Understanding Global Conflicts and International Organizations

Posted on Dec 16, 2024 in Social sciences

Major Causes of Current Conflicts

In recent years, there has been significant economic development in some countries, which has led them to compete directly with the U.S., Japan, and Germany. The major causes of current conflicts include energy issues, access to drinking water, control of mineral resources, environmental management, multiatomic tensions within states, and the unequal distribution of wealth.

Key Players in Global Conflicts

  • Russia: Russia has a strong interest in regaining its power and influence in the world, particularly in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
  • Islamic Countries: A group of countries located between North Africa and the Middle East, possessing a great wealth of hydrocarbons. Some of these countries, such as Iran, try to follow a policy independent of the U.S., while others are U.S. allies. There is a rejection of Western influence (language, religion) in these countries, especially in Iran, Algeria, and Afghanistan. This rejection is rooted in conflicts such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which Israel has U.S. support.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: A group of countries with a large wealth of minerals and hydrocarbons but severe developmental problems.
  • Latin America: Some countries are allies of the United States and Western Europe, while others, such as Cuba and Venezuela, seek an alternative path of populist socialism.

Intergovernmental Organizations

Currently, individual states often lack sufficient resources for total independence. This leads them to seek cooperation with other states in political, economic, and defensive aspects. Consequently, states form international organizations. These organizations can be:

  • Global: Including all states of the world (e.g., UN).
  • Supra-regional: Including states from different continents (e.g., NATO).
  • Regional: Including countries from a specific area of a continent (e.g., EU).

The reasons for founding these organizations can be political (UN, EU), ideological-cultural (Arab League), security and military (NATO), or economic (EU, ONC, OPEC).

United Nations Organizations

The UN, created in 1945, is an international body that brings together 192 countries worldwide. Its main objectives are:

  1. Maintain peace and security.
  2. Promote relationships between countries based on equal rights, self-determination of peoples, and non-interference in the internal affairs of states.
  3. Seek international cooperation and peaceful conflict resolution in economic, social, and cultural matters.
  4. Serve as a center for harmonizing the actions of states to achieve their goals.

UN Structure

  1. General Assembly: Consists of member states, each with one vote.
  2. Security Council: Consists of 15 states, five of which are permanent (U.S., Russia, China, UK, and France) with veto power. The remaining 10 are non-permanent, elected by the General Assembly every two years.
  3. Secretariat: Led by a Secretary-General who represents the UN and participates in international conflict resolution.
  4. International Court of Justice: Attempts to resolve conflicts between states.
  5. Economic and Social Council: Coordinates economic and social initiatives.
  6. Trusteeship Council: Administered territories in their transition to independence (currently inactive).

The UN has numerous bodies and programs, including:

  • UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
  • WHO: World Health Organization.
  • ILO: International Labour Organization.
  • FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
  • IMF: International Monetary Fund.
  • IBRD: World Bank.
  • UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund.
  • UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
  • UNDP: United Nations Development Programme.
  • UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme.

Other Intergovernmental Organizations

Other important international organizations include:

  1. IMF, OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), G7+1: Structures representing wealthy countries, often imposing their political and economic interests on other countries.
  2. NGOs: Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, etc. These organizations are, in principle, independent of any state or political party. They act voluntarily to solve specific problems. They sometimes disagree with the current forms of the IMF and World Bank, criticize the unsustainability of capitalism, and advocate for a better distribution of wealth and well-being.

Calculating Wealth and Development

Wealth: GDP

GDP per capita is the sum of wealth produced by a country in a year, measured in dollars. It is calculated by dividing the total GDP by the number of inhabitants. This indicator only measures monetary exchanges and includes only those assets that are priced in the market. It does not include aspects such as health conditions or domestic work.

Development: HDI

The Human Development Index (HDI), established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), measures a population’s access to minimum basic needs. These include physical and material well-being (food, health, environment) and psychic well-being (right to education, employment). The HDI, established in 1990, uses a scale from 0 to 1, based on several variables:

  • Health level: Expresses the standard of living.
  • Cultural level: Represented by the adult literacy index and the average number of years of study.
  • Income level: Expressed by GDP per capita, adjusted for the cost of living and price variations in each country.

The HDI is more rigorous than GDP but has limitations. It does not distinguish between different social groups or between men and women, nor does it consider the level of respect for the environment or human rights.