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Politics quotes - unit 4

Contents 1 NATO 2 EU 3 Global Economy / North-South Divide 4 Polarity / Superpower / Great power 5 United Nations 5.1 Globalisation 6 International Law 7 Sovereignty 8 Comments

NATO

• NATO has traditionally stated that its general aim is to “safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation” of its members by promoting “stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area”
• Some observers have characterised NATO’s eastward expansion as “the most dangerous strategic decision of the post-war period”
• “By enlarging NATO and the EU we are enlarging the zone of security and prosperity enjoyed by only half of Europe over the past 50 years…Not to enlarge would lead to a permanent division of this continent into a prosperous West and a stagnant, frustrated East…we either export stability or import instability” (Javier Solana, former secretary general of NATO)
• Expansion of NATO would dilute it. It would lead to “The overstretching of the organisation and thus the undermining of stability for the entirety of Europe” (Rob Weekes, debatabase.org)
• “Expansion is not only unnecessary but it is also likely to increase the threat of nuclear conflict in Western Europe” (Rob Weekes, debatabase.org)
• “The further expansion of NATO is in reality a cover for increased US interventionism in Europe and beyond” (Dr Ron Paul – member of US congress)
• “NATO gives the US a significant instrument for moral and political pressure” (Jonathan Steele, The Guardian)
• NATO, in 1999, became an organisation concerned with “economic, social and political difficulties…ethnic and religious rivalries, territorial disputes, inadequate or failed efforts at reform, the abuse of human rights, and the dissolution of states” (Washington 1999 summit of NATO)
• “NATO has become a large and powerful forum for international diplomacy as well as military defence” (Understanding Global Issues)
• “NATO’s unique combination of political linkages and military capability makes it the obvious contender for peace support operations on behalf of the UN” (Understanding Global Issues)
• “In Kosovo NATO’s military strength was essential in preventing a man-made humanitarian tragedy” (George Robertson)

EU

• “The European Union or the EU is an intergovernmental and supranational union of 25 European countries” (Wikipedia)
• The EU has the power to make policies and laws which are binding on its member states. When cooperation leads to a transfer of power on this level we “move into the realms of supranationalism” (McCormick)
• “The EU is much more than a standard IO (International Organisation)” (McCormick)
• “[The EU] a supranational organisation rises above the individual interests of its members and makes decisions on the basis of the interest of the whole” (McCormick)
• “Many EU decisions are taken at ‘supranational’ level in the sense that they involve the EU institutions, to which EU countries have delegated some decision making powers.” (EU website)
• “Where governments participate in international cooperation, decision making is described as intergovernmental” (McCormick)
• “Intergovernmental decisions are taken by ministers meeting in the Council of the European Union, or at the highest level by the prime ministers and/or presidents of the EU countries, meeting as the European Council” (EU website)
• The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as “the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level”
• The French no-vote to the constitution was considered a “real crisis” (Paul Reynolds, BBC). It only took one no-vote for “the future direction of the European Union [to be thrown] into doubt” (Paul Reynolds, BBC)
• Britain aims for “a free trade zone and economic union with little political integration” (Lithuania’s Lietuvos Rytas, via BBC)
• “French politicians have long seen the European Union as…a deeply political project” (Caroline Wyatt, BBC)
• On the constitution – “both in France and the Netherlands, economic weakness was a major factor in popular disillusionment” (Lord William Wallace, the World Today)
• In the Netherlands, a founding member of the EU, “economic grievances focused around the Dutch contribution to the EU budget, now the highest per head” (Lord William Wallace)
• “The Single European Act…followed Franco-British confrontation over budget contributions” (Lord William Wallace)
• In Italy “economic problems have just contributed to the collapse of its government” (Ben Richardson, BBC)
• “Europe’s economic performance has left much to be desired in recent years” (Pennsylvania University)

Global Economy / North-South Divide

• At the 1961 All African People’s Conference held in Cairo neo-colonialism was defined as “the survival of the colonial system in spite of the formal recognition of political independence in emerging countries which become the victims of an indirect and subtle form of domination by political, economic, social, military or technical means”
• “Some 54 countries are poorer now than in 1990. In 21, a larger proportion is going hungry” (UN annual human report of 2003)
• “In 14, more children are dying before age five. In 12, primary school enrolments are shrinking. In 34, life expectancy has fallen. Such reversals in survival were previously rare” (UN annual human report of 2003)
• “The shocking truth is that the poor are getting poorer” (Matthew Lockwood, head of ActionAid)
• “A recent study found that IMF programs have had overall a negative effect on economic growth in participating countries” (William Finnegan)

