Part One: Short Essay Questions
- Why was decolonization important to the United States of America and what were the demands from the south prior to the onset of the debt crisis?
The decolonization process in the United States of America deed coincided with the then Cold War which happened between Soviet Union and the nation of United States of America. Decolonization helped in the developing the country early on, since they acquired a stable government after the process of decolonization. The process decolonization happened to be affected by competition of the superpowers having a direct impact to evolution of new governments and the competition that then came by it. Decolonization in the United States of America also happened to significantly change the existing pattern of relationship that was there between international countries and the United States of America in a generalized understanding. This also helped in building of greater strategies of building on the economy of the nation and coming up with ways to be able to trade with other nations in general. The nation happened to be in support of the concept for having self-determination in every nation (Barry and Keith, 1999). This helped in building on the existing relationship and also coming up with strong ties towards the European allies it had. In the after effects of the decolonization that took place, there were negotiations with the nations in the south who were still experiencing the decolonization movements in the century. They were interested in the economic and political forces that were in the region and also wanted to benefit. They were in the process of embracing a dynamic change similar to that of the United States of America, in the system that happened to be indeed being dominated much economic wise by them and the European nations.
- How does the liberal perspective differ from the realistic perspective on the issues of the nation state cooperation and internationals organization
Barry and Keith (1999) realism depicts any nation’s international affairs, being a struggle for power which happens among inter-states and happens to be a more generally pessimistic oriented approach about any prospects geared towards elimination of a conflict or war. Realism really dominated during the Cold War times because it used to provide very simple and indeed powerful explanations as to why the war was there. It was also used in the forging of alliances, during the times when imperialism dominated, bringing about the very obstacles that hindered cooperation, together with the international phenomena. Because of its emphasis for there being a competition it was used very consistently in the American and Soviet rivalry. However, liberalism on the other hand is a principal challenge towards total realism. This is by far a thought to be argued for the economic stands being eased and interdependence upon one another helping to discourage the states on using any force against one another having in their minds that any warfare is a threat to prosperity of one another. More recently several international institutions like International Monetary Fund have to help in overcoming the selfish states of behavior letting states not to put self interest of immediate gains ahead of greater benefits for another nation. In short, liberalism values equity, if not less fortune comes first and often regarded as idealism.
- In what ways are developed nations still in an advantageous position in comparison to the developing nations?
The competitiveness of a nation will always depend upon its capacity of industries to be able to come up with innovations and many upgrading systems. A company from the Diaspora will always have an advantage if compared to the local based companies by demanding for a larger figure of the local customers. Therefore, in this world where competition happens to be rife, various nations become less important than others when it comes to matters economy (Clement and International Monetary Fund 2012). The developed nations shift competition more thee nation which are less grown and developed. They always have a competitive edge as compared to the underdeveloped ones which is normally created, and also sustained by a highly developed process of production. The disparities in the nations is normally created by the differences from their national values, the sustained cultures, the economic structures in place, the various institutions available, and their histories which will all contribute in success from this competition. The above determinants will always create an international environment which is essential as an ingredient used to achieve the success in the competition by the developed nation since they happen to have resources and the skills necessary which they deploy for their goals to be achieved.
- In your opinion, is APEC a viable and beneficial trade bloc? Why or why not?
APEC economies have introduced free access into one another’s potential markets, meaning that at regional levels we have a wider and in depth application of the comparative advantage principle this access with ease to one another’s markets implies that trading in between nations has likely increased. Moreover, the various APEC economies continue to adhere towards the obligations of World Trade Organization (WTO) (Das 2004). This WTO system is enjoying a high favor where it continues attracting some additional membership from this process by the economies Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). If you may do a comparison to another region anywhere in the world, you will find out that this Asian-Pacific area has been doing very well, with it economies in the name of China, Japan, Vietnam achieving an extraordinary growth. Moreover, the inflation in the region remains low, despite pricing spikes of commodity together with the fuel. The trade and investing opportunities continues to rise.
- What do you see as the pros and cons of debt cancellation as a means of solving social, economic and political problems in developing nations
Cancellation of the debt in these countries will be very beneficial in that the market participants will bring in a new positive economic impact to the markets of these nations. The nation’s stock market will react since there will be a greater influx from the foreign investment category, bringing in a lot of capital and in turn make higher levels of growth in the economies of the said countries (Fawn 2009). This will be evidenced by the fact that there will an influx of foreign capital flowing back into the nation and economic growth will be in a more robust manner. However, cancelling the debt in the developing nations will not at all solve their problems in the future. If we want to cancel their debt, we have to first of all change the countries financial systems, which happen to be currently based upon a debt and of interest re-payments. This happens to be a system which always keeps the control in hands of the ones who are developed already, being rich and very powerful.
