The Nature of World Order (HSC SSCE Legal Studies): Revision Notes

The Nature of World Order

What is world order?

World order describes how global events and situations are shaped by major actors on the world stage. It refers to the activities and relationships between the world's states and other significant non-state actors that occur within a legal, political and economic framework designed to promote stability.

Until the $1990$s, experts called this field 'international relations'. However, since globalisation began, this term has become too narrow. Globalisation refers to the ongoing integration of regional economies, societies and cultures through the removal of restrictions on international trade, travel and mass communication. Understanding today's world requires looking beyond just what countries do – we must also consider non-state actors like international organisations, multinational corporations, and other global players.

The 'new world order'

The term 'new world order' emerged in the early $1990$s following the end of the Cold War. The Cold War was the state of hostility, without actual warfare, between the USSR and its satellites and the USA and its allies in the Western world, lasting from just after the Second World War until about $1991$.

When the Cold War ended, world leaders like US President George Bush (senior) and USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev hoped for a new era. They believed states would work together to address global problems that no single country could solve alone. This spirit of cooperation between former superpowers was called the 'new world order'.

World order and peace

Since world order implies a certain level of peace and stability, world order issues are those that relate to promoting peace and resolving conflicts between states. The dramatic growth of international law over the past $60$ years demonstrates how important world order has become as a global goal.

The link between politics and economics

It is crucial to understand the relationships between political and economic issues. Global peace and security are prerequisites for economic stability and social progress for every nation, whether rich or poor. Material disadvantage and inequities have historically led to conflict both within and between nations and regions.

The need for world order

Interdependence and global threats

Never in history has humanity's fate been so dependent not just on good governance in individual countries but also on a healthy global economic, political and social order. The need for world order has never been greater due to the high level of interdependence that has resulted from globalisation.

Interdependence refers to the interconnection of two or more states to such an extent that they are mutually dependent on each other for survival and mutually vulnerable to crises. As the recent global financial crisis demonstrated, a financial problem in one part of the world can have a quick ripple effect across the globe. The global financial crisis was the international collapse of banks and credit institutions, along with currency devaluation, stock market downturns, and decline in international trade, caused by factors including the sudden drop in property values in the USA in September $2008$.

Events such as:

• A terrorist attack within a country's borders
• A regional conventional war
• An outbreak of illness in a single area
• Mass atrocity crimes committed by a dictatorial regime

can all have immediate flow-on effects to the rest of the world. We are all potentially vulnerable if things go terribly wrong on another part of the planet, as the threats of nuclear war and climate change demonstrate.

Benefits of interdependence

Despite these challenges, there are positive aspects to the current world order. Those in well-off developed countries, representing one-sixth of the total global population, benefit greatly from current arrangements.

Recognising the threats posed by interdependence, states have made serious efforts towards cooperation over the past $20$ years. The sheer volume of international law has grown exponentially, and most incredibly, there is a high degree of compliance with international law.

The reason for this compliance is that most international law is created by consensus. All treaties are negotiated and no country is ever forced to sign a treaty. Countries agree to binding treaties and commit to their provisions because of mutual benefit. While some nations may not wish to sign treaties seen as detrimental to their interests, the vast majority of international treaties – whether in trade, finance, transport or security – are recognised by parties as benefiting them in some way.

The development of world order over time

The current world order is founded upon two principles that may seem contradictory: state sovereignty and multilateralism.

State sovereignty is a nation-state's legal power and authority over everything that occurs within it – independence from external control.

Multilateralism is cooperation between multiple states for mutual benefit or to deal with common threats. Multilateralism often requires surrendering some degree of sovereignty.

State sovereignty

State sovereignty originated in the Treaty of Westphalia, the collective name for two treaties concluded on $2$ October $1648$ – also known as the Peace of Westphalia. These treaties ended:

• The Thirty Years' War within the Holy Roman Empire
• The Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic

This marked the beginning of the modern concept of states and modern diplomacy.

As European imperialism, trade and ideas spread throughout the world, so did the Westphalian concept of the nation-state. As European empires dissolved, colonies became states following the European model.

Multilateralism

Multilateral cooperation occurs when nations act together for a common purpose. The reason for its emergence was, quite simply, survival. From the $17$th century, European leaders gradually began to find the political will to act together to stop the cycle of war and violence.

Success was patchy, and repeatedly the desire for peace was overwhelmed by destructive forces. Yet gradually the hope of multilateral cooperation for mutual benefit and to prevent war became ingrained in Western Europe.

