IS 200

• 2008-2009 with Prof. Thomarat
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• Questions about the notes? Email sean.boots@gmail.com
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• If you just want to print off this past semester's notes, you can open the menu on the side and click on the dates in the second box (hold down "control" or "command" to choose more than one day at at time). See, when the choice is between studying for finals, or making random websites that format class notes with swooshy menus and random button dealios, one is just way more exciting than the other. Honest.
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• Just kidding. Anyway, hope you all had a great year (it's done! Crazy!) and good luck with studying!
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• Updated wed. night after the review class (see the last few sections)
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• Whoa: just realized I have no notes from the guest lecture on Darfur. (Whoops!) Be sure to check the slides and the articles and everything for other stuff that might be needed - I may have missed some important things in these notes.
• Or on the other hand if you have some notes that you think people would benefit from, on stuff that's missing or not written very well here, you could definitely email them to me and I could post them here for other people - that'd be really cool. And I would ...not shamelessly take credit for them at all... ; ) Cool - thanks!

• international relations = about power, as the primary motivating factor in global relations
  • liberalism, realism
• international studies = power is important, but so is human rights, development, cooperation!
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Beland talk:

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• the Bush presidency
  • came in (2000) on a platform of 'compassionate conservatism'
    • open to centre and left ideas
    • medicare for the elderly
    • was not focusing on foreign policy issues; had little experience there
  • shifted to 'pure and simple conservatism'
    • particularly after 9/11
  • key trend: polarization of american politics (internally and externally)
  •  
  • 3 main periods
    • jan 20 - sept 10, 2001
      • main focus on domestic issues esp. tax cuts and education
    • sept. 11 01, jan. 20 2005
      • from 9/11 to the iraq war and Bush's reelection
    • jan. 21 05 - jan 20 2009
      • from the social security defeat to Katrina to the 2006 mid-term elections, Iraq
      • seen from start of 05 as a lame-duck president
    • approval ratings
      • http://www.usatoday.com/news/graphics/presidential_approval/flash.htm
      • a presidency that really polarized people; a lot more partisanship
    •  
    • political institutions matter
      • balance of power, and multiple veto points
    • looking at the future
      • in 2008, democrats should keep control of the house and perhaps gain control of the sanate
      • in states like N. Mexico, N. Hampshire, and Virigina, Republican incumbents face strong Democratic challenges
      • only 1 Dem. seat is perceived as vulnerable (Louisiana)
      • thus: the next president should be dealing with a democratic majority in Congress
      • 2 things:
        • in the Senate, a Democratic 'super majority' of 60 seats (prevents filibustering) is unlikely
        • there is no party discipline in the U.S.
          • (although - this has increased lately, part. with the Republican party ousting more centre members)
          • makes bipartisanship possible (even necessary in some cases)
          • senators are more independent from their party than Representatives
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• the 2 Presidential Candidates
  • Barack Obama
    • long, uphill, and bitter battle against Hillary Clinton
    • first African-American presidential candidate of a major party
    • young and charismatic but less experienced than McCain
    • left-leaning, but like Bill, prone to '3rd way' discourse - working together, pragmatic
    • focusing on 'change' and 'hope'
  • John McCain
    • 72-year-old war hero and cancer survivor
    • called a maverick, but has generally supported Bush's policies
    • increasingly conservative stance to please key Republican constituencies
      • has become more and more of a traditional Republican
    • yet, beyond foreign policy, McCain has no clear governing philosophy
      • (David Brooks quote - "John McCain is not a normal conservative...")
  •  
• the VP candidates
  • Joseph Biden
    • lots of experience, foreign policy, sometimes sketchy oratory skills
  • Sarah Palin
    • looking for someone very socially conservative to appeal to the Christian conservative right
    • also appeals to white women (who may have been hoping for Hillary Clinton)
    • but - very little foreign policy experience (got a passport for the first time last year)
    • first female Republican VP candidate
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• domestic policy issues
  • can't be separated from politics
  •  
  • 3 main ones:
    • fiscal policy
      • since Bush became president in 2000, the federal deficit has grown by 'staggering' $3 trillion
      • military spending increase (the Iraq war has cost $550 billion)
      • "big gov't conservatism" - Bush is highly critisized by fiscal conservatives within own party
        • cut taxes for the wealthy
        • increase military spending
        • hope that increased growth will compensate for increased spending (similar to Reagan's approach; both caused large deficit increases)
      •  
      • neither new candidate has a bold program to elimiate the deficit
        • tax cuts are something of a religion; fiscal restraint is unpopular during a federal campaign
        • Obama wants to reverse the Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans, but cut taxes for the middle class and low-income citizens
        • McCain focuses on fiscal discpiline and spending controls, but supports tax cuts for all Americans, including wealthy - wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent
        • both candidates' tax cut plans will increase the deficit; by 2018, Obama's plan would boost the debt by $3.5 trillion; McCain, increase by $5 trillion
    •  
    • NAFTA
      • Obama - planning to work with the leaders of Can. and Mexico to review NAFTA
        • increased labor and environmental protections
        • issues with NAFTA generally centered on Mexico, as a source of cheap labor
        • Democrates may feel compelled to 'do something' with NAFTA - this may have significant effects on Canada
        • Obama adopting a more conciliatory tone
      • McCain - strongly supports NAFTA and free tade in gneeral
      • NAFTA can be improved - many issues that could be addressed
        • eg., the dispute resolution system
        • but when you re-open NAFTA, you open that Pandora's box; source of uncertainty but also of opportunity
    •  
    • Healthcare
      • complex system but does have a lot of gov't funding - Medicare, Medicaid and oversight programs - highly expensive
      • 47 million with no health insurance
      • 25 million more are underinsured (limited coverage)
      •  
      • Obama's plan
        • focuses on health coverage but does not explicitly advocate mandatory health insurance (except - all children should be covered)
        • wants to maintain the idea of choice (in health-care options - many people do not like the idea of 'socialized' medicine)
        • new federal program that encourages employers to provide insurance for employees; those that don't have to pay into a national plan
        • supports greater regulation of the private health insurance market
        • less ambitious in general (no universal health coverage) than Clinton's
        • paradoxically - focuses both on 'choice' and gov't regulation
        • but still not universal
      • McCain
        • not much of a plan
        • main idea is to offer a $2500 refundable tax credit that people could use to purchase personal health coverage
          • (probably not actually enough to cover it; may not do much towards overall coverage)
        • promotes greater competition and individual/family protection instead of more extensive gov't regulation
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• Beyond Bush? Maybe!
  • both candidates talk about change, but change is hard to achieve in the US fedral system
    • it's hard to get things done; the system empowers interest groups
    •  
    • on many issues, McCain hardly goes 'beyond Bush', but is less of a social conservative and has a different leadership style
    • Obama's platform is more ambitious but somewhat vague
      • and, his party will probably control Congress which helps (compare to Clinton, who after 2 years lost the house, which forced him to adopt more conservative views to succeed)
  • Congress has a huge influence that isn't mentioned much in the media; this has a great impact on the success of the president

• 2 pages, no more
  • bullet points in 12pt font
  • use decent grammar/etc.
• take an article (or portion of one) and make a summary
• from Crosscurrents - one person take a 'yes' standpoint; the other takes the 'no'
  • launch a discussion; pose some challenging questions
• what's the author trying to get across; what are their sources; are they convincing?
• marked half on summary and half on presentation
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• article:
  • Section 9 (human rights) chapter 9:
    • "Are the MDG's achievable?"

