the daily habits like eat, drink or wear of the people. It also effects our
thinking. It is also feared that it had threat to the indigenous culture of any place. Because it leads to the
uniform culturisation of the world called as cultural homogenization. In this concept, western culture has
effected the most as we have studied in the US hegemony. The popularity of a burger or blue jeans has the
powerful influence of the American way of life over the world.
 Politically and economically powerful countries imposes their cultural effects over the less developed
countries. The McDonaldisation of the world that is influence of the American dominant dreams has
dangerous effect not only over poor countries but for Humanity also.
 At the same time, the effects of the cultural globalization may be positive. Some external influences are
negative because they reduce our choices. But sometimes external influences simply enlarge our choices.
The burger is no substitute for a masala dosa and, therefore, does not pose any real challenge. It is simply
added on to our food choices. Blue jeans, on the other hand, can go well with a homespun khadi kurta. It
emerged as a new combination of Khadi kurta over Blue jeans. this clothing combination has been exported
back to the country that gave us blue jeans so that it is possible to see young Americans wearing a kurta
and jeans.
 All the culture have become distinctive and different according to the time. This phenomenon is called as
cultural heterogenization. Cultural security in negative way limits our culture but suggests the cultural
exchange and widens our culture.

India And Globalisation

 India is renowned for the international trade in history also. During the colonial period, India exports the
raw material and imports the finished goods. After independence, the scenario has changed and our
government to decided to use raw material on its own by developing technology and not to import goods.
This was called as protectionism. Advancement was also made in sectors like health, education, housing etc.
 After facing financial crisis in 1991, India embarked economic reforms that increased our trade and foreign
investment. But how much these reforms have boosted our economy was a ultimate test for the country’s
economy.

Resistance to Globalisation
 Globalisation has negative impacts also and this thing is argued by some critics. This globalization has
increased the difference between rich and poor and making rich more richer and poor more poorer. In
political terms, they also fear the weakening of the state. Weakening of the state leads to a reduction in
the capacity of the state to protect the interest of its poor. They want country to be self dependant and
follow protectionism. Culturally, they are worried that traditional culture will be harmed and people will lose
their age-old values.
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 In some countries anti-globalization movements takes place arguing that this will harm their sovereignty.
Many anti-globalisation movements are not opposed to the idea of globalization but the process of
globalization sometimes takes form of imperialism.
 In 1999, at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Meeting it was decided that economically
powerful states will not imply unfair trade practices. It was argued that the interests of the developing
nations were not to be given sufficient importance.
 The World Social Forum (WSF) is another global platform, which brings together a wide coalition composed
of human rights activists, environmentalists, labour, youth and women activists opposed to neo-liberal
globalisation. The first WSF meeting was organised in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001. The fourth WSF meeting
was held in Mumbai in 2004. The seventh WSF meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya in January 2007.

India and Resistance to Globalisation

 Some social movements in India makes people aware about the trouble created by the globalization.
Resistance to globalisation in India has come from different quarters. Some left wing organisations and the
parties opposed the economic liberalization in India. Trade unions of industrial workforce as well as those
representing farmer interests have organised protests against the entry of multinationals.
 The patenting of certain plants like Neem by American and European firms has also generated considerable
opposition. Some resistance of globalization come from political rights also. This has come in form of
availability of foreign TV channels provided by cable network, celebration of the valentine day and
westernization of the dressing style of girls in schools and colleges.