Gears of the Globe

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Global Cities

As the world becomes more globalized, cities around the world are connected on a larger scale. There has probably always been cities that have connected people from different parts of the world and have had a huge influence and impact on the economics, culture, politics of the world, but recently people have been calling the major cities of today "Global Cities". There has been research done to determine on how to define what a global city is. Global cities are home to a major stock exchange, participates in international finical services like banking, accounting, and marketing, has great influence in international politics, has world-renowned cultural institutions, world renowned universities and high international student attendance, major media hub, a large public transit network to connect the city, has a large international airport, and has an amazing sky-line. A city that has all of these points would be considered a higher tier of a global city compared to one that has one or two less.

Global cities are split into four tiers, sometimes being categorized by calling the top tier Alpha, then goes to Beta, Gamma, and Sufficiency at last tier. The top 10 global cities as of 2012 are New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seoul, Brussels, and Washington D.C. It is predicted that as time goes one that other Asian cities will rise to or near the top ten. It is predicted that Singapore, Beijing, and Shanghai will rise into the top ten as these cities continue to be influential. New York and London continue to be on the top 2, New York being first and London second, of all of the Global Cities Indexes, from global power, economic power, wealth, and competitiveness.

While many cities will continue to rise, others struggle to keep their position and might fall in position in the future. Mexico City for example is the most likely to lose its rank. Mexico City has the highest vulnerability score on emerging global cities, it has a score of 7.8, with 10 being the most vulnerable to fall. The highest factor to this is instability in the city and corruption, no doubt because of the war on drugs that continues throughout the city.

Global Cities play a major role in today's world and will continue to rise and fall.

More on Global Cities
http://www.newgeography.com/content/003292-what-is-a-global-city
http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch2en/conc2en/map_worldcities.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_city
http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch2en/conc2en/map_worldcities.html

Hong Kong and Macua

Hong Kong, the city in China with a blending of Chinese and British culture and Macau blending Chinese and Portuguese culture. These cities are in unique situations compared to the rest of mainland China, because of their history and how there are governed.

Both of these city states used to be colonies of European nations; Hong Kong, a colony of the United Kingdom and Macau, a colony of Portugal. The two cities were handed over to the Chinese government, Hong Kong was handed over in 1997 and Macau in 1999. The cities came into China under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy or all so known as "One China, Two Systems". The "One Country, Two Systems" policy was first suggested by the Chinese government in the 1980's and it called for the reunification of China and that there could only be one China, however regions could keep their capitalist economy and political systems, instead of following China's socialists system. The regions that were to fall under "Two Systems, One Country" were Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Of the three only Hong Kong and Macau accepted the deal, while Taiwan has rejected it. The Taiwanese government claimed that there are 169 incidents where China breached the rights of the people of Hong Kong, and others claimed that the Republic of China (Taiwan's Government) should be the One China, not the People's Republic of China (Government of mainland China). The system allows Hong Kong and Macau to keep their way of life and a high degree of autonomy for up least to 50 years after reunifying, but it never has been publicly stated what will happen to the two after the 50 years.

Hong Kong and Macau are responsible for their domestic affairs and are not required to broadcast and publish things in Mandarin and Simplified Chinese. While the Chinese Government is responsible for national defense and diplomatic relations. Hong Kong continues to follow English Common Law and Macau continues to follow Portuguese Civil Law.

Hong Kong Macau not only have different economic system and laws but different cultures from that of mainland China. Macau was used as trading post and colony under the Portuguese Empire in 1537 and was the last European colony in Asia after its handover in 1999. Because of over four-hundred years of Portuguese influence and control the city and its people have created a blend of Chinese and Portuguese culture, by following traditions and celebrating events of both cultures. A similar thing can be said about Hong Kong, but with British and Chinese culture. In the 1840's Hong Kong was used by the British as a trading post and in 1898 Hong Kong was leased to the United Kingdom for 99 years. Hong Kong is a trade hub and an entertainment hub. Hong Kong is well known for its martial arts movies and actors, most famous one being Bruce Lee, which there is a statue of in the city.

These two cities still get to keep a high amount of control on how they run themselves and their lifestyles, at least until the fifty year deal expires.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Lost Tribes

Lost Tribes, also known as Uncontacted Peoples or Isolated Peoples are communities of people who have remained isolated from global civilization, either by chance or by choice. Brazil has the highest number of uncontacted tribes, with the government listing 77, Peru has 15, and India has 2 on islands. There are several uncontacted tribes in central Africa and Malaysia and about a dozen in Indonesia and New Guinea.