Section 1: Introduction

• ( brief shpiel on the latest economic troubles in the US )
• class objectives
  • have a deep theoretical and methodological understanding of international studies
  • understanding both sides of global issues
• International Relations
  • talking about states and relationships between them
• International Studies
  • talking about both states and non-state actors and their relationships
  • IR is a part of IS, but not all of it
  • includes sociological approaches, economic components
• IR
  • security, freedom, order, justice, welfare (the 5 basic values we look at when examining the state system)
  • making things work without an overaching power
  • national security is the primary interest
    • order needed because states want stability in the global system
  • somewhat traditional perspective
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• the state - an independent, self-governing political unit
  • has its own government that exerts power within the state
  • government legitimacy
    • both external (recognition by other nations/international bodies)
    • and internal (
    • has a monopoly over the use of force within its boundaries
    •  
• international governance
  • while there is no overarching supranational authority, there are international discussions and agreement-making between states (eg, the UN, WTO, etc.)
  • the sovereignty of nations is considered sacred within these
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• sovereignty
  • principle that states have the right to govern their populations and territories without outside interference
• the basic political unit: the sovereign state
  • self-governing political unit that has
    • jurisdiction over a particular territory
    • monopoly over the legitimate use of force within their borders
    • territory and authority are recognized by other states
    • politicaly independent of any other states
  • originated (from Western perspective) after the 30 Years war with the Treaty of Westphalia ("we do not have the right to interfere in others' affairs") - in 1648
    • evolved to become the global system that we see today
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• citizenship
  • a recognized member of a state
  • often tied to nationalism
    • can be good or bad
      • good - eg, nationalism leading to overcoming colonialism in Africa
      • bad - eg, Nazi Germany
    • ethnic nationalism (ethnic or particular group) and civil nationalism
• nation - a group of people who share a common identity
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• modern states often referred to as nation-states but not all are comprised of only a single nation
  • bi-national or multi-national states
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• the security dilemma
  • every state builds up a military arsenal 'for its own protection'; this however becomes an implicit threat to neighbouring countries
  • states are supposed to provide security to their citizens, but this action can actually reduce their security as it encourages discord between states
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• balances of power
  • uni-polar system - one single nation dominating the international scene
    • eg, the United States since the end of the cold war
      • a "hegemony"
    • up for debate with the current rise of China
  • bi-polar - two competing dominant nations
    • eg, during the cold war
  • multi-polar - several dominant nations
    • favoured by liberal theorists as the most stable
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  • a debate of which balance of power provides the most security
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• theoretical approaches
  • realism
  • liberalism
  • international political economy
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  • realism
    • concerned with security primarily
      • conflict, war, threat deterrence
    • 'power politics' (hard power)
    • sees the state as the primary actor (providing security in an anarchic world)
    • Thomas Hobbes as key realism theorist
      • 'people are naturally self-interested actors; we naturally tend to fight'
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    • security dilemma
      • one state arming itself (intended for its citizens' protection) will make its neighbours feel threatened, and actually thus threatens its own citizens more
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  • liberalism
    • concerned with freedom
      • cooperation, peace, progress (self-less?, rational?)
    • sees the individual as primary
      • because of our rational nature, we can learn from our mistakes
    • trying to achieve the common good (in a global sense)
    • Locke as key thinker
    • focus on shared interests and collaborative institutions; common rules and values
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  • international political economy
    • soft power = economic power; hard power = military force
    • has risen with globalisation and increasing interdependence
    • focus is on welfare (not to be confused with neo-liberalism)
      • wealth, poverty, equality
      • from this base, there are many different possible theories for achieving this
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• IS outside of international relations
  • development theory
  • environmental perspectives
  • feminist perspectives
  • internationalism
  •  
  • environmentalism
    • primary focus is of course, environmental issues
    • 2 perspectives
      • modernist - human knowledge and technology will enable us to protect the environment
      • ecoradical - advocate revolutionary changes to human lifestyles to impact the environment less
    • implications for international relations
      • source of interstate conflict
      • can also be a source of intrastate conflict
        • (particularly in terms of regional natural resources)
      • use of the environment / natural resources (esp. non-renewable resoures)
      • special hazards
      • by nature, the environment is an international issue - we all live on the same planet
    • "tragedy of the commons"
      • phenomenon in which individuals in which individuals attempt to exploit the resources of a group, but only harm themselves because everyone adopts the same strategy until the resource is uniformly depleted
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  • feminism and gender studies
    • primary focus is ...gender
    • conventional IR theories are considered 'gendered'; women have been 'excluded from international relations theories'
      • traditionally, women were excluded from public policy, and so many theories were constructed based on patriarchal societies
    • gender studies: examining social roles, expectations and characteristics assigned to each gender
      • examining egality or discrimination that affects both genders as well as other sexual orientations
    • the "Fourth World" - designating either women or indigenous peoples worldwide
    • women comprise 'less than 5% of heads of state and own less than 1% of property worldwide'
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    • 3 perspectives on feminism
      • liberal feminism - legal and rights based
      • Marxist/socialist feminism - women may not have the same access to resources they need to take advantage of rights, etc. they may otherwise have
      • radical feminism - advocate revolutionary change
      •  
      • also used as far as examining disparities among individuals around the world
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  • internationalism (or 'international society')
    • challenges state sovereignty as the fundamental international institution
      • is the state still the most important international institution?
    • related to liberalism
    • primary focus
      • power and national interest (realism)
      • rules, procedures, international law (liberalism)
      • universal human rights and the common good (equivalents to the challenges to sovereignty)
      • looking to shape and constrain the actions of states internationally and internally
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• Global governance (is not global governemnt)
  • = the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, both public and private, manage their common affairs. ...
  • trying to determine what are all the factors affecting the actions of states internationally
  • pieces of global governance
    • international law
      • comes from increased interdependence and connection between states
      • increased acceptance of laws, agreements, treaties (multi-lateral agreements)
        • Geneva convention, Kyoto protocol, etc.
      • generally some method of enforcement
    • international norms ('soft laws')
      • legal conventions (may not be actually binding)
    • international governemtnal organizations (IGOs)
      • important structures
    • non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
      • important actors
    • trans-national corporations
    • international regimes
    • ad hoc arrangements
    • global conferences
    • private governance
  • actors in global governance
    • (see slides)
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  • increased need for global governance
    • globalization
    • the end of the cold war
      • possibly as a check on hegemonic power
      • rise of democracy and capitalism along with it
    • the 'triumph of liberalism'
    • emergent transnational activity
    • contested nature of sovereignty and emergence of international society
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    • diplomacy has become more complex
  •  
  • politics of effective global governance
    • power
      • legitimacy, accountability, effectiveness

Global Governance

• Theoretical Review
  • marxism
    • studies class inequality
    • the direction society has evolved in was inevitable given human nature
  • dependency theory
    • colonial history
    • focusing on economic structure of int'l system
    • sympathetic to marxist beliefs
  • critical theory
    • completely rejects the idea that the world can be understood objectively
    • people studying it are inevitably based on their own political idealogies, biases and backgrounds
    • study power relationships, motivations and people, since the decisions they make are subjective
    • somewhat more pragmatic, case-by-case
  • social constructivism
    • how we understand things is based on the groups that we come from
    • people's ideas, goals and identities are constructed by their group identities/place in society
    • who we are is determined by our background and where we come from in society
  • feminist perspectives
    • focuses on gender identities
  • level of analysis
    • the nature and structure of our social relations
    • level of analysis may be the individual, the state
  •  
• Pieces of global governance
  • multilateral structure
    • structures - institutions, etc.
    • processes - how are decisions made?
    • institutions
    • regimes - regulatory regimes, etc.
    •  
• the United Nations
  • centrepiece of global governance
  • "never again" mentality (in terms of WW1 and 2) led to its creation
  • a liberal idea - formed by liberal democracies
  • wanted to improve on the League of Nations
    • multi-purpose, multi-lateral, and co-operative
    • the forum for international diplomacy, inside and outside of war
    • unlike the League charter, the UN charter had strong enforcement capabilities included
      • a majority decision-making model instead of unanimous votes
      • states are expected to support and enforce UN decisions (something of an opt-in decision, however)
    • addressed some of the LoN shortcomings, but didn't come to the heart of the problem
    • also, issues with Security Council veto power (esp. during Cold War)
    •  
  • principles of the United Nations
    • sovereign equality
    • non-use of force (in international dealings)
      • emphasis on peaceful resolution of disputes
    • non-intervention
      • non-interference within internal affairs
        • raises the question of interfering in the interests of protecting human rights
        •  
  • Major systems and functions
    • Secretariat
      • administrative body
    • ECOSOC (Economic and social council)
      • promotes economic and social cooperation between states
      • focus on these systems as opposed to peace/conflict resolution
      • collaborative body
        • sometimes invites NGOs to participate or advise in certain circumstances
      • initiate case studies and reports; research and policy branch
      • makes recommendations to the general assembly and other bodies
      • primary concern is promoting and protecting human rights
    • Trusteeship Council
      • had a mandate to protect people in countries in the midst of decolonialisation
      • oversaw the transition to self-governing authority by former colonies
      • made up of former colonial states, SC members who didn't have colonies, and invited general members
      • tried to strike a balance between colonizers and former colonies to maintain world peace and reduce conflict
    • ICJ
      • included in the statute of the League of Nations as the Permanent Court of International Justice
      • evolved into the International Court of Justice within the UN
      • has a semi-independent status in order to separate it from the political aspirations of UN members
      • 15 judges that sit on the ICJ, and only 2 can both come from the same country
        • elected on 9-year terms
      • states bring issues to the ICJ
        • won't accept cases from individuals
      • only accepts 2 or so cases per year
    • Security Council
      • 15 member states
      • 5 permanent members, 10 rotating
      • identify threats, build consensus and agreement and decide actions
      • SC decisions are binding
      • 5 permanent members are the world powers from the end of WW2
        • have veto power on SC decisions
    • General Assembly
      • composed of all the member states
        • being a UN member state legitimizes a state in the int'l community
      • objectives are to come to resolutions on maintaining peace and security, but decisions (resolutions) are non-binding
      • try to promote international cooperation in a number of ways, in terms of education, health, rights
      • pass the UN budget
      • 2 major powers
        • to make recommendations
          • while could be seen as a very limited power, this is a way of demonstrating the opinion of the global community to issues concerning particular nations
        • and control the budget
      •  
      • decision-making process
        • 1-vote, 1-state system
        • 50% +1 majority on decision-making, although major decisions may require a 2/3rds vote
        • something like a parliament, but decisions made are non-binding
      •  
      • secretary-general is the chief ambassador of the UN
        • elected by the general assembly
        •  
    •  
  •  

Multilateral organizations

• Overvew
  • multilateral agencies of western governments
    • development policy
    • european organizations
    • multilateral 'spheres of influence'
  • non-western multilateral agencies
    • regional blocs
    • lobbying blocs
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• In the West
  • "elite multilateralism"
    • clubs for rich countries?
  • membership criteria
    • eg, democracies, liberal capitalist economies, reduced trade barriers, respect for human rights possibly, etc.
    • the Washington Consensus - democratic liberal capitalist countries
      • criticized as "the washington straightjacket" - takes away some of the protections a country can implement to protect its economy or well-being
        • in order to apply for a loan, for example, a developing country may need to privatize certain gov't functions
      • underlying objectives - economic stability, geopolitical interests, military interests
  •  
  • development policy
    • the OECD (organizatino of economic cooperation and development)
      • aimed at increasing the economic prosperity of a nation
      • evolved from the Marshall Plan steering committee (after work in Germany was completed)
      • official international think tank
      • composed of the richer industrial nations
      • influenced primarily by the united states
        • free-market capitalist type reforms
      • defines agendas and promotes consensus on macroeconomics, trade, investment, taxation, and public service reform along the lines of 'new public management'
        • npm - aimed at good government and fiscal responsibility in public services
      • Development Assistance Committee
        • health, education, women's issues
        • everything but security and military issues
        • but still influenced by US neoliberal thinking
        • may be informed or assisted by NGOs
    •  
  • European organizations
    • european commission (Brussels)
      • EC directorate general for development
        • because of their former colonial state, the EC members have a relationship with African countries / the African-Carribean-Pacific states
      • mandate to provide multilateral aid
      • major challenge = incoherence / poor management
        • sometimes unsure who is really responsible for aid
          • and who it should be going to
          • this organization isn't the only one doing development
          • also highly involved in commercial and trade policy
      • multilateralism - a cover-up for neo-colonial policies?
        • may be disguising exploitive relationships
      • ( not a neutral relationship )
      • ( how can multilateral organizations have positive impacts for development goals )
      •  
    • Council of Europe (1949)
      • interested primarily in socio-political cohesion
      • pioneered intergov'tal conventions on human rights
    •  
      • European Court (1959)
        • convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms (signed in Rome, 1950)
        • protecting personal human rights, political rights, etc.
        • states becoming members of the EU
      • COE Development Bank
        • founded in 1956 in Paris
        • mandate is to promote social solidarity
      • Organization for Secuirty and Cooperation in Europe
        • 1973 context of Cold War - focus on international stability
        • arms control, police and military reform
        • Helsinki accords in 1975
          • mandate to monitor human rights within the European Union
  •  
  • Multilateral "Sphere of Influence organizations"
    • organization of American states (1948)
      • originated in the united states' efforts to increase trade relations
      • mandate is to build consensus (among 35 member states)
      • from the US perspective, the OAS is a springboard towards a free-trade area comprising the members of the OAS
    • organization internationale de la francophonie (1970)
      • 55 member states
    • commonwealth of nations (1950)
      • all ex-colonies of Great Britain
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Jared Diamond Lecture, Oct. 27, 2008 at TCU Place

