Global Governance (AQA A-Level Geography): Revision Notes
Global Governance
What is global governance?
Global governance involves managing worldwide issues that impact all countries. As nations become more interconnected through globalisation, coordinating responses to shared challenges has become increasingly important.
In international relations, countries typically work together to find common ground on important issues. Once consensus is reached, nations agree to follow similar rules outlined in signed treaties and international laws. This cooperation is essential for addressing problems that cross national borders.
Global governance is particularly crucial for managing the global commons and promoting environmental sustainability. These shared resources and environmental challenges require coordinated international action because no single nation can effectively address them alone.
Global governance – A movement of political integration aimed at negotiating responses to problems that affect more than one state or region.
Global commons – Resource domains or areas that lie outside the political reach of any one nation state.
Environmental sustainability – A state in which the demands placed on the environment can be met without reducing the quality of the environment for the future.
How global governance operates
Global governance functions through establishing international agreements and enforcement mechanisms:
International agreements
- Countries create formal agreements to address global challenges
- These take the form of treaties, directives or protocols
- Examples include the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS)
- Nations commit to following agreed rules and regulations
Enforcement through institutions
International agreements are formulated, maintained and enforced by intergovernmental agencies or institutions, including:
- United Nations (UN)
- World Bank
- World Trade Organization (WTO)
- Similar international organisations
These bodies help ensure countries comply with their commitments and provide forums for ongoing cooperation.
International laws and norms
International laws
These are mandatory rules or regulations contained within international agreements. They establish legally binding requirements based on shared values and customs that guide behaviour within society.
Social norms
Norms – The shared values, traditions and customs that govern individual and group behaviour in a society. They are the perception of what is acceptable or unacceptable in societies at all scales.
Challenges in establishing global standards
Creating laws and treaties that respect social norms on a global scale proves very difficult because:
- National and regional outlooks differ significantly between societies
- Cultural values and priorities vary widely across the world
- This diversity affects how countries interpret and enforce international agreements
The tension between universal standards and local cultural differences remains one of the biggest challenges in global governance. What one society considers essential, another may view as unnecessary or even inappropriate.
Western influence on global governance
International regulations and the norms they express are largely shaped by economically advanced nations, particularly those in the Western world. This creates several important patterns:
Dominant values
The norms embedded in international regulations tend to reflect:
- Free-market economic systems
- Capitalist approaches (with varying degrees of social intervention)
- Democratic political structures
Implications for other countries
For nations to access the benefits of integration into the globalised economy, they may need to:
- Adapt their economic systems to align with Western models
- Modify their political structures
- Adopt values that match those of dominant countries
This suggests that global systems are being reproduced to extend and strengthen the reach of wealthier countries that dominate them. This pattern raises questions about equity and representation in global governance.
Reproduction of global systems
Reproduction – The way that existing global systems remain largely unchanged and are even extended and reinforced by regulation.
Reproduction helps maintain stability within global systems, but critics argue it also reinforces existing inequalities. Rather than creating a more equal world, reproduction may strengthen the advantages enjoyed by already powerful nations.
Three mechanisms of regulation and reproduction:
- Establishment of international legal agreements – Formal treaties that set binding rules
- Governance undertaken by intergovernmental institutions and agencies – Organizations like the UN and World Bank that enforce agreements
- Extension and reinforcement of social norms on a global scale – Spreading particular values and customs worldwide
These three mechanisms work together to maintain the current structure of global systems. While this creates predictability and order, it can also make it difficult for developing nations to challenge or reshape global governance to better serve their interests.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
- Global governance manages worldwide issues through cooperation between nations who agree to follow shared rules and international laws
- Key institutions like the UN, World Bank and WTO formulate, maintain and enforce international agreements
- Social norms guide acceptable behaviour, but establishing global norms is challenging due to cultural differences between societies
- International regulations largely reflect Western values such as free-market capitalism and democracy
- Reproduction maintains existing global systems but may also reinforce inequalities between wealthy and developing nations