Early examples of multilateral cooperation

The First World War and the League of Nations

The trend towards multilateral cooperation developed in the early years of the $20$th century seemed to vanish instantly upon the outbreak of war in Europe in $1914$. The world divided into two armed camps:

• The Allies, led by Britain
• The Central Powers, led by Germany

Both camps were prepared to fight to the finish, and the warring nations of Europe unleashed all the horrors of modern technological warfare on each other. Meanwhile, many people viewed the war as insanity and argued for a return to multilateralism through creating a 'league of nations'.

In $1917$, US President Woodrow Wilson committed the United States to joining the war on the side of the Allies on condition that the 'league of nations' was established at the war's end. At the $1919$ Peace Conference, its establishment was agreed.

The main aim of the League of Nations was to prevent war. International peace would be guaranteed by the principle of collective security – the principle based on the agreement of a group of nations not to attack one another and to defend each other from attack from others. The idea is that an attack on one country is an attack on all.

Success and failure of the League

The creation of the League of Nations based on collective security was a substantial act of multilateral cooperation. The League achieved some notable successes in the $1920$s. However, the League was doomed to failure due to:

• Serious flaws in its legal framework
• Lack of political will on the part of world leaders to fully support it
• Blatant military aggression by powerful nations

President Roosevelt and the creation of the United Nations

Despite the resounding failure of the League of Nations in the $1930$s, in the first dark years of the Second World War, a blueprint for a new world organisation was placed back on the agenda.

The Atlantic Charter

In August $1941$, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met on a battleship off the coast of Canada. They drew up a document that became the first step in creating a new world organisation, known as the Atlantic Charter.

Creation of the United Nations

However, FDR was also a realist. He built bipartisan support within the American political system for a new world organisation. He and Churchill worked hard with their wartime allies to secure their support.

The name 'United Nations' was first used on $1$ January $1942$, when $26$ nations pledged their governments to fight for a common purpose against the Axis powers. Detailed planning proceeded throughout the following three years of the war.

The United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco by $50$ nations on $26$ June $1945$. On $24$ October $1945$, the United Nations became a legal entity. The second attempt at a grand scheme for multilateral cooperation had begun.

The nature of conflict: Interstate and intrastate

Throughout human history, conflict has been a destabilising factor and a constant threat to world order. Warfare has evolved over time due to advances in technology combined with changed approaches to strategy.

Interstate conflicts

Interstate conflicts are those that occur between states.

Conventional war

Conventional war is the use of large, well-organised military forces. During such a war, soldiers wear clearly identified uniforms and there is a clear command structure. The majority of wars in history have been conventional.

Examples include:

• Both World Wars
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
• Gulf War
• Iran-Iraq War

From the beginning of the $20$th century, technological advances have made each successive conventional war more and more deadly. It was interstate conventional warfare that the drafters of the UN Charter had in mind when they wrote the first words of the preamble:

"We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind..."

Nuclear war

Nuclear war involves the use of atomic or hydrogen bombs. Since $1945$, the number of types of nuclear weapons has increased. During the height of the Cold War, the United States and the USSR possessed $50,000$ nuclear weapons. The use of just a few hundred of these would have caused utter devastation to the planet.

The United States and USSR ended atmospheric testing with the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in $1963$. According to Robert McNamara, US Secretary of Defense from $1961$ to $1968$, luck has been the major factor preventing nuclear war in the past $60$ years.

Current nuclear weapons states:

• United States
• Russia
• Britain
• France
• China
• India
• Pakistan
• Israel

Recent developments: With the end of the Cold War, tensions between the USA and Russia decreased dramatically. Nuclear weapons treaties were negotiated and massive cuts were made to arsenals. The $1990$s saw a new era of cooperation.

However, the election of George W. Bush as US President in $2000$ saw a revival of American interest in modernising nuclear weapons and developing new types, weakening international control mechanisms. Since $2008$ and the election of Barack Obama, there has been renewed commitment to pursuing a multilateral approach to nuclear disarmament and strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Cyber-warfare

A cyber-attack can direct a carefully engineered packet of data towards systems that control essential infrastructure. It can affect:

• Internet nodes
• Defence systems
• Networks and computer systems
• Telecommunications infrastructure
• The stock market
• Nuclear power plants
• Critical infrastructure such as electricity grids
• Water supply
• Transportation systems
• Health infrastructure

Cold War

The Cold War is the name given to the state of armed, uneasy peace between the United States and the USSR (the superpowers) between $1947$ and $1991$. It involved rivalry in almost every political, economic, military and strategic matter but did not lead to direct war. Direct war was avoided due to the threat of mutual annihilation if nuclear weapons were used. Historians refer to this situation as the 'balance of terror'.

The Cold War did not only involve the superpowers. Each side called upon its allies to wage war with the other superpower's allies to gain more influence and counter the threat from the other side. The Cold War also paralysed the UN Security Council, dramatically reducing the UN's effectiveness in dealing with world order issues.