• Introduction
  • agriculture as a recent invention
  •  
• Canada and the us as sharing the same continent, similar environments, but very different lifestyles
• people often ask why he wrote a cheerfully-titled book called "Collapse"
  • thought it was important
  • originally thought of studying romantic, mysterious collapses, that leave behind mysterious structures
    • polynesian society - Easter Island
      • descendents
    • Pitkean Island - where mutineers from the Bounty landed
      • would have found the temples of inhabitants that andoneded them 400 years before
    • Maya on the Yuctan peninsula
      • famous for building cities in the middle of rainforests
      • had writing, astronomical observatories
      • gradually abandoned them
    • Anasazi Towns in the American southwest, gradually erected "skyscrapers" that were the tallest buildings in north america for a long time
      •  
    • Why do these cultures build these cities, and then abandon them? Societies that mysteriously collapse?
    •  
    • Societies don't always collapse - some going on for hundreds of years, no problem - how do some societies survive and avoid the problems that end these other ones?
      • Iceland - after a very long struggle, has eventually succeeded so well that it became the 7th richest
      • Japan - had a similar ecological problem - deforesting their island
        • shoguns solved Japan's forestry problems by rationing wood as well as practicing agro
        • became self-sufficient in wood
        • succeeding for centuries
      • New Guinea highlanders
        • 4600 years with no sign of collapse
      • With these problems of deforestation, water problems, etc. still are a concern today, along with new problems - toxic chemicals, energy shortages
      • should also talk about modern soceites struggling with the
        • book initially talks about the American state on Montana
          • seems on the surface to be pristine, untouched
        • another modern society mentioned is Rwanda, one of the most densely populated countries in Africa
          •  
          • human population will tend to outstrip food supply unless something is done about it, by either pleasant ways or unpleasant ways of our choice
        • Hispaniola - made up of the Dominican Republic and Haiti
          • distinct border
            • muddy, 99% deforested, massive soil erosion, and destabilized government on the Haiti side
            • Dominican republic - burgeoning economy, green and ecologically sound - 1/3 forested, 6x richer per capita
        • China - world's most populated country with the fastest growing economy
        • Australia
          • harsh
        •  
    • Initially thought that "Collapse" would talk about ecological suicide;
    • now goes through a 5 point checklist important to the
      • 1 human environmental impact
        • fish, topsoil, wood
        • using them more quickly than they can be sustained
        • can easily push themselves over the brink by using up all of their resources
      • 2 climate change
        • today associated with global warming caused by humans
        • combination of natural climate change -combined
      • 3 enemies
        • all socieites today have neighbours
        • internal problems in a socieity set it up for invasion by neighbours
        • afterwards, difficult to determine the actual cause
        • Roman empire, for example
          • had been fighting the barbarians successfully for centuries
          • Rome's internal problems grew greater, perhaps after which the barbarians were able to conquer it
      • 4 friends
        • no society is self-sufficient; all import certain essential materials
        • a society managing its own affairs perfectly well, may be a victim too if friends it relies on become more unstable
        • 1973 oil crisis - problems resulting
      • 5 economic, political, social insstitutions that determines whether a society perceives and solves - or fails to solve - its problems
    •  
    • Greenland
      • coastal fjords of Greenland are lush pasture land, even more so in the middle ages when it was settled by vikings
      • population built up to 5000 people between 2 settlements
      • Greenlanders wrote in latin and in runes; medieval greenland is the best preserved medieval European settlement (since
      • during summer, Greenlanders produced hay; hunted Caribou during the fall, eating stores over the winter, hunting seals
      • Greenlanders were the first Europeans to explore the new world, settled on newfoundland
      • faced with all 5 of those issues
        • suffered with envi. impacts - deforested their island, so couldn't make fire, so couldn't smelt iron anymore, which put them at a disadvantage to the Inuit; flayed their pastures
        • climate change - coast got colder, which meant less agricultural production and less trade with Norway
        • enemies - Inuit entered greenland from the NW
          • Greenlanders were a fairly racist society; upon encounterng inuits, promptly killed many of them
        • friends - trade with Norway declined due to
        • internal cultural attitudes - conservativism that preserved their christian european values, but refused to learn from the Inuit; gave up fishing early one and never returned to it
          • today, Greenland's primary export is fish - teeming with it
          • but yet, Greenlander archeological digs have basically no fish bones, while nearby Inuit sites are full of them
          • in the last year of one of the 2 settlements (the western one, which disappeared first)
            • archeologists find bones of small animals, young domestic aminals (indicating desperation, otherwise you'd let them grow more first)
              • dog bones with knife marks - even killing their hunting dogs
              • giving up hope - and giving up any means of rebuilding their socieity
              • settlement subsequently inhabited by Inuit
          • other settlement also eventually succumbed to starvation
          • if you think failure only happens to non-european socieities, here is an example of a european, christian socieity where everyone ended up dead (survived 151 years)
        • many lessons we can learn from these past societies
          • we should take our environmental problems seriously
            • env. problems can do us in
            • idea that "you must balance the environment against the economy"
              • as if one is in conflict with the other
              • in reality, env. problems are fairly cheaply solved early on
              • but can eventually reach a point where env. problems can actually devastate the economy
              • ex. hurricane Katrina
            • env. problems slowly grow and then reach a climax
            •  
            • economic example - American economy collapse just recently
            •  
      • what's the difference between a successful and a non-successful society?
        • in a society where the elites can isolate themselves from socieity's problems, they are less likely to try to solve them, and face collapse
        • whereas if the elites or rulers are experiencing those problems
        • Maya kings, insulating themselves from tje broader problems of society
          • commoners becoming undernourished, but still providing food to the elites
          • eventually
        • the Netherlands - the country of which the highest proportion of its citizens belong to environmental groups
          • take the environment very seriously
          • very large areas below sea-level (poldrs) - 1/3 of the land is below the sea level
            • the only thing standing between life and drowning are dikes and pumps
            • both elites and commoners living in the same countries, unlike New Orleans where the rich lived on higher ground
            • 1953 - major
        • polarization in the United states, growing gap between rich and poor
          • gated communities - isolated, rich communities, escaped the problems with underfunded Californian services - insulating themselves from the problems of society
            • isolation only protects you for so long
          • ex. Rodney King riots; attempting to limit the riots from spilling into the rich areas
          • if this polarization continues, eventually the rich will feel the spillover from the poor suffering a lower standard of living
        • can be a metaphor for the international system, where western socieity is essentially a rich gated community to the rest of the world
          • 9/11, for example, a reminder that the problems in the rest of the world can come in and affect us here
        •  
      • our present situation is closer to collapse in certain ways
        • greater rate of consumption of resources
        • today, when any country collapses it can affect the rest of the world easily
      • however, greater information resources, easier to learn from other socieites, both successful ones and collapsing ones
        • the first societies in world history to be able to learn from the state of other socieities around the world
          • Easter Islanders were unable to learn the Japaneses' (simultaneous) means of saving their forestry resources
        • also able to learn from societies in the past as well - by archeological means, etc.
        •  
        • thus, not a hopeless situation; hopefully can learn from successful past socieites - Norway, the Dominican Republic, New Guinea highlanders - and not from unsuccessful
    •  
    • Question - globalization
      • is it going to increase our risks, or decrease our risks?
      • allows us to integrate over a wider area
        • if you have a shortage while someone else h
      • also increases our risk - problems "out there"
      • globalization: increases the stakes; if there is a collapse, it's likely to global collapse, instead of
    • Question - focus is on environmental factors - what about social factors, given the increasing gap between rich and poor
      • consumption - North Americans consume 33x more resources per person than people in developing countries
      • there aren't enough resources for everyone to consume at first-world levels, and up-and-coming developing countries are hoping to match that
      • on one hand, consumption rates from the first world need to decrease, while consumption of the rest of the world needs to increase
    • Question - what would need to be done to convince people that thnigs actually need to change
      • key issue with this issue of sacrifice
      • much of our consumption is wasteful; Americans use more resources than Europeans with lower standard of living
    • Question - what are our chances of making it 40 years out?
      • we're on an unsustainable course - on consumption of oil, wood, topsoil, fish, etc. - and within 30 or 40 years, we'll either make it, or not
      • importance of good political decisions
    • Question - disconnect between the individual and the government - solutions for actually accomplishing environmental changes
      • grassroots movemtns can have an effect over small areas
      • big businesses - consumer decisions by individuals that pushed some of the world's biggest companies into cleaning up some of their environmental issues
      • electoral invovlement
    • Question - impact of technological change
      • often when technology is raised, it's said that it will solve everything
      • if we just use technological solutions and don't
      • obvious help
        • windmills today are vastly better
        • desalination technology
        • genetically modified crops are becoming more useful
      • technology can assist in mitigating this problem - but it isn't alone a solution
•  

Development

•  
• Development
  • Truman's 4 point speech
    • "bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the inprovement and growth of underdeveloped areas
    • for the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowldege and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people
    • the old imperialism - exploitation for foreign profit - has no place in our plans"
  •  
  • Semantics - language used in describing development
  •  
  • Development - 1960s growth in development ideas
    • started with rush to independence in former coloies
    • UN member states encouraged to devote 1% GDP to ODA
    • idea of distinction between 3rd world and 1st world countries
    • mass of IGOs emerging
    • common mission evolved
    • development international by nature
      • idea of lending a helping hand
      • sometimes more interested in promoting advantageous trade agreements
    •  
  • failure of development strategies - didn't meet the goals
    • has had negative results in many cases
    • sometimes reinforcing corrupt gov'ts or ones without the support of the people
    • failed to really increase quality of life in many casees
    •  
  • developmental theory (2 approaches)
    • modernization theory
      • bringing in modern, 1st-world ideas and technology can bring poor countries up to our standard of living
    • dependency theory
      • Western / rich country involvement created (or at least exacerbated) many of the problems facing poor countries
      • less involvement from the rich countries would be more beneficial to the poor ones
  • current situations reinforce this - western countries are benefitting from African resources without contributing profits back to the countries they are working in
  •  

Indigenous knowledge & health (thanks Jill!!)