- To what extent are the other developed nations emulating or being compelled to accept the neo-liberal, Anglo-American model of Canada, United States of America and Britain?
There is a debate which demonstrates that, developing countries still face very steep barriers that do exist in pursuing economic status through models which aren’t favored within the United States of America Treasury and the other developed countries. Therefore, these countries have often been promoted to embrace the various programs of that will enable an economic restructuring which are similar to be able to bring out growth in the developing nations. As the neo-liberalism has often fallen into increasingly an ill reputation, and a greater number for the involved countries will escape bondage from the debt, hence a globalization movement shall be started to attract new supporters of developed countries for helping in the process of neo-realism. Particular attention has also been paid towards Japan and China. Not only do they happen to be the largest economies of Asian region but they are the most influential actors therefore could help a lot (Das 2004).
Part Two: Long Essay Questions
- How has the third world debt crisis (and the managing of the crisis by the first world) altered the possibilities for new development between various regions of the developing world. How has the process of globalization altered the relationship between developed and the developing nations? (what remains constant and what has changed if any) Make reference to specific nation state or regions of the developing world in addressing the question
The crisis of debts
The crisis of debts in the developing nations of third world status will not end anytime soon due to the fact that it will not be repaid fully anytime from now. This is quite evidenced by the fact that people living in these developing countries cannot even afford in repay the debts. Poverty is a harsh reality to them in these developing countries where the only solution towards developing their own nation happened to be an initial stimulus loans. As we know, the prevailing conditions on ground about their economic suggested borrowing money, which was indeed a reasonable action to take in 1970s. The people living in rich countries that happen to be more developed observe poverty in these developing nations. They do have a greater access to education, good food and nutrition, proper health care, and they also have great housing plans. In the year 1987, there was an average of per-capita income in the range of 6 percent by people who lived in these poor countries (Barry and Keith, 1999).
However, one good fact became undeniable to the people living in these poor underdeveloped nations: Someone was generally going to pay the past debts that their nations had incurred and also continued to incur at the time. This could happen to be people lining within the debtor countries, not forgetting that even the banks or even people within the developed countries would also pay. The most likely option was going to be the people living in these poor nations. The last several years has seen a variety of proposals for repaying these debts being put forward reflecting special interests only from the proposing groups. Generally, these solutions have been placed under three categories i.e. the repudiation of the debts, having to minor adjustments for repaying the debts or even reduction of the debts to manageable levels by the developed nations. Debt repudiation happened in a number of countries like Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Peru, Panama, and Nicaragua (Lynch 2003). Except for the nation of Peruvian, the stoppage of paying debts in these nations however, was assured to be only temporary.
Peru announced publicly that it had to unilaterally limit on its debt repayments, making sure that it coincided with the percentage for export earnings and other nations went ahead to indicate they were going to take a similarly. There happened to be no serious proposals of a widespread coordinated stoppage of a global debt. Repudiation seriously did disrupt the global relations in economy of the world, going far beyond losses for the debts. Retaliations followed, for it being politically impossible to have a reaction by the lenders.
The Process of Globalization
Globalization also has led to a reduction in the transportation costs, bringing in a revolution of information together with the communication technology, which has characterized development in these nations. However, the consequence is that the internal organization within developing nations and their firms has been changing and becoming less hierarchical where they are now very rigid, more decentralized for that matter (Lynch 2003). Another consequence of globalization is that it has led to driving much of the developing nation’s economy into a greater development. Because of this trade and the investment brought about by the globalization, these cases have taken the world’s economy to a greater length (Lynch 2003). It is however even much doubtful that many of these poor countries can achieve the sustainable and rapid growth for a greater period of time, without having a substantial amount from the foreign development investment brought about by this globalization. This is due to the fact that there is an integration of the trade and also the treaties signed in the international relations. Without such foreign development investments, and the transfer of technology together with the foreign networking, it would be very difficult to achieve development in general. The countries have come into acceptance of the many advantages of globalization. First, globalization will provide somewhat greater opportunities, for having higher paying jobs in these developed nations, which might otherwise seem available to the residents in these nations. It also provides training of workers with the needed management skills which are from the working undertaken with larger firms that are linked into this vast global market.
Conclusion
Having an escalation in the economic warfare seriously did affect the global economy by reducing the bulk of activity from earlier on, simply involving the adjustment of timing and the repayment method for these debts. Resolving of this debt crisis depended on a clear recognition where much of this debt would not be repaid as formally constituted. Some of the countries, like those of the sub-Saharan Africa, weren’t going to repay these debts. But others, particularly the countries who happened to be heavily indebted, were to pay something for their debts. The appropriate percentage happened to be about half of the debt (Lynch 2003). Globalization on the other hand has provide the necessary advanced technology needed by these developing nations being easily transferred from the other nations firms that have it already and wants to invest in these nations.
- What do you think are the necessary measures to be taken to address the contemporary problems of developing nations? Are there universal measures that may be taken to benefit all developing nations? Or are the problems so varied that the region specific or the nation specific policies are more appropriate? Make reference to specific nation state or regions of the developing world in addressing the question
Proper Resource Management
The supply of a country’s natural resources is a very important element in its development. Although some of the natural resources may be able to assist in a nation’s growth, the resources are never sufficient for it to ensure sufficient growth. Some of the developing countries have large supplies of these natural resources but due to the poor management of these resources, they have experienced poor growth. Good examples are the former Soviet Union, 1990s Argentina, and even Uganda. To the contrary, some other countries did enjoy a rapid rate in their economic growth. This was attributed to the fact that they dwelt on developing human capital together with their ability and not mismanagement of natural resources (Clement and International Monetary Fund 2012). Good examples are like Switzerland during the earlier centuries, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan since World War II ended.
Improving on Human Capital
The numbers of people in a developing nation matters a lot, therefore they need to be trained and be given the experience necessary for their nation’s development. If the entrepreneurial class in the countries happens to be well developed, given motivation and trained properly, they will be able to organize the nation’s natural resources in a manner that will help an efficient production system(Reinhart and Rogoff 2013).This trait is always missing in the poor countries. The cause for this mismanagement of available resources may be attributed to the fact that, managerial positions often get awarded to people on basis of family or political status and not on merit. This favors help them in acquisition of this wealth (Fawn 2009). Failure in development of such essential skills for labor can lead to lack in growth by these poor nations. Having a poor health system may also be another source for inadequate resources of human capital. If the countries could be able to make the labor force healthy, they will therefore loose less working time and become more effective.
Developing Agriculture
The developing countries should put policies in place to help in growth of agriculture sector. This will in turn bring a raise in productivity, a very important factor in the development strategy for any agriculture sector based poor nation.
Practice Domestic Saving
A rise in domestic firms that are locally owned will spring up modern development in many of these nations that are still developing. This will only be evidenced by the fact that large infusion from foreign capital should be downsized overall, in which some of the technologies will continue flowing in from the foreign countries, to be able to sustained its own development. Creation of domestic capital will be at a country’s own efforts where the resources are diverted to producing goods used for local consumption.
Improving on Infrastructure
Key infrastructure, like transportation and the network for communication is necessary to be able to have an efficient commerce. The entire transport infrastructure is needed for transporting people, the materials to be used for production, and also the finished goods to various parts of the nation (Reinhart and Rogoff 2013). Communication infrastructure like Phone, the postal services is also very essential to the economic development of these nations. In the absence of such dependable infrastructure, there will be severe barriers geared towards the economic development of such nations.
Conclusion
Several nations like South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, commonly referred to as the Asian Tigers have indeed managed to turn from poor nations to very high income countries in a short period of time, around 40 years to approximate. In the early stages when they were still developing, various restrictions were in use to be able to build their own local industries. They in turn came up with a labor force, training them to acquire the requisite skills and giving them the experiences needed. They created market-oriented economies that followed on stronger policies targeting specific regions for development.
References
Barry, D., & Keith, R. C. (1999). Regionalism, multilateralism, and the politics of global trade.
Vancouver, B.C: UBC Press.
Clements, B. J., & International Monetary Fund,. (2012). The challenge of public pension reform
in advanced and emerging market economies.
Das, D. K. (2004). Regionalism in Global Trade. Northampton: Edward Elgar Pub.
Fawn, R. (2009). Globalising the regional, regionalising the global. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Lynch, K. (Lynch 2003). The forces of economic globalization: Challenges to the regime of
international commercial arbitration. The Hague [u.a.: Kluwer Law Internat.
Reinhart, C., & Rogoff, K. (2013). Financial and Sovereign Debt Crises. Washington:
International Monetary Fund.