Intrastate conflicts

Intrastate conflicts are those that occur within states. All of the following forms of warfare have one thing in common: the United Nations Charter was not written with them in mind. The UN Charter focused mainly on provisions to deal with interstate conventional warfare, yet today internal conflict now outstrips interstate conflict. The UN has had to develop approaches to each type of warfare and graft them into the UN system.

Civil war

A civil war is a conflict between two or more sides within one country.

Prominent examples include:

• American Civil War ($1861$–$65$)
• War in Lebanon in the $1980$s
• Korean War ($1950$–$53$)
• Vietnam War ($1964$–$75$)

Notable examples of places where civil wars occurred since the $1990$s include: Bosnia, Burundi, Cambodia, Congo, Darfur, Georgia, Iraq, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Kosovo.

Guerrilla war

Guerrilla war involves the use of hit-and-run tactics and the element of surprise. Guerrilla fighters harass the enemy, hide, retreat and repeat this pattern until the enemy's army is worn down. Only then will the guerrillas attack with some force. Such tactics can bog down a greatly superior military force.

War waged by governments against their own people

Dictatorial regimes (governments with unrestricted authority or power) often engage in systematic campaigns of genocide (the deliberate extermination of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group), mass murder, the elimination of classes of people, or state-sponsored terror and death squads. These activities can also be classified as war crimes, crimes against humanity or mass atrocity crimes.

In his $1998$ study, Pax Democratica, James Huntley described this kind of warfare waged by a regime against its own people as 'democide'. Huntley argued that 'democide' captures the essence of this sort of activity, which is the killing of a democracy. The term was coined in $1994$ by R. J. Rummel, an international law expert.

Terrorism

Terrorism is actions intended to cause death or physical injury to civilians and to cause terror, with the intent of coercing a government or other body to meet certain demands.

Terrorism has become a greater global phenomenon since the $11$ September $2001$ terrorist attacks against the United States. Terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda, widely regarded as responsible for those attacks, have loosely connected cells in many countries. In the $21$st century, terrorist groups display a common characteristic of thinking globally but acting locally.

Communal killing

Communal killing refers to violence and warfare within communities, not necessarily perpetrated by the government. This may result from:

• Ethnic rivalries
• Historical differences
• Religious differences
• Territorial grievances

This type of violence has been a feature of the world since the end of the Cold War in the $1990$s. During the Cold War, the superpowers exerted some restraining influence on rival groups in countries within their political orbit.

Following the collapse of the USSR's empire in Eastern Europe, there were outbreaks of communal killing in Yugoslavia in the $1990$s after it split into Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia. Communal killing has also occurred in African states like Somalia ($1993$) and Rwanda ($1994$). Since $2004$, the international community has been concerned about this type of conflict in the Darfur region in Sudan.

Access to resources as a source of conflict

"War is the continuation of policy by other means." – Carl von Clausewitz

When nations do not get what they want by peaceful means, they are often tempted to revert to war. War has been a constant feature of the human race throughout history. However, for most of human history, war was also seen as legitimate and in many cases a desirable way of sorting out issues between nations.

Technological advances in weapons of warfare in the $20$th century led to the belief that war was now too deadly to allow to happen randomly or without just cause. The desire to prevent war was the main motivation for creating the United Nations, and the UN Charter made war illegal except in two cases:

• Self-defence (Article $51$)
• Un Security Council authorisation (Chapter VII)

While war has continued to wreak destruction around the world since the signing of the UN Charter in $1945$, there has been one significant change: nations that go to war are now far more concerned to give a legal justification of their actions.

Competition for resources

One reason the United States has many military bases around the world, particularly in the Middle East, is to secure resources for an economy dependent on high energy consumption. The US continues to be Israel's staunchest ally partly because of its pivotal position in the Middle East, and has sought good relations with oil-rich Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

Other major powers are also very concerned to secure future access to essential resources. China, with the fastest growing economy in the world, is making great efforts to secure gas, coal, iron ore and oil contracts as well as food supplies in Australia and around the world.

Future resource conflicts

It is highly likely that competition for increasingly scarce resources will become a major source of conflict in the future.

Other causes of war

While competition over resources is a major cause of conflict, there are many others:

Ideological disputes: The Cold War was in part a competition of ideas, between communism versus capitalism.

Religion: While religious conflict has been a recurring theme in wars throughout history, the rise of extreme fundamentalism in several countries has accompanied a backlash against the perceived decadence of Western consumer culture.

Global or regional hegemony: A nation's desire for dominance in an area or in the world often leads to conflict as other nations resist what may be seen as imperialism or the thwarting of their own ambitions.

Ethnic, religious or racial intolerance: The wars that occurred when Yugoslavia split apart in the $1990$s were fought on ethnic and religious lines, as have been many contemporary conflicts in Africa.