Brazil and Peru have established laws that prohibit people from interacting with the uncontacted tribes and trespassing on their lands, by setting up areas that are reserved for these tribes, but there are loop-holes in these polices loggers and miners take advantage of to make use of the land the tribes use. A main reason these laws are in place is because of the uncontacted peoples immune systems. They have not been exposed to many diseases that Europeans brought when coming to the Americas and have no natural immunity to fight these diseases and their whole tribe could be wiped out if they contracted one of these diseases. Another reason is that uncontacted tribes are considered dangerous and even hostile to outsiders.

The uncontacted tribe of Mashco-Piro in Peru are considered dangerous and should be avoided. This tribe chose to isolate themselves from outsiders. Around the 1900s rubber companies in the Amazon massacred many Mashco-Piro tribes people, and since then they have become weary and hostile of outsiders. Most uncontacted tribes choose to remain isolated, and those that do integrate into modern society end up being at the bottom of the social ladder.

There are many movements to leave unconctated tribes alone in order to protect them from disease and to preserve their way of life. These movements prevent the deforestation of the tribes land by companies and governments.

More on Uncotacted Peoples
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontacted_peoples
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24090-how-many-uncontacted-tribes-are-left-in-the-world.html#.Um2xOnAWJRw
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/isolated-peruvian-tribe-tries-make-contact-sparking-standoff-6C10962822
http://www.uncontactedtribes.org/

The Permanent 5

The United Nations Security Council is in charge of peace and security on the international scale. The Security Council is responsible for operating peacekeeping operations, sanctions and automatism military action. The Security Council is made of 15 member states, 5 of which have a permanent seat while the other 10 are elected by the other member states for 2 year terms. The 5 permanent member states, also known as the Permanent 5 (P5) have the power to veto any decision voted by the Security Council. Under article 27 of the United Nations Charter, each member of the Security Council gets one vote and 9 votes are needed for something to pass. However it may only pass if each of the permanent members allows it, this is where they get their veto power. If one of the permanent members does not vote to pass it or doesn't vote at all, then the action they were voting on does not pass. The Security Council not only votes on military actions, but also if a new member's application is accepted.

So who are the five permanent powers of the United Nations Security Council, who hold so much power? They are nations who are great powers (a great powers is a nation with a lot of military, political, and economic influence) that were victorious after the Second World War. These great powers that won the war are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Over the years some of the governments of the permanent 5 have changed. After the World War II France's seat was held by the Forth French Republic, but in 1958 a new constitution was written and the Fifth French Republic was born, or simply the French Republic. Before 1971 China's seat belonged to the Republic of China, but switched to the People's Republic of China, because of the Republic of China's exile to Taiwan and having no power on mainland China. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the successor to the Soviet Union for the Council seat was seen as the Russian Federation.

The Permanent 5 have used their veto power for a total of 268 times as of 2007. The most belonging to the Russian seat with 123, most of which were under the USSR, and the least with 6 belonging to China. There has been no vetoes this year, but 7 have been used in the years of 2011 and 2012. In 2011 the US vetoed an action regarding Palestine, and in the same year Russia and China vetoed an act regarding the Middle East. In 2012 both Russia and China used their vetoes on issues regarding the Middle East and one regarding the issue in Syria.

Debate has been sparked by and weather or not the 5 permanent members should hold exclusive right to the veto power. Critics point to the fact the P5 use their veto power to help themselves or their allies. There is also a group known as the G4, which is made of four countries that wish to extend the amount of permanent members in the Security Council. These countries include Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan and each state supports the other in trying to obtain a permanent seat.

More on the United Nations Security Council
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_power#Aftermath_of_the_Cold_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_veto_power
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/scact_veto_en.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/sc/
http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter5.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/members/about.shtml

Eurasian Union (Soviet Union 2.0?)

In 2011 the Prime Minster of Russia, Vladimir Putin, now president, proposed a Eurasian Union. This union would expand on the already established Customs Union between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The presidents of each nation in 2011 singed an agreement of forming a Eurasian Union, which would be fully operational in 2015. Russia wishes to have six former soviet states join the Eurasian Union, which include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In 2013 Armenia declared they would join the Eurasian Union, while Ukraine wishes to join the European Union instead. Membership is not restricted to those six, it has been stated that they are willing to have any countries join that are cultural or historical close to Russia, like Finland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Mongolia, Cuba and Venezuela.

