Political Science Exam
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Political Science Exam
Part one
Question One
Globalization in Retreat
Globalization involved integrating autonomous national economies into a single global economic unit, which most economists touted as ‘irreversible.’ It is celebrated for creating what was referred to as a borderless world in the 1990s and was thought to be the wave of modernization. The few people who questioned its viability during that time were disdainfully written off. However, fifteen years down the line, the global economy is transiting through major structural transformation. Despite national economies remaining independent, domestication is significantly taking shape, a clear indication that globalization reached its optimum level and is receding.
Decades ago, proponents of globalization promised a transnational capitalist elite to be in charge of the global economy. The Clinton administration believed that globalization was the superb strategy to position the United States as the first among equals in international cooperation, leading to the creation of new world order. However, this project is currently lying in shambles. The George W. Bush administration witnessed a more nationalistic approach than transnational activities with other economic elites.
Similarly, a few decades ago saw the initiation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This creation was an addition to the already existing bodies like World Bank and IMF offered financial aid to the international economic activities during the globalization era. The officials of these organizations were optimistic they would play a crucial role in realizing ‘global governance,’ that is, integrating their neoliberal policies to ensure seamless technocratic cooperation at the global level. Nonetheless, it is now evident that trade liberalization is stalling, financial aid is not as coherent as intended. The situation at IMF is worsening and is becoming practically defunct. Considering the adverse effects it had on the Asian financial crisis, most developed countries have since changed their borrowing strategies, with some paying upfront. In contrast, others like Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, and Indonesia opting never to borrow again ((Bello, 2007). Since IMF’s budget largely depends on loan repayments, such boycotts have considerably squeezed its budget.
The World Band may appear healthier than IMF. But, bearing in mind that fact, it was central to the idea of structural adjustment policies, which negatively affected transitional and developing economies. The policies lead to increased poverty, inequality and created states of economic stagnation, the facts that lead to the Bank suffering from a legitimacy crisis. Similarly, WTO suffered the multilateralism crisis, thus stalling in its quests to advance globalization.
During globalization’s glory days, most people believed that national regulations could not hold any weight and would be dwarfed by corporation policies. Unfortunately, state policies still matter. In fact, the U.S. administration, European Union, and China have more robust internal economic policies at the moment compared to decades ago. For example, in China, Transnational corporations (TNCs) are more inclined to state tunes. Additionally, state laws that seek to protect local industries and employment took precedence over corporation policies.
Globalization has been retreating due to several reasons; first of all, they oversold its idea. There was a considerable gap between what free trade and globalization promised and what they delivered. For instance, the globalization of finance moved faster than production, thus causing chaos rather than prosperity. More so, instead of forging a unitary and cooperative response to global challenges of overproduction, environmental destruction, and stagnation, national capitalist elites continued competing with each other in shifting the adjustment cost. The Bush government, for example, launched a policy to strengthen the dollar to enhance economic recovery in the United States at the expense of growth in Japan and Europe. This policy shows that even though the global capitalist system aimed at cooperation at the international level, national capitalist interest was to win against their closest rivals.
The second reason is the corrosive impact of the double standards depicted by the U.S, the hegemonic power. Unlike the Clinton administration, which showed some effort of steering the U.S. to free trade, Bush’s government was hypocritical, only preaching free trade, but in the real sense, he practiced protectionism. Most of the production and trading activities continued to happen within the country, with a handful of the genuine global corporation across the regions.
Another reason for the unraveling of globalization was its obsession with economic development. No doubt, continues growth was the focal point of globalization, the motive of its legitimacy. While its proponents continue to praise its impact on the middle class, environmental issues, oil peak, and global warming indicate that globalization could not guarantee an all-inclusive development pattern.
The final reason that is not to be taken for granted is the general resistance to globalization. Clear indications of globalization struggling to make a mark in the world include; The battles of Genoa, Prague, and Seattle, the global anti-globalization movement, the disruption of the WTO conference in Cancun, and the dismissal of the neoliberal ideas by the Dutch and French people. When it comes to the free trade agreement, the southern region is increasingly sensible of its jeopardy and develops some resistance. Pressure from citizens in the South American States hindered the Free Trade of the Americans. Furthermore, a dash to sign a joint market memorandum with the U.S was one reason why Thailand opposed and even overthrew their prime minister through a coup. This fact forced the incoming government to suspend the U.S.-Thai FTA negotiations. Furthermore, there were Cases of globalization retreat in Latin America; for instance, Bolivia nationalized its energy assets following exploitation by international energy giants.