• Hausa almost entirely Muslim, Islam significant
• Group/area lived with for 6.5 years, studied their culture and ag
•  
• Indigenous Knowledge
  • IK - local knowledge acquired by members of a community via experience, informal experiment and intimate understanding of the local environment
  • -culture-specific / locality-specific / gender-specific
  • -contributes to sense of identity (outside the European / N. American construction of identity of indigenous cultures)
  • -dynamic - internal creativity & external influences
•  
• "Think outside the box" - western approach to good agriculture to specialize, rather than diversify.
•  
• Indigenous Knowledge: Examples and Issues
  • I. African
    • -Indigenous agriculture vs. "Green Revolution", ex Hausa farming.
    • -need to set aside preconceptions of what makes good agriculture
    • Strategies -
    • intensive cropping strategies;
    • intercropping; multiple varieties (landrace seeds, indigenous, local seed varieties, passed generation to generation);
    • natural fertilizers (household refuse / fertility - enhancing trees)
  • VS
  • Monocultures (maize) with "improved" varieties
    • requirements -
    • purchased seed
    • heavy fertilization;
    • ideal soil / drainage conditions;
    • herbicides
    • also - less variety (grain characteristics); greater risk of crop failure (disease, drought, etc.)
    • environmental consequences of fertility, pesticides
    • loss of biodiversity
•  
• Indigenous Hausa healers vs. World Health Organization
  • -Hausa medicine based on culture-specific constructs about illness, its causes, cures, etc
  • Basics - differences between western and indigenous constructs
  • lafiya - health, wholeness
  • ciwo - sickness
  • magani - medicine
  • Causes of ill-health - Allah is the cause of all that happens
  • supernatural forces (especially spirits)
  • natural causes (eg hot & cold. "Cold" illness, need to counter-act with a "Hot" cure, Have a problem related to hotness, and add hot medicine, like adding fuel to the fire; diet)
  • Diversity of healers & healing models
  • Islamic healing models: Koranic scholars
  • Indigenous Hausa spiritual models: boka; bori
  • Secular models: herbalists, bonesetter, midwives
•  
•  
• Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge: Hausa Agriculture
  • -Some approaches to yield maximization & risk minimization
  • -All these are strategies which are low cost **
•  
• Agroforestry
  • will notice trees scattered all over land
  • blurred lines between farm and forest (broad definition)
  • origin of trees - wild / preserved vs. cultivated. No one has cut the trees down. They are valuable.
  • benefits:
  • fertility (acacia, neem, etc.)
  • erosion control (windbreaks)
  • shade (crops, human comfort)
  • products
  • fuel & fodder (limbs)
  • food
  • medicines
  • construction timbers
  • Intensity of use / benefits:
  • sale of products (eg. Tamarind, henna, doum palm/mats)
  • food as medicine & medicine as food
  • When external development agencies don't understand these things can be very negative. CIDA cut down trees and established an experimental farm. From CIDA's perspective, trees were messing up landscape.
• Intercropping and Varietal Diversity
  • strategy / rationale
  • benefits:
  • total & per hectare yield
  • risk minimization
  • soil protection etc...
  • problems:
  • labour availability & cost
  • small viable scale
  • Soil Fertility Management
  • strategies / nutrient sources
  • nutrient cycles
•  
•  
• Ways Forward?
  • "Modernization" in Western sense is largely blocked
    • -notion can turn Nigeria into Saskatchewan and have huge farms growing crops doesn't work:
    • Excessive costs and disappointing returns
    • dependent on external inputs
    • not accessible to most Africans
    • undermines existing small-scale production
    • ecological costs. Herbicides have impacts in terms of varietal crops, water pollution
•  
  • "The way back" is largely blocked
    • "traditional" agriculture has continued to change
    • depeasantization under Structural Adjustment (people leaving country side)
    • alienation / privatization of land
    • negative effects of drought, war, etc.
    • impact of AIDS (especially in southern Africa)
•  
• Solutions??
  • -appropriate research and development that builds upon indigenous knowledge and is reflective of African ecosystems & social systems
  • "Farmer First" studies
  • alley cropping
  • study / promotion of local crop varieties (landraces), eg. Ethiopia
  • -rural development to enhance rural life
  • eg. Curriculum reform
  • agriculture + health = education
  • -recognize and support agrarian role of women *huge one. For majority of African society most of production done by women, they are the farmers.
  • -pricing mechanisms - international markets
  • -peace & stability

Saskatoon Open Door society presentation

• providing services to immigrants and refugees since 1981
  • formed in response to Vietnamese refugees coming to Canada in the 1970s
  • a union
• exists to welcome and assist refugees and immigrants to become informed and effective participants in Canadian society and to involve the Saskatoon community in their hospitable...
• non-profit NG organization
• weather, language and culture main issues for newcomers to Canada
• services provided:
  • language training and daycare
    • part-time Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC)
    • most newcomers recieve financial assistance from the federal gov't after arrival, including funding for language training
    • Literacy to level 3/4
      • intresting because many of these people don't read or write in their native language
    • originally, many students were senior citizens; now it is younger students primarily
    • more than 300 students per year
    •  
•  

and, back to IS!

Jennifer Cushon on global health

• Jennifer Cushon,
  • ph. d student in community health and epidemiology
  • began as a political science b.a. and masters
  • communitiy health -> social aspect, and epidemiology -> disease tracking in society
  • community health 402 - good for development stream
•  
• what is health?
  • no definitive definition, but a number of characteristics
  • multidimensional - encompasses physical, mental, spiritual
  • dynamic
  • relative concept, depends on the individual
  • a valuable resource to life
  • WHO, 1948: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
    • much more complex than just sickness
•  
• 3 health discourses (what causes poor health?)
  • biomedical
    • causes = cancer, AIDS, diabetes, obesite, CVD
    • health viewed as the absense of disease
    • people are considered patients and consumers of healthcare
    • addressing health involves medical treatment, screening, prescription
    • professionally-dominated
  • behavioural
    • causes = smoking, poor eating habits, lack of fitness, substance abuse, poor life skills
    • health viewed as a lifestyle choice
    • people are assumed to be members of high risk groups
    • reducing, preventing unhealthy lifestyles
    • tends to blame the victim
  • socioenvironmental
    • causes = poverty, inequality, etc.
    • health viewed as physical, mental and social well-being
    • people viewed as members of communities
    • emphasises empowerment, action, participation
    • can be overwhelming
      • and, whose responsibility is health, then?
•  
• the population health perspective
  • health and well-being are far more complex than anything that can be captured by biomedical conceptions of health revolving around illness and disease
  • population helath research is focussed on determinants (what determines whether someone is healthy or not
  •  
  • Health Canada's determinants of health
    • income and social status, education and literacy, employwment, working conditions, social environments, personal health practices, health child development, gender, culture, and several others
•  
• an example - socioeconomic status gradients
  • higher SES position means better helath
  • relative SES also matters
    • socieites with less relative inequality have overall better health
  • 25% of our health -> healthcare, 25% to fitness, etc., and 50% to area and socioecomoic status
•  
• global health research
  • research concerning the health problems of socieites in low and milddle income countries
  • and research concerning people in all countries around the world
•  
• major issues to consider
  • 1 social and material inequalities generate health inequalities
    • the richests 1% receive as much helathcare as the bottom 57%
  • 2 long-term changes in social and natural environments
    • global environmental change has potential to greatly affect health
    • as does globalization
•  
• defining globalization
  • many definitions emphasize economic interconnectedness
  • greater integration in world economy
  • and also greater interdependence between societies
•  
• a brief history of globalization
  • current stage (more intense gl. since 1980) is distinct
    • global nature of certain public health issues
    • proliferation of multilateral trade agreements
    • intl trade dominanted by transnational corporations
    • neoliberal state restructuring
    • greater population mobiliity
    • chanign modes of production
      • services and knowledge-based economies
    • increased cultural diffusion
    • advances in technology
•  
• globalization and health
  • when examining the realtionship between gl. and health, most adopt the population health perspective
  • 4 major pathways
    • economic, political, social and technological
  •  
    • economic
      • neoliberalism
        • primacy of the market
        • less gov't intervention
        • deregulation and trade liberalization
        • privatization
        • decline of welfare state
      • neoliberalism tends to increase income inequality within and between countires
      • income inequality -> lower levesl of social cohesion (extent of connectedness and solidarity in a community), psychosocial impacts -> poor health status
      • deindustrialization/outsourcing -> fewer well-paid, full-time, unionized position
        • outsourced to countires with few labour/env. regulations and low wages
      • rise in non-traditional work arrangments
        • job insecutiryty, less control over work, less social support/fewer benefits
      • gentrification has been driven by those benefitting from globalization
        • social poliarization in cities (more distinct rich and poor areas), fewer affordable housing options
    •  
    • political
      • neoliberal policies
        • dismantling of the welfare state, less spending on social services, education and health
        • privatization of social policy (social housing, in 1990s the gov't cut funding to it and it became much less effective or available)
        • economic volatility -> political instability
        • restructuring of tax systems -> regressive tax systems negatively affect low and middle income families
      • a de-nationalized nation-state?
        • new global political structures (eg, WTO)
        • (may depend considerably on a country's previous self-sufficiency or strength of gov't)
        • international trade agreements
          • eg. TRIPS
            • part of 1994 World Trade Agreement
            • provides patent protection for 20 years on new discoveries
            • restricts possiblity of importing or producing essential drugs for many low-income countries
              • some exceptions, but quite restrictive
    •  
    • social-cultural
      • increasing urbanization
      • social polarization in cities
        • more affluent people moving to suburbs, leaving poor inner cities
      • poverty disporportionately shouldered by certain populations (eg, feminization of poverty - more women susceptible to poverty)
      • emergence of global awareness
        • through internet and increased technological connections
      • adoption of western lifestyles
        • heavily promoted by corporations (McDonalds, others) which can have a negative health impact
    •  
    • technological
      • decreases in manufacturing employment
      • increases in human migration -> greater risk of disease spread
      • environmental degradation (eg, cliamte change, possibly increases in "natural disasters")
      • increased communication cabilities (eg internet)
        • somewhat exclusive to people in richer countries
    •  
• globalization in developing countires
  • (sweeping generalization)
  • oil price shocks in 1970s
  • large-scale lending of deposits from oil-exporting counreis to developing countries
    • D.C.s who were facing declining markets for their commodities
  • rapid rise in interest rates, considerable rise in debt of 3rd-world countires
  • Mexico in 1982 threatened to default on its loans
  • in response, IMF and World Bank initiated loans with conditionalities to developing countries throughout the 1980s
    • structural adjustment programs
      • reduction of subsidies
      • trade liberalization
      • reduction in social spending
      • user fees for education and health
      • privatized gov't services (possibly health and education)
    • WHO found that SAPs were associated with a number of negative health issues
    • Heavily-indepted poor countries (HIPCs) initiative launched in 1996, with Poverty reduction strategy papers required from countries seeking akd
    • WHO critial of PRSPs
    • G8 committed to the multilateral debt relif initiative (MDRI) in 2005, although commitment has not been fully realized (more funding from G8 required)
•  
•  
• globalization at home (case study of Saskatoon, SK)
  • looking at child poverty in saskatoon
  • at federal and provincial levels
  • Cdn and SK. economies are quite strong
    • focus on exports, economically interdependent
  • impact of globalization
    • despite healthy economy, little has changed since 1980s
      • 1/5 of population considered poor, in 1980s and today
      • income inequality increasing
      • greater prevalence of non-stuandard work arrangments for parents
      • housing affordability is a major issue
      • Cd. and SK. welfare states are eroding, particularly in spending on social assisance, housing, labor, employment and immigration
      •  
      • looking at relationship between this and child health levels
    • health status overall differs considerably (500% - 1000%) between poorer and richer neighbourhoods of Saskatoon
•  
• is gl. good or bad for your health?
  • proponents
    • tech has aided disease surveillance, treatment and prevention
    • empowerment of women
    • trade liberalization, privatization, deregulation (ie neoliberalism) -> economic growth -> poverty reduction -> improved health
  •  
  • critics
    • greater risk of disease spread
    • female labour participation often low-wage
    • increasing income inequality
    • world economy slowing over past 20 years
    • world economy revoles around western europe, east asia and north america
    • trickle-down theory does not occur in reality
•  

