Restructuring Transnational Mineral Agreements

1979 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel K. B. Asante
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Third World ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Third World

Within our own generation no less than 70 countries have attained political independence and joined the international community of nation states. Third World countries now command a preponderant majority in the United Nations and other world bodies, yet it is trite knowledge that the attainment of political independence and the proliferation of nation states in the Third World have had little impact on the world economic power structure. Access to the corridors of the United Nations and other international bodies has not necessarily assured effective participation in the shaping and restructuring of the world economic system. After the first flush of exhilaration over political independence, developing countries have now grasped the sobering fact that sovereignty is not synonymous with economic self-sufficiency or development and that the rich industrialized countries still substantially control the production and distribution of the world’s resources. An analysis of European direct investment in Africa shows that by the end of 1967 the former metropolitan powers still dominated investments in their former colonies. (The percentage of the total foreign investments in these African countries held by the former imperial powers is illustrated in table 1.)

The World Economy through the Lens of the United Nations

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
The United Nations

This volume documents the intellectual influence of the United Nations through its flagship publication, the World Economic and Social Survey (WESS) on its seventieth anniversary. Prepared at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and first published in 1948 as the World Economic Report (subsequently renamed the WESS), it is the oldest continuous post-World War II publication of this kind, recording and analysing the performance of the global economy and social development trends, and offering relevant policy recommendations. This volume highlights how well WESS has tracked global economic and social conditions, and how its analyses have influenced and have been influenced by the prevailing discourse over the past seven decades. The volume critically reflects on its policy recommendations and their influence on actual policymaking and the shaping of the world economy. Although world economic and social conditions have changed significantly over the past seven decades and so have the policy recommendations of the Survey, some of its earlier recommendations remain relevant today; recommendations in WESS provided seven decades ago seem remarkably pertinent as the world currently struggles to regain high levels of employment and economic activity. Thus, in many ways, WESS was ahead of the curve on many substantive issues. Publication of this volume will enhance the interest of the wider community of policymakers, academics, development practitioners, and members of civil society in the analytical work of the UN in general and UN-DESA in particular.

Micro-Dependency: The Cuban Factor in Southern Africa

1981 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-345
Author(s):  
Ali A. Mazrui
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Third World ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
West African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The Third ◽  
Industrialized Nations ◽  
The World ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
The Third World

We accept the proposition that the worst kind of dependency lies in North-South interaction. But emphasizing this dimension should not go to the extent of ignoring other dimensions. It is simply not true that all forms of international dependency concern interactions between the Northern Hemisphere and the South, or between industrialism and sources of raw materials. There are important forms of dependency among industrialized nations themselves. Increasingly, there are also forms of dependency between one country in the Third World and another; or between one region of the Third World and another. Dependency is a form of political castration. For the purposes of this essay, dependency between one country in the Northern Hemisphere and another or between one industrialized state and another, is categorized as macro-dependency. This involves variations in power within the upper stratum of the world system. Macro-dependency is thus upper-horizontal, involving variations in affluence among the affluent, or degree of might among the mighty. Micro-dependency for our purposes here concerns variations of technical development among the under-developed, or relative influence among the weak, or degrees of power among those that are basically exploited. The dependency of some West African countries upon Nigeria, or of some of the Gulf States upon Iran or Saudi Arabia, are cases of micro-dependency. We shall return to this level more fully later, but let us first begin with the phenomenon of macro-dependency.

scholarly journals Orient-Occident : Origines mythiques d’un couple réel

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-523
Author(s):  
Thierry Hentsch
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Society ◽  
International Community ◽  
Pressure Groups ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
New Feature ◽  
World Organization ◽  
Multilateral Diplomacy