From today’s point of view, globalization might have been vital economic stimuli in the early 90s, but that came to an end during the financial crisis. The global value chains and the network of distribution started dwindling after 2008. Economic reforms around the world have stagnated, and countries are withdrawing from globalization. For instance, under President Xi Jinping, China emphasized policies that would bolster state-owned businesses and enhance the development of local technologies. Even though China is still an export powerhouse, recent years have seen it turn inwards.
Nationalism is becoming an integral force around the globe, with great attention on economic nationalism. Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, orchestrated a “make in India” movement. Donald Trump promoted “buy American” policies, and president Biden is an internationalist in his programs. Brexit saw Britain leave the European Union, a protectionist move.
Lately, security concerns have made individual countries impose stiff tariffs or stopping bilateral trade altogether. For example, the U.S.-China cooperation was incredibly hit by security fears that led to the blocking of China from acquiring U.S. tech firms and the separation of technological ecosystems of the two countries. Japan is equally wary about the technology from China and is on the verge of breaking the reliance on China by producing its technology. Donald Trump questioned the need of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, raising uncertainty with the European Union after rebuking their style of trading and inadequate spending on the military. This act raised suspicion among the Europeans who questioned the reliability of partnering with the United States.
The current pandemic is inevitably reinforcing the recent tendency to a less globalized world. Most states are wondering if they are relying too much on others for critical medical supplies. Other countries have imposed bans on exports because the medical equipment may not be adequate for their domestic demands. Even though trade policy is yet to respond to the pandemic, attitudes worldwide have changed. The coronavirus has immensely altered the nature of globalization, and it might have reached the end of its cycle.
The amalgamation of national-security concerns and fears of public health is an indication that we are headed towards greater self-sufficiency. As nations and people lose trust in each other, the natural response is to turn inward and minimize corporation with others. This retreat could not necessarily end globalization but will significantly reverse its gains and make its road very rocky in the future.
Part II
Question Two
Today’s world is faced with a complex phenomenon in climate change. This issue involves several dimensions such as politics, science, society, economics, and moral concerns. It is a global challenge, an experience at local levels, and is likely to be with us for decades to come. Heating-trapping green gases and Carbon dioxide are the most significant contributors to the current global warming, which has been lingering on the planet for hundreds of years. Yet, it took centuries to respond to it.
Even though stopping the emission of all greenhouse gases would not end climate change today, humanity is committed to change the trend for future generations. Mitigation aims to minimize human hindrance on the climatic system significantly. That will enable the ecosystem to naturally adjust to climate change without threatening food production and sustainable economic development.
Despite being a global issue, climate change is felt on local levels. Therefore, cities and municipalities are at the forefront of adapting to it. Due to unclear national and global policy direction on climate change, local communities and towns have been solving climate-related challenges independently. However, intervention from the UN body on climate change got governments getting involved in the adaptation and mitigation of climate change. It is now being considered in several development plans, for instance, ways to deal with adverse disasters, protect the coastline, manage encroachment to forests and seas, and safeguard energy. The mitigation strategies can be classified into conventional technologies and geoengineering techniques that aim at reducing global warming.
Mitigation of climate change involves minimizing the emission of heat-trapping gases into the environment, either by de-escalating sources of such gases, for instance, combustion of fossil fuels for hearting or improving the “sinks” that collect and store the gases; an example is soil or oceans. An array of current renewable energy techniques are coming into use; the most prominent include; solar power, wind power, biofuels, and biomass power. Switching of fuel from coal to gas in power sectors is a potential strategy to lowering carbon transmissions.
Other than being applied in the power sector, these renewable energies are recommended for transportation, housing, and industrial sectors. Using thermal and photovoltaic solar power in industries, renewable fuels, and biomass-based power for hearting and lighting in homes and end-use energy in transportation is an example of a decarbonization strategy.
Carbon capture and utilization are the other promising strategy of decarbonization. The technology includes capturing and separating carbon dioxide gases in operations that deal with fossil fuels like coal or oil. The harnessed carbon dioxide gas is then moved and preserved in geological tanks for a while. The primary objective at this point is minimizing emission levels as we make use of fossil fuels.
As conveyed by BY IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), negative emissions technologies aim to supplement conventional strategies in removing challenging emissions. This strategy involves bioenergy carbon capture and storage technologies, which mainly integrate biopower and other traditional carbon capture and storage methods. This technique can significantly lower the number of greenhouse gases in the airspace by reducing carbon dioxide levels.
Afforestation and reforestation is the other crucial strategy in combating climate change. This strategy is basically through forestation, which includes; establishing new forests (afforestation) and reestablishing forests in deforested areas (reforestation). Once these trees are found, they take carbon dioxide gases from the airspace and reserve them in decomposed organisms, living biomass, and clays. Forests can store carbon dioxide for a very long period unless disturbed by human activities or other natural occurrences like fire and related disasters that often destroy the forest cover.
Biochar is increasingly gaining recognition as a profitable approach in capturing and storing carbon dioxide permanently. It is generated from biomass like forests and agricultural residuals using a thermochemical conversation procedure. The carbon dioxide picked up by biomass as plants develop is treated into scorch, which is added to the earth for longer spells.
Soil carbon sequestration is a strategy that involves capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide gas by changing land use to enhance soil carbon content. A good balance of soil inputs determines carbon concentration levels; such inputs include; manure, roots, and residues. However, the process of removing carbon from the soil via carbon sequestration is time-bound because once the soil is saturated, further sequestration is not possible.
Direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) is an emerging technique in managing climate change. It involves synthetic binding to directly detach carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to produce mineral carbonates or keep it in geological reservoirs. If well utilized, this technique can significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the airspace.
Ocean fertilization is a strategy that involves increasing nutrients, both in the form of macro and micro, on the ocean’s upper surface to promote biological activities that will enhance uptake of carbon dioxide gas. Phytoplankton is microscopic organisms present on top of the sea and plays a critical function in oceanic carbon sequestration. Carbon dioxide is sequestered in the form of oceanic biofuel, which is then moved to the sea base, hence reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Enhanced terrestrial weathering is a technique that involved the natural decomposition of silicate rocks. The chemical reaction absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide and releases bicarbonate ions. The ions are dissolved and moved by groundwater to oceans, where they are kept as alkalinities. Enhanced weathering speeds up this weathering process to increase carbon dioxide uptake. The enhancement of the process can be achieved by grinding silicate rocks to improve the surface area of the reaction, thus hastening the dissolution rate. This process reduces carbon dioxide in the air and enhances surface nutrients for plants to prosper.
Reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere through the application of renewable energy and carbon storage is exceptionally essential. Therefore, the invention of renewable energy carbon storage-related projects should be highly prioritized. The areas to be emphasized by policymakers to achieve these projects include; accessibility to financial support, policy instruments, and market-based techniques to motivate project developers.
Apart from managing carbon dioxide levels, another critical strategy of combating climate change is altering radiative energy by applying geoengineering technologies. These techniques aim a maintaining or lowering global temperatures through terrestrial and solar radiation management (Fawzy et al., 2020). They include; Stratospheric aerosol injection, which manages solar radiation by mimicking the cooling ramification caused by the volcanic eruption.
Marine sky brightening is a solar radiation management tool whose objective is lowering global warming by facilitating the reflectiveness of the clouds. It is attained by implanting seawater particles in the clouds. The seawater in the air evaporates, leaving behind transparent salt particles that enhance cloud reflectivity. Thus reducing the strength of radiation waves directed to earth and thereby reducing global warming.
Education on the environment and climate change is an essential strategy in combating climate change but is often underutilized. Teaching people about the importance of the environment and managing their activities to co-exist in the ecosystems sustainably can play a significant role in addressing climate change. It will involve fostering the relevance of integrating environmental control strategies into the school curricula. This curriculum should emphasize comprehension of the causes and effects of climate change, acknowledging its impact, and applying appropriate responses.
Knowledge in environmental and climatic change is not limited to challenges associated with these fields, but also cultivates attitudes of responsibility and being mindful about our environment. currently, there are disjointed efforts by schools, NGOs, UNEP, and other agencies on education about mitigating climate change. However, there is a need for a clear lead actor to provide a universal approach to this plan. A sustainable education system that integrates core components of quality learning, reducing disaster risks, and climate change are necessary. This system will play the critical role of enhancing mitigation and adaptation to climate change through; essential skills of thinking, green schools, a safe and adaptive environment, and applicable content skills that will shape sustainable knowledge in the management of climate change.
In conclusion, based on the eminent state of climate change, urgent and viable mitigation and adaptation procedures are essential—strategies for reducing carbon dioxides like conventional technologies and practice geoengineering techniques to manage solar radiation. However, the critical question who would lead these changes.? Currently, most countries are signatories to UNFCCC. All countries worldwide must join UNFCCC for its decisions to be binding to all member states to take responsibility in combating climate change.
References
Bello, W. (2007). GLOBALIZATION IN RETREAT. New Labor Forum, 16(3), 109–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/10957960701636729
Fawzy, S., Osman, A. I., Doran, J., & Rooney, D. W. (2020). Strategies for mitigation of climate change: a review. Environmental Chemistry Letters, 18(6), 2–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-020-01059-w