midterm essay questions

• 1 compare and contrast the united nations and the european union
  •  
• 2 neoliberal reforms and impact on developing countries
  • what are the intl financial institutionsa dn what has their roles been,
  • and what are the results?
  • why have they been so lasting
  • what are the challenges?
  • post-Washington consensus, shift from SAPs to poverty reduction strategies
  • change in language, are we really affecting change?
  • couple of good articles in the Currents textbook, ch.1 and 12 (gl. = imperialism?)
  • are we making headway? is this a move away from the traditional development agenda (ie, democracy + free trade?)
  •  
  • think about the relationship between neoliberal economic development, and human development
• 3 indigenous development theory
  • define i.d.t.
    • applying indigenous knowledge to health, agri. knowhow
    • consider specific needs of the people, the land, the area and culture
    • different conception of sovereignty, how we think about nations and sovereignty
      • objective of empowering people to overcome poverty traps
    • not necessarily grassroots understanding of culture, but also political and historical things to consider (Holistically!)
    • how does the nation (not necessarily official states) define themselves, govern themselves
  • 3 readings describing indigenous development theory and indigenous knowledge
  • understand theory and discuss its importance
    • some readings based on north american (First Nation) indigenous development, what is that connection?
    • illustrate answer by discussing global health issues
    • why do we consider i.d.knowledge important, how can we apply some of these theories?
• 4 global governance
  • what is global governance?
  • why is it important? relevant history, what is our current global "government" system?
  • theoretical foundations
  • what's the point of global governance that's effective and efficient?
  • suggestion that its needed to address issues esp. international problems and cross-border issues (global env. issues, HIV/AIDS, etc.)
  • needed to reduce inequality? what those inequalities are? scope in which we're looking at issues in north america
  • needs to be responsible to people - what does this mean, how do we acheive it?
    • legitimacy
    • concentration on human rights
    • accountability (to whom? to everyone? who needs to be accountable?)
      • govt's, private sector, who is accountable to who on an international level?
  •  

• sidenote - Paul Farmer on global health issues
• pragmatic solidarity
  • dealing with need where we see it
  • what are the judgements and values that i'm placing on these people
  • economics as a barrier to health issues (structural impediments to success in health initiatives)
• social justice approach
  • health as a human right
  • commitment to health for the poor
  • trying to reduce health disparities in communities and worldwide
  •  
  •  

Semester 2 - IS!

• finishing up about global health
  • community health
  • health and conflict
  •  
• various perspectives on health outcomes
  • sociological & community basis
  • medical basis
  • international relations
  • feminist & gender studies
  •  
• healthcare and the social contract
  • JJ Rousseau's social contract - defines the relationship between individuals, the state and the gov't
  • principles govern these relations
    • no man inherrent has authority over others
    • authority finds legitimacy in social contracts
    • competition increases need for social contracts
  •  
  • in terms of public goods and this relationship,
    • is the state responsible for, say healthcare, or education, or etc?
    • what are the state's responsibility to its citizens?
  •  
  • in terms of a capitalist society, the state has a responsiblitity to provide those needs which are not being met by the private market
  •  
•  
• article quoted on society and health in terms of women's rights
  • social determinants of health
    • someone's position in society
    • etc
    •  
  • addressing the social determinants of health has an opportunity to improve health and prevent death through non-health-specific means
  •  
  • connections between legal rights and health
    • women are excluded from decisionmaking related to HIV/AIDS
    • women are more vulnerable in times of conflict (incl. rape as a weapon of war)
    • less food security due to less political rights
    •  
    • community organizations & NGOs that focus on women's health have an impact
    • gov't attitudes likewise impact
  •  
  • health in conflict or post-conflict environments
    • eve ensler on rape as a weapon of war
•  
• health and societal development
  • during the post-WW2 era, considerable growth in development, establishment of welfare systems, reduction in inequality between north and south, east/west and within given countries
  • however since the OPEC crisis and the subsequent debt crisis and SAPs, increased privatization and liberalization had a generally negative impact on healthcare in developing countries

Globalization and health

• globalization enables more significant spread of disease
  • improved transportation and movement of populations, etc.
• in general, "germs" historically have impacted the evolution and growth (or decay) of society
•  
• stages of human development
  • hunter-gatherer
    • apparently humans were at their healthiest then. Who knew?
  • agricultural communities
    • living in close proximity with domesticated animals, acquired diseases from them
  • urbanized populations
    • more dense population allowed diseases to spread through populations more quickly, reduced sanitation etc. caused health problems
      • the plague for example killed a third of the world's population
  • colonial era
    • spread of diseases to societies that had no exposure nor resistance to them
  •  
• global epidemics or pandemics
  • smallpox
  • cholera
  • influenza
  • HIV/AIDS
•  
•  
• Big discussion on water, specifically water shortages and the effect on the poor
  • based on the 2006 UN Human Development Report
•  
•  
• 3/7 short answer questions
  • modernization theory
    • pg. 2 in Crosscurrents
  • regi
    • pg. 151 in international orgs.
  • BWI
    • pg. 360 in I. O.s
  • SAPs
    • pg. 368 in I.O.s
    • pg. 152 in CCs
  • Indigenous dev'p theory
    • Bob stock's lecture
    • i.d. readings
  • neoliberalism
    • pg. 38 in I.O.s
  • liberation theology
    • paul farmer 's readings
    • and jennifer cushion's lecture
  •  

• evolving nature of war
• types of weapons (+proliferation) and types of war
• understanding approaches to peace and security (conflict resolution)
•  
• current issues in international conflict
•  

International Security

• what is the basis of the current intl concern for weapons proliferation?
  • different types of proliferation
  • kinds of materials and capabilities
  • and what difference each makes
•  
• legacy of the cold war: a world awash with weapons
  • small arms
  • larger arms
  • chemical and biological weapons
  • weapons of mass destruction (oh noes!!)
  •  
  • proxy wars being waged duriung the cold war had implications for where those weapons ended up
  •  
• arms trafficking
  • automatic assault weapons
  • rocket-propelled grenade launchers
  • ( AK-47 is the world's deadliest weapon in terms of most casualties over history )
  •  
• government proliferation
  • provided to allied states or part of aid pachages
  • increasingly sold to highest bidder
  •  
  • largest arms dealer by far: United States
    • most weapons sold to the middle east
•  
• weapons of mass destruction
  • atomic
  • biological
  • chemical weapons
  •  
  • considered the highest priority in arms policy
  • however conventional weapons (rifles and landmines) are still responsible for most carnage
  •  
• chemical weapons
  • incendiaries
  • defoliants
  • poisons (ie mustard gas or mycotoxins)
    • often had a much greater impact on civilian populations because of longer-term effects
  •  
• biological weapons
  • deadly strains of viruses and bacteria (eg anthax, which can be effectively contained and dispersed)
  • smallpox
•  
• atomic weapons
  • "completely changed the face of war"
  • arms race began when soviets tested their first atomic bomb a few years after American discovery
  • hydrogen bombs - much more effective nuclear weapon
  • intercontinental ballistic missile - delivery method
  • detente - having weapons as a deterrent to the similar weapons possessed by your rivals; often escalates to greater and greater numbers of weapons but without any actual use