What the United Nations brought to the International Community during its forty years of life cannot be assessed only by referring to the working of the institution and the success or failures it encountered in dealing with specific questions or crises. The profound and lasting changes in the International Community itself in which it contributed in bringing about must also be taken into consideration. Undoubtedly, the most considerable of these changes, a mutation, in the real sense of the word, was the passage from an international society centered around Europe and North-America in 1945, to a truly world society in 1985, through the process of decolonisation. The United Nations decisively contributed to the spreading of the ideology of decolonisation, to the enactment of an international law of decolonisation and to the use of multilateral diplomacy against colonial powers. Eventually, admission to the United Nations became the visible sign as well as the final step of the attainment of political independence. Another remarkable new feature of the international society of today, closely related to the preceding one, is the importance of groups of states, like the Seventy Seven and the Non Aligned, acting as pressure groups. This new setting was made possible only with the existence of the United Nations, where "group diplomacy" was able to deploy itself and to make the "power of the number" felt. Eventually, the whole present diplomatic game, which is played at the level of the world rather than on a bilateral or regional basis in an always growing number of fields, is a product of development of multilateral diplomacy within the United Nations. It is specially true of the so-called North-South dialogue - or confrontation. The World Organization is now an irreversible fact of international life and a reflection of the present structure of the International Society that it helped to build up. But on the other hand, it is a very novel experiment in a historical perspective. Much is y et to be learned in order to be able to make the best use of the instruments it affords for managing the world community.

scholarly journals NEOLIBERASLIME VERSUS KEBIJAKAN SELEKTIF KEIMIGRASIAN: KORELASI KOMPONEN “INTERNATIONAL OPENNESS” DENGAN REZIM BEBAS VISA DI INDONESIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-171
Author(s):  
Andry Indrady
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
World Economic Forum ◽  
Competitive Index ◽  
Travel And Tourism ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Openness

Sejak penerapan kebijakan bebas visa wisata di Indonesia pada tahun 1983 sampai dengan tahun 2017 terlihat dominasi sektor kepariwisataan (tourism) di dalam proses pengambilan keputusan kebijakan bebas visa. Rasional utama desakan adanya kebijakan ini belakangan terlihat adanya unsur pengaruh the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index (TTCI) yang dikeluarkan oleh lembaga dunia the World Economic Forum (WEF) dan the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) untuk mendongkrak rangking Indonesia di mata dunia Indonesia dalam hal sektor kepariwisataan. Dan salah satu komponen dari alat ukur persaingan kompetisi internasional tersebut adalah international openness, dengan penilaian bahwa semakin banyak suatu negara menghilangkan restriksi untuk memasuki suatu negara maka semakin tinggi komponen penilaian TTCI. Tulisan ini secara kritis menilai bahwa perluasan kebijakan bebas visa, sudah bergeser dari titik keseimbangan kebijakan selektif keimigrasian Indonesia. Meskipun diakui bahwa ada kontribusi dari kebijakan bebas ini, namun secara makro menggiring ke dalam “perangkap” instrumen internasional yang akan merugikan kepentingan Indonesia. Bahkan analisis di dalam tulisan ini ditemukan bahwa tidak ada korelasi yang signifikan antara komponen international openness dengan peningkatan daya saing pariwisata secara agregat. Oleh karena itu, dengan menggunakan beberapa pendekatan teori ekonomi politik internasional, dan teori pembangunan internasional, tulisan ini melakukan studi kritis terhadap eksistensi pengaruh internasional terhadap kebijakan selektif keimigrasian di Indonesia, serta langkah-langkah konkret yang perlu dilakukan segera oleh Pemerintah Indonesia agar dapat terhindar dari jebakan angka dan statistik dalam berkompetisi di era neoliberal saat ini.

1. Introduction to the Annual Report of the Secretary-General (Lie) on the Work of the Organization, July 7, 1949

1949 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-758
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Third World ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
World Peace ◽  
World War ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Third World War

The year between 1 July 1948 and 30 June 1949 covered in this, my fourth annual report on the work of the United Nations, has been, on the whole, a year of progress towards a more peaceful world.It is true that the world has had its full share of crises and alarms. The rival claims in an ideological conflict have been pressed as though they were the only issue of our times, while the great Powers have continued their efforts to strengthen their relative positions before the situation is brought nearer to stability by the conclusion of peace treaties. Although overshadowed by the great Power differences, movements of national independence and social upheavals in many parts of the world have unavoidably contributed to