Polarity / Superpower / Great power

• “United States is the only true superpower with global assets in all dimensions of power” (Joseph Nye Junior)
• “Military power is largely unipolar” (Joseph Nye Junior)
• If looked at in economical terms there “is a tripolar distribution of power” (Understanding International Conflicts by Joseph Nye Junior)
• “Great powers are generally those who can maintain their security independently”
• France is “a nation having great economic, political and military force”
• Fox in 1944 defined a superpower as a “great power plus great mobility of power”

United Nations

• The UN has “a unique combination of attributes which places it in an unrivalled position to assist in the diplomatic settlement of acute international conflicts”
• “The UN is a ‘doer’ as well as a forum for negotiation” (Berridge)
• Some of the UN’s peacekeeping mission have failed to obtain consent of all parties, which can “undermine the UN’s involvement by jeopardizing its neutrality” (Mingst and Karns), this makes it “a tool of the great powers, especially the United States” (Mingst and Karns)
• The General Assembly is a “good organ for symbolic politics of agenda setting, and achieving majorities in support of resolutions” and a “crucial sector of the world’s international assembly”
• Due to expansion of the UN, many sceptics say that ECOSOC is left with “an unmanageable task” (Mingst and Karns)
• Criticisms of the UN Welfare Network are centred around “politisation, poor conditioning, bureaucratic incompetence and underfunding” (Berridge)
• It is argued that some agencies have “intensely political…agendas” (Berridge)
• “Since the mid-1980s the UN has been afflicted by an acute cash crisis” (Berridge) which has resulted in the Council imposing “savage spending restrictions” (Berridge)
• Human rights have been promoted and protected through “Declarations, covenants and campaigns” (David Whittaker, UN in the Contemporary World) as well as monitoring, enquiry and enforcement bodies, worldwide research and teaching and training programmes.
• The UN has “served as a continuing source of pressure for disarmament” (Price and Zacher, The UN and Global Security) since its establishment in 1945
• The General Assembly has passed many resolutions calling a ban on nuclear weaponry and “equating such use with crimes against humanity” (Price and Zacher)

Globalisation

• Economic globalisation is “a shift from a world of distinct national economies to a global economy in which production is internationalized and financial capital flows freely and instantly between countries” (Heywood 1998)
• Globalisation is a “complex web of interconnectedness” (Heywood 1998)

International Law

• International law is the body of law that “regulates the activities of entities possessing international personality” (Wikipedia)
• “The International Court of Justice has a recognised usefulness as a centre for advice and consultation…it is indispensable” (Whittaker)
• “Denied the instruments of arrest and mandatory sentencing the UN’s legal institution functions today more as a helping centre and point of reference in an uncertain and inconsistent world” (Whittaker)
• The Us fears that with the ICC American soldiers and political leaders may be “subject to frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions”(The Associated Press)

Sovereignty

• In May 2004 the Guardian defined sovereignty as “supreme and unrestricted power residing in an individual or group of people”
• “Parliamentary sovereignty is the dominant characteristic of our political institutions” (A V Dicey)
• Real sovereignty is the “degree of control which a nation can exert on its own destiny” (Anderson and Weymouth)
• “Theoretical sovereignty is defined as symbolic control signifying little if any substance” (Anderson and Weymouth)
• “On the basis of the powers conferred on them the [European Union] institutions can act independently of the member states and are binding on the member states and on all their citizens” (European Union Law)
• Sovereignty is “the final and absolute authority within the political community” (Enoch Powell)
• Sovereignty has already been conceded to international businesses and thus “to enter into collective social and economic arrangements is to retrieve sovereignty and not to surrender it” (The New Statesman)
• “In practice political sovereignty has long rested with the executive” (Tony Benn)
• About Factortame – “this is a historic judgement…it overturns the English ruling that no injunction can be granted against the Crown…the Europeans are rewriting [the British] constitution” (The New Statesman in June 1990)
• “Membership of the EU has not been settled for all time; it is provisional, not unconditional” (Norman Lamont)

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Original content by joker13na.