Presentation on Guantanamo Bay & prisoners of war

• • - Nicole mcDonald
  •  
  • obama on G.Bay
    • close the facility
    • try the detainees in the US
    • stop torturing
•  
• timeline
  • sept. 11 2001 terrorist attacks
  • october 7 2001
    • USA launches attacks on afghanistan, aimed at causing as many causualties on terrorist camps as possible, as well as destabilizing and removing the Taliban
    • allied with 'northern alliance' warlord group in northern Afghanistan
    • approx 700 men captured in Afghanistan were transported to guantanamo bay
    • US criticized for conditions and treatment of these detainees
  •  
• POW must meet 4 criteria
  • be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates
  • have a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance
  • carry arms openly
  • conduct war operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war
•  
• are granted a number of protections by Geneva conventions
  • equal treatment to that given to the capturing army's members
  • no torture or unpleasant treatment
  • not required to answer questions, cannot be mistreated or coerced to acquire information
  • cannot be separated from each other without their consent
  • must be released at the end of the conflict
•  
• Afghanistan a unique case
  • Taleban fighters not wearing uniforms; mixed in with civilian population
  • Taleban not an internationally recognized gov't
  •  
• Bush administration considered the captives 'illegal enemy combatants' and not within the Geneva conventions' protections
  • soon resulted in fierce criticism for treatment of prisoners
    • living conditions
    • interrogation & torture
    • trial & punishment
  •  
  • international criticisms
    • encourages other countries to also flaunt int'l law
    • enemies may be encouraged to treat captured US soldiers similarly
•  
• the Bush administartion's "strategic reasons"
  • conditions of detention
  • interrogation tactics
  • release of prisoners
  • judicial proceedings
  •  
  • concerned with potential war crimes trials against US servicemen
  • trials would be open to the public; other terrorists would learn from them
•  
• military commissions act (MCA) followed several supreme court judgements against Bush's policies on trials for IECs
•  
• criticisms of the MCA
  • unconstitutional
  • can apply to US citizens
  • endorses the administration's 'war paradigm'
•  
• while trying to attempt a unilateral approach to the war, they
• in times of fear it's understandable that citizens would grant their gov'ts substantially more freedom
• however the security threat posed by terrorism should not supercede human rights
  • demonstrates that violence can be used to get what you want
  • terrorist acts have increased since the 'war on terror' began
  • may help in the short run, but in the long run, this can only reduce the security of the US since it undermines international law
•  

• the difference, quote
  • "the americans would like to tear ass around afghanistan, and we'd like to make things better"
  • the Canadians seem to have a better attitude, perhaps not more skill, but a sensitivity to afghanis
• afghanistan
  • a remote, heavily mountainous, landlocked country
  • unlikely focus for international military operations
  • very little arable land; major crop is opium (provides 92% of global supply)
  • poorest country in asia, perhaps 3rd poorest country in the world (not well known)
    • avg. life expectency - 32 years
    • literacy - 75%
    • half the population is unemployed
    • widespread disease
      • Cdns carry disinfectant soap in case they come into physical contact with Afghanis - widespread hepatitis from water
    • very little water, contaminated
    • little to burn, and a very cold country
      • few trees; human waste is collected and burnt
  •  
  • why is it such an important country?
    • not one that anyone particularly wanted, but one that everyone wanted to prevent their enemies from getting
    • after Iranian revolution, Soviet forces went in, and were embroiled in guerilla warfare for a decade - had to fight their way out
    • generations of Afghanis trained in guerilla warfare
    • became a major issue in world politics (given gravity of cold war)
      • very little each side could do to the other
      • when soviet union sent troops into afghanistan, many western countries refused to participate in the 1980 olympics
        • but really didn't matter particularly to western countries
      • but soviets pulled out, essentially defeated in 1988
        • littered today with old tanks
        • mountain passes impossible to traverse in armoured vehicles
        • impossible for helicopers to fly low enough to engage fighters
      • civil war ensued between various tribal and religous groups
        • in 1995, the Taliban emerged as the strongest group
          • never controlled the whole country, but controlled most except part of the north
          • set up a theocratic republic, an austere brand of islam
          • among other things, they sheltered bin Laden, a "mujahadeen" who had fought the soviets; came from saudi arabia with money and an education
          • in any religion, no matter how straightforward it looks, there's still room for interpretation
            • the religion of the Taliban and bin Laden was a very strict religion and thus theocracy
      • osama bin laden
        • travelled around asia and africa
        • eventually settled in afghanistan, since the Taleban shared a very similar interpretation of Islam
        • bin Laden hated the United States particularly,
          • for backing Israel
          • because they had troops on Saudi soil, since 1991
            • foreign troops on the Muslim holy land
          • one of the friends of bin Laden, said one of the things that shocked him the most about the US, was that the US forces in saudi arabia were sacriligious in the holy land - for ex., female american soldiers wearing shorts
          • extreme religious devotion
            • gave up extreme wealth (came from the richest family in saudi arabia aside from the royal family) to come to afghanistan to live in caves and set up terrorist training camps and attacks on the US
            • agreement with Taleban - bin Laden brought money, education and tech to their country, and in exchange they would never turn him in to his enemies
        • attack on the US on sept. 11
          • by october, NATO military forces were attacking afghanistan; disposed of the Taleban gov't, and began searching for al-Queda leaders
          • seven and a half years later, that has yet to be completed
          • after Taleban was deposed and a new gov't was in place, the UN formed the international security assistance force (ISAF) ~2002
            • NATO was subsequently assigned to run ISAF, and has done so for 6 years
            • NATO has been involved in counter-guerrila warfare, often against an "invisible enemy"
            • attacks - who did them? the taleban? al-queda? a local militia or gang of a local drug lord?
            • the Taleban's control over the country has actually tightened over the past 2 years
        • resurgence of the Taleban
          • resistance against western lifestyles - pornography, excess, drinking, promiscuity
          • and actual resistance against western armies
          • significant appeal on both counts to afghan citizens
        •  
          • these fairly austere religious beliefs are not unique to the taleban
            • the beliefs (eg, wearing bhurkas) existed before the taleban
            • and the taleban bring an important aspect of afghan culture
            •  
            • quote from the director of the afghanistan human rights commission
              • "don't women have the right to not be leered at by men?"
                • not imposed top down by the taleban, simply enforced
          •  
          • the taleban has been fighting for this cause for a long time
            • other afghan groups, iran and pakistan, then the soviet union, now NATO
            • have the will, and plenty of money, largely from the drug trade and from some rich arabs (esp from saudi arabia) funding the resistance to the west
            • have a seemingly endless supply of guns
              • captured soviet AK-47s, plus more modern guns and weaponry
                • allegedly from iran according to americans (but unlikely)
              • effective guerilla fighters - they can choose the time and place and the target
              • western forces are always responding
              • we're thus stuck with the task of trying to defend everything
              • can hide effectively in the mountains
          •  
          • 50000 to 60000 foreign troops, from 41 countries (mostly NATO, but not exclusively) all in ISAF
          • another 20000 american troops in 'operation enduring freedom', an anti-taleban and bin Laden-hunting combat mission
          • the ISAF forces generally don't engage in active combat, focus on patrolling specific areas
          • Canada, with 28500 troops in the Khandahar region (with the british and dutch and americans)
            • 5 of these 41 countries are fighting the main front against the taleban
            •  
        • we're trying to spread an ideology, just as the taleban are
          • western ideals (we're a bit fuzzy on torture, but otherwise)
          • freedom of speech and freedom of religion
          • more little girls going to school
          • human development
          • human rights
          •  
          • how much do older male elders in afghanistan want to see little girls going to school?
          • we can go for stability by giving the traditional power structure in afghanistan what it wants, austere religious rule
          • or we can try to spread our values, and risk turning the entire culture against us
          • we can't exactly abandon our values while there, but if we push too hard in imposing our culture, we cannot succeed
          • we can do things that make it easier for us to win a war, but might end up with pushing people towards the taleban
            • we thought the taleban were defeated in 2003! and then they returned in 2005 with a vengeance; their influence has grown since that happened; they have a lot of popular support
          • perhaps we're caught in a trap - if we promote our views, eg human rights, it's cultural imperialism that may drive people into the hands of the taleban
            • the male relatives of these small girls going to school are not
          •  
      • this is a society that's very different from our own
        • it's very easy to see us as opposed not to terrorism, but to islam itself
      •  
      • 5 signs of a deteriorating situation
        • dramatic spread of the taleban
          • a year ago, the Senlis company was estimated to 'have a substantial presence' in 52% of the country
          • now, it could be 75%
          • a record level of violence last year, up 25% last year, and the attacks have now spread dramatically, eg to Kabul
          • the infiltration of foreign fighters from Pakistan is much higher
          • head of british forces - 'the war is being lost'
          • gen. petraeus - 'a downward spiral of security'; unless the west does somethinga bout that soon, afghanistan will be lost
        • level of corruption in afghanistan
          • difficult position of pres. Karzai
          • rampant corruption
          • police commanders keeping payroll; policemen then extort general public to survive
        • record (opium) poppy crops
          • despite efforts to reduce opium crop and reduce dependency on it
          • est. $200-300 million from poppy crop funding the taleban yearly
        • ISAF and NATO have been unable to stop the flow of foreign fighters into afghanistan from pakistan
          • originating from saudi arabia, bosnia, chechnya, and pakistan itself
          • little can be done to stop fighters from crossing enormous mountain ranges
        • declining support for NATO, for the american forces specifically, and for pres. Karzai's gov't
          • poll released on monday this week by an afghan polling company
            • 83% of afghans expressed support for US in 2005
            • 45% today
            • 37% support nato
            • given bombings of civilians, foreign countries should get out
        •  
        • all of this points to a trend that will be very, very hard to change
    •  
    •  
    • what is the solution?
      • it's not military, or at least not
      • hardly any examples of military success against guerilla groups (beating them on the battlefield has never really been done)
        • usually, any winners against guerilla groups did so by giving to the public what the guerillas promised
      • will adding 20 000 more troops make any difference?
      •  
      • col. walker, commander of one of the battle groups - "not a single soldier in his unit was killed in combat with the taleban" - all the casualties in his group were from IEDs
        • how do more forces solve this problem?
      • if we keep putting more and more troops in, it's really going to look like an occupation force, which undermines the Karzai gov't and makes it look (even more) like a puppet of the west
        • eventually, you "cut your own throat"
        • you may undermine the only gov't there is that might remain legitimate
      •  
      • (prof. wheeler) doesn't think the military is a solution at all
        • a fairly small area -near pakistan border- where most of the fighting with the taleban occurs
        • airstrikes (often killing
        •  
        • the solution: improving the quality of life there
          • that's where we should be spending our big bucks
          • the miserable quality of life is the enemy
            • which makes it possible for the taleban to recruit so freely among the people
            • corruption is the norm and poverty is common to these people
            • enormous unemployment rate
            •  
            • why wouldn't you support the taleban? at least they offer religion - a path to heaven
              • and resistance to those powers that are overrunning our countries
            •  
            • the aid the western countries are promising isn't getting to the people
            • most hasn't even gotten to the country (Canada notwithstanding)
            • decreased on the HDI by 1 (to 3rd last) between 2005 and 2007; not ranked this year
              • nobody knew what the country's population was!
              • no record of imports or exports
              • no taxation system, just a system of corruption and extortion
          •  
          • if you try to improve the infrastructure, unless you defend it militarily, the taleban will destroy it
            • security and peace must be in place
            • you can't just go in with a bunch of aid workers
            • it simply won't be the case that all cdn. forces leave in 2011 - only combat forces
              • someone needs to stay to protect the aid workers, unless they also leave
          •  
          • prof. wheeler - put our main effort into improving quality of life (they're what we do best) - development and infrastructure
            • of course security and peace must be in place
            • but how can you acheive security and peace before you can improve quality of life?
            •  
            • possible solution - buy up all the opium
            •  
            • we can't compete with the islamic appeal of the taleban
            • but we can provide projects, hope and development - and better quality of life - that can appeal to the afghan population - that we can do better
            •  
            • it's probably the children that really matter in that country
              • the future of this country will depend on who explains to the children what Allah expects of them, and what they can expect for life and for the afterlife
                • this won't be settled by military action in the mountains of afghanistan
          •  
  • QA
    • - only in the last few years that the Taleban has begun attacks against the civilian population
      • once NATO became so unpopular
      • prior to that, attacks on civilians were considered to be by al-Queda, while other attacks were considered to be by the taleban
    • - 2 years ago, 2/3rds of Pakistanis polled
      • if it comes to a religious war, we're sunk. we can offer material improvements, but the taleban can offer eternal life
    • - constant frustration for the civilians. attacks from westerners, attacks from the taleban; overall hopeless situation.
      • but war is all they've ever known. that's what they were born into, and that's what life will be like when they die.
      • when we build helpful things (bridges, medical facilities, etc.) and then the taleban destroy them, that's when support turns towards us
    • - given the cultural schism, is it possible for some predominantly muslim (moderate) country to fight there and demonstrate a more moderate approach to counter the taleban
      • Turkey - as the only islamic country in the western forces - plays a crucial war
        • however, Turks are still viewed as remote and different; Arabs are viewed with derision; not a complete solution

UN and Peacekeeping

• 1st-gen PK objectives (chapter 6)
  • observing & monitoring ceasefires
  • facilitate withdrawil of armed forces
  • establish a buffer zone
  • rebuild domestic peace forces & political order
  • deterring the onset of further violence
  •  
• 2nd-gen PK objectives (chapter 7)
  • build conditions for peace with consent of the parties embroiled in conflict
    • build conditions for stable & long-term peace with the consent of the parties involved
    • third-party negociations
    • peaceful resolution to a conflict
  • also invove overseeing democratic transition, delivering aid, protecting himan rights, protecting aid workers, and enforcing arms control measures
•  
• Grey areas
  • peacekeeping is easier when you know who the actors are
    • who is fighting who
  •  
  • situations where it is much more difficult or unlikely for the parties involved to be cooperative or supportive of 3rd-party peace negotiations
  • root causes of conflict - political conflicts, or humanitarian needs missing?
  •  
  • 3rd-generation peacekeeping ("6.5 mandate")
    • blurring the line with enforcement - invovle greater use of force, without the consent of the concerned parties
    • the goals are to enforce the termination of the use of force & violence, and to rebuild the state
      • this greater use of force leads to higher probability of fatalities for the 3rd-party forces
    •  
    • ex. Bosnia & Herzegovnia, Yugoslavia
    •  
• Evaluating success & failure in peacekeeping
  • difficult to identify successes
  • failures far more recognizable
•  
• Findings
  • the transformation of warring parties into political parties is essential to the success of the mission
  • also crucial is the rebuilding of civil society
  • formal peace agreements are crucial
  • ending the support of interstate actors and neighbours for specific groups
  •  
• Identifying root causes of conflicts
  • not just who the political actors are
  • poverty and political, social, and economic inequalities between groups predispose to conflict
    • policies to tackle them will reduce this risk
  •  
  • eg. role of education in conflict or immediate post-conflict situations
    • impact on social systems by conflict & groups involved
    •  
• "complex political emergencies"
  • death as a direct result of violent conflict may be only a small part of the resulting casualties from the conflict
    • deaths from associated health and food issues may be far more substantial
    • simply establishing a peace treaty is insufficient in guaranteeing long-term peace
  • "cpe"'s linked with globalization, resource conflict
  •  
• Moving to Peace
  • see slide in notes on "Rehabilitation"
  • if you had a lot of people involved in a conflict, you obviously can't arrest and imprison the entire losing side
    • some form of rehabilitation and compromise needed
•  

the "Clash of Civilizations"

• er wait, what does that even mean?

• Human Security
  • human rghts & rule of law
  • humanitarian intervention (safety of people)
  • sustainable huan development
  •  
  • Amartya sen - "human security is the real freedoms that people enjoy"
  •  
  • state security, and economic growth (conflict, and the economy)
    • and how, people
  •  
  • civil and political rights (1st-generation)
    • democracy as an inherent human right (in western civ.)
  • humanitarian conception of security
    • individuals should have a freedom from fear
      • we should be intervening, in other states, in such environments
  •  
  • sustainable human development
    • freedom from want
      • basic needs being met, plus
      • economic, social and environmental rights
  •  
  • are human rights universal?
    • western individualistic point of view?
  •  
•  

• conceptions of security
  • national security - threat: other states - object of secuirty: the state
  • economic security - treat: other states, internal & external economic threats - object of security: the state, local companies possibly
  • human rights / rule of law
  • humanitarian
  • ...see slideshow
•  
• the development of human rights:
  • 1st gen: political civil rights (voting, freedom of speech and assembly)
  • 2nd gen: economic and social rights (right to participate in socieity, right to go to school, have a job, etc.)
  • 3rd gen: human rights plus external rights (?? can't quite remember if this is right, check the slides)
  • 4th gen: not just individuals now, but the rights of future generations (rights to clean air, etc.)
  •  
•  

Political ecology

• (Bob Patrick from the geography and planning dept (RUP)
• the politics of the environment
  • water and land use
  • easy to think of them as just the environment, just things, but these have a political nature
•  
• what is 'apolitical ecology'?
  • Thomas Malthus
    • anticipating a population crisis when the pop. expands more rapidly than resources to sustain them
      • anticipated a calamity immediately when population exceeded resources - disease, famine, etc. - possibly hitting the poor first; a mass die-off of humans possibly
    • food production being roughly constant, but population increasing exponentially
    • we have traditionally labelled population as the root problem facing the environment
      • even today, resource management focuses on this population issues
      • ecoscarcity - the fear of big problems with resources consumption as the population rises
        • common thesis: nature's demise is a result of absolute human population numbers
        • human growth curves expanding after 2000
          • but in developed regions, population growth has levelled off, and will actually begin decreasing
          • most recent population growth is in developing ( / global south) countries
            • leads to some finger-pointing at developing countries, blaming them for nature's demise (if you buy into the ecoscarcity theory)
        • ecoscarcity beliefs:
          • focuses on population growth in less developed world
          • poorest areas of the world viewed as destroyers of ecological systems
          • decline of sub-saharan wildlife, for example, the result of population growth in that very area
          • blame environmental degradation on population growth in developing countries
      •  
      • problems with ecoscarcity
        • pop. growth can be a weak predictor of environmental change
          • affluence and tech - 20% of the world pop. consumes 80% of the resources
            • that alone should indicate a problem with blaming population growth in poor countries for eco. damage
        • resource scarcity creates
          • pricing tools - consuming less fuel when the price goes up
          • new technologies - wind turbines and solar energy
          • behavioural adjustments
      •  
      • when is population relevant?
        • distribution of population (eg for urban services)
        • absolute numbers for housing, servicing
        • demographic change (eg aging population, one child policy)
          • when planning for cities or regions, hugely important
        • societal change (eg women in workforce)
      •  
      • recap on Malthusianism
        • absolute pop as sole cause of env. demise
          • famine and starvation to control pop.
          • natural state of things
          • welfare would only prolong suffering of the poor, negative impact on the environment
          • crisis of env. linkd to poor
            • these become the object of accusation, blame
          •  
          • this approach does not look at causation, nor resource consumption
            • began the criticism of this view
              • racist against poor
              • didn't address root cause of env. destruction
•  
• a new conception of t hings: political ecology
  • based more on analyzing consumption, moreso than population (table comparing consumption between US and India)
•  
  • less concerned about absolute pop.
  • not to lay 'blame' on marginalized poor
  • views decisions about human -env. interations as all 'politica'
  • seeks explanantion for env. mismanagemtn in political power relations
  • concern with power held by those controlling world resources
•  
• what is PE?
  • recognizes human and institutional 'power relationships'
  • emergence of 'power differentials'
  • concern for env. impacts resulting from these 'power differentials'
• power differentials - looking at the differences in power in a relationship between 2 individuals or 2 organizations
•  
• wh-wh-wh-why?
  • academic call for greater use of social teory in resource management
    • all around development and resource use
    • who's in control of these resources?
    • who's not in control of these resources?
  • resource management and dev'p traditionally apolitical
    • only limited progress here
  • emphasis on explanation
    • a practical means of viewing the world
    • less on disconnected theory
•  
  • not really a single theory
  • a different approach to viewing environmental and resource management issues
•  
  • views ecological systems as power laden
  • advocates for change in the management of nature
  • advocates for maginalized and poor people
  •  
  • viewing all resources as being political
    • monopoly control over resources biases allocation and distribution
    • eg, conflict between water use for forestry (economic reasons) and home or personal use (health and social reasons)
    • alienation of previous user groups (eg indiginous people whose lives are affected by sub-adequate water supplies after being moved to reserves by past legislation under a relationship of power)
•  
• "the hatchet"
  • PE as a critique tool
  • cutting away at dominant views of the environment held by the powerful
  • instead supports local people, marginal groups, marginalized people
  • ('new world' example)
• "the seed"
  • documenting individual, group collective action to overcome power imbalances
    • this idea of finding and understanding groups that are holding power - it doesn't stop them from holding power, but it raises awareness of it and helps to understand if the situation is holding back better env. decisions or policies
      • eg., coming to understand that BC water providers were being stonewalled by provincial-supported industry
  • understanding traditional ways, knowledge, understanding of eco-processes
  • how can former ways be adoped into new ways of knowing? new 'old' lessons
•  
• Four dominant narratives in PE
  • 1 degradation and marginalization
    • land degradation blamed on marginalized, peasant people (a past, questionable assumption)
      • looking beyond the peasants - if the landowner was pushing the land too hard, and the peasants were just putting a few extra animals on the land for sustenance, it becomes clear that the tenure system or the landowner is to blame
        • land managers today may be Dole fruits, Sunrype, transnationals, etc.
        • need to rethink who we're going to blame for land degradation
  • 2 environmental conflict
    • corporate interests taking over land - taking a lease on the land then becoming an exclusive manager of it, sometimes displacing the state itself (eg AB Tar Sands)
    • conversely, local groups may create conflict by securing control of resources from state actores, private firms (often leading to conflicts between various local groups)
  • 3 conservation and control
    • local peason control of resources taken away in interest of conservation
    • ( whoa, never thought of this before )
    • the twist: efforts to designate, preserve for sustainability removes local livelihoods, practices
    • who's making this decision, for what purpose? who gains? who loses?
    • eg., creation of national parks
    • one problem with the conservation approach
      • what happens to the people living there? who pays the price?
      • can displace these people, make them no longer capable of living there in their traditional means (which generally are very long-lived and sustainable)
      • hence the 'control' aspect
  • 4 env. identity and social control
    • in response to changed env. regimes and conditions
    • mobilization of environmental movements, political action networks
    • cut across class, gender, ethnicity
    • resistance, opposition to global economic forces
•  
• examples
  • fish farming campaign
    • introduced in BC as an economic opportunity
      • often supplying foreign markets
    • unanticipated ecological damage
      • pollutants
      • killing marine mammals
      • releasing exotic species
      • spreading disease and parasites
    • land use conflicts
      • homes and properties being impacted by eg fish farm net pens
    • political power perspective
      • province invited fish farms in (economic benefits)
      • coastal landowners being marginalized - esp first nations; wild fish stocks being damaged
•  
• summary!
  • political ecology is both 'hatchet' and 'seed'
  • 4 dominant narratives, each one witha slightly different purpose
    • 1 degradation - env. change: why, how?
    • 2 env. conflict - env. acces: who, why?
    • 3 conservation - political/economic exclusions
    • 4 env. identity and social control
  • multiple components and purposes - source of conusion?
    • related to dependency theory
    • blending community interests with global corporate causes
    • social and biophysical concerns - can't always separate these
    •  
•  
• (Also, political ecology is clearly all about stickin' it to the man!)
•  
• the overpopulation perspective
  • is too shallow
  • doesn't look at the root causes
  • quickly turns into a blame game
•  
•  
• applying the Political Ecology approach (wherein BP talks about his thesis work)
  • Patrick's research: PE approach to explain factors facilityating source water protection
    • to see whether humann and institutional power relations governing source water protection...
  • high BC disease rates and numerous boil water advisories
    • lack of source water protection blamed for many of the disease outbreaks
  • after Walkerton water incident (several deaths, hundreds ill) SWP became very iportant
  • what is SP?
    • protection of watershed/groundwater sources
    • ...(see slide)
    • multibarrier approach
      • source protection
      • water treatment
        • filtration, disinfection, UV
      • distribution
      • monitoring
      • response plan (in case something goes horribly horribly wrong in any of the above things)
    • for
      • public health protection
      • reduce water treatment challenges
      • reduce system operating costs
      • general env. stewardship
    • multiuse watershed - hence the political aspect
  •  
  • how to do SP?
    • ...
  •  
• ...and, woot woot source water protection!

The Environment

• ...see slides - had some good quotes. which i missed.
•  
• Environmental philosophies
  • anthropocentric
    • human-centered
    • rest of the environment serves human needs
    • long-term or short-term approaches
    • criticism of this one is that it only considers human beings' well-being, not animals
  • biocentric
    • accords moral standard to animals
      • debate whether plants have moral standing
    • "corrects" the anthropocentric ethic
    • can just war theory be applied to species?
  • ecocentric
    • accords moral standing to the environmental community
      • tackles "gap" in biocentric ethic
    • ecological food chain and environment
  • Land Ethic
    • politics of the environment
      • related to ecocentric
    • 'that which enhances the integrity stability and beauty of the land (biotic community) is good, and that which does not is bad'
    • I think for most sources, 'ecocentric' and 'land ethic' are the same category. Don't quote me on that though.
•  
• authors
  • Thomas Friedman
    • suggests overpopulation is a major factor
  • Jared Diamond - need to consider the impact we have on the environment
    • env. collapse one of the 5 reasons empires fall
    • if we recognize this, we can address it (yay ingenuity!)
•  
  • idea that there is a tipping point we are approaching, in terms of the env. but also global governance
•  
• ...see slides... eating supper, woot! ...
•  
• global commons and collective goods
• a balance between ecological concerns and economic growth
  • debate surrounding industrialization of developing countries (eg China, India)
    • how can we (in developed countries) deny others from what we have or are doing?
•  
• video
  • "the global banquet" - film on global food security - 2nd half
  •  
• interesting discussion
  • comparative advantage between nations, specializing
  • also, issues with switching from subsistence farming to export cash crops
    • i think we bash economics more than it deserves. it has really good ideas now and then. sometimes they're horribly misguided-ly applied - but they're still good ideas, and when done properly, make more of a difference than most other development-related things.
•  
• suggested books to read!
  • "philanthrocapitalism" - m. green
  • "supercapitalism" - reich
  • "upside of down" - homer-dixon
  • "hot, flat, crowded" - friedman
•  
•  
•  

Review day

•  
• two parts
  • essay component
  • and short answer questions
•  
• sections
  • global health
    • Bob Stock & Jennifer Cushion
    • key themes
      • poverty and pathways to health
      • systemic issues
      • typical western approaches (medicine etc. directed at a very specific problem)
        • vs. approach of community and sociological pathways to health
          • root causes
          • cultural and religious differences
          • access and infrastructure
          • education
          • holistic perspective
      • how has globalization affected global health
        • what is the AIDS pandemic, where is it a problem, why?
          • among poor and marginalized people
            • facing systemic problems, lack of access to resources and education
          • how do you prevent AIDS in Africa?
    • articles
      • health healing and social justice - paul farmer
    • (some time ago, might
    •  
    •  
  • international terrorism and security
    • Ron Wheler on Afghanistan, someone on Guantanamo Bay, someone on Darfur
    • global governance, how has it evolved,
    • what are the implications for our security?
      • how is globalization affecting the way we conceive of security
      •  
      • what is globalization?
        • increased interconnectedness, more communications and transport, more cultural diffusion
      • traditional idea of security was state-based, eg conflicts between states, and defense of the state
        • this is changing; new actors
        • the nature of the state itself is changing
          • 9/11 marked a shift in this regard - a non-state actor (a terrorist organization) playing the major role in a conflict
    • alternative conceptions of security
      • human security - for individuals within the state to be protected from each other (or their government!)
        • security is more about the individual than before
    • what is the international system that's supposed to address these issues (the UN) - is it equipped to do that? why / why not / maybe / what are the alternatives?
      • what is the role of the UN security council in terms of human security issues?
    • power politics and relationships - understanding this is important
      • (what's a hegemonic system, hint hint)
        • Chomsky on american power relations - not sustainable, imperial
          • hubris "all giants will fall"
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    • changing nature of state, of security, of modern challenges to state security
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    • "clash of civilizations" (...right.)
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    • guantanamo bay and the rights of prisoners / "IECs"
      • just war theory, the Geneva conventions
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    • the crisis in Darfur and the arrest warrant for Al-Bashir
      • what justifies 'humanitarian intervention'?
        • what does that mean - the red cross, disaster relief, aid, etc.
        • when is it acceptable to intervene - to interfere in state sovereignty - to protect human rights
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    • what is human security?
    • what are complex political emergencies?
      • social issues involved?
      • political and social inequalities between neighbouring groups can make conflicts more likely; simply ending outright conflict with a peace treaty does not solve the long-term problem
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  • the environment
    • political ecology...