The Eurasian Union would operate similar to the European Union in that borders between the countries that join would be no borders and a common currency. Russian is said to be the language of trade within the Eurasian Union. The union plans on making trading and cooperation between all members easy and beneficial for all involved. The union also includes a military alliance between the member nations. In 2006 a military alliance between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan called the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was put into to effect. The Russian military is the most prominent in the military alliance, because it controls the most military bases of all the them. In 2009 the CSTO formed the Rapid Reaction Forces (KSOR), which is meant to act a permanent military force that is ready in a need of crisis.

Many people have criticized Putin's idea of Eurasian Union. Many claim that this Putin's way of reviving the old Soviet Union. They use the fact that Putin once called the collapse of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century" and that Putin is a former KGB agent for the Soviet Union. United States had also criticized Putin's Eurasian Union. In 2012 the US Sectary of State, Hillary Clinton, stated that the Russia's proposal is just a new USSR, and that they will try to find ways to slow it down. Putin has stated that he has no desires to rebuild the Soviet Union and that it will be a bond of today's economic and political values. There are many names being given to the Eurasian Union to describe it, many of which point toward USSR style of running things. The best one I have herd to describe it, is it will be like the USSR without the communism.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Somalia Divided

In 1991 the government of Somalia was ousted by rival clans, but the clans had no agreement on who would secede and how to establish the new government. Since then the country has been divided among different factions fighting for power. Somalia has become vary unstable over the last two decades and the constant fighting has mad it hard for the country to deal with natural disasters and is predicted that about half a million people died because of famine during this time.

In 2012 the United Nations installed a central government in Somalia, the Somali Republic and the republic is recognized as the legitimate ruler of Somalia. Over the years of the civil war the UN and the African Union have deployed troops to help bring stability to the country.

The Somali Republic is recognized in the international community, but two regions in the north Somalia are not recognized at all. In north Somalia the regions of Somaliland and Puntland are not recognized by the international community. Both govern themselves and claim to be independent nations. However Puntland is willing to negotiate with Somalia in terms of coming together, while Somaliland has opted out and wants to remain independent. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the fall of the old government and since then has set up their own parliament and military. Somaliland and its neighbor Puntland are in border disputes. Somaliland claims all of the territory of the former British Somaliland, but is only control of the western part. Violence has broken out between Somaliland and Puntland between 2002 and 2009 regarding the border. Both Somaliland and Puntland are not recognized by the United Nations as independent nations. The fighting within Somalia still continues as other factions resist the power of the Somali government.

City States

City States are cities and sometimes surrounding areas that are either completely independent or are autonomous and are not administrated by the local government, but just do it themselves. In history the most popular are the city state Rome or the cities of Greece, like Athens and Sparta. City States are still around today. There are two main types of city states, sovereign ones and non-sovereign ones.

Sovereign city states are recognized, treated, and operate like any other nation in the world. Today there are only three sovereign city states. Singapore, Monaco and Vatican City are city states that have full membership in the UN, expect Vatican City only being a observer. Each one make their own laws and rule how they please in their territory. Vatican City is located within Rome, Italy and has the smallest populations out of the three with about 840 people and is famous for home of the Pope of the Catholic Church. Monaco's land border is completely shared with France and has population of about 30,000 people. Monaco has been a member of the UN since 1993. Even though Monaco is its own nation it relies on France for military aid. The largest city state is the city of Singapore. Singapore has a population above 5,000,000 people and rules over islands on the tip of Penang, Malaysia. Singapore is not only a city, unlike Monaco or Vatican City but also has rural areas that surround it. Out of the three city states, Singapore is the only one with its only military.

The other types of city states are non-sovereign city states. These city states either have restricted autonomy or are administrated by a federal government. Hong Kong was handed over to China from the United Kingdom in 1997. Since then Hong Kong has been under the One China Two Systems policy. The policy allows Hong Kong to keep its economic systems and political systems while being part of the country of China. Hong Kong gets to make their own laws all while being part of China. Federal administrated cities are cities that are in federations that are ran by the federal government. Countries like the United States and Russia are countries that are federations. The two countries capitals, Washington D.C in the US and Moscow in Russia are both governed by their federal government. In the case of D.C, the city is not part of any US state but under administration of the US government.

More on City States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City-state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco#Security
http://country-facts.findthedata.org/compare/106-135/Singapore-vs-Monaco
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_country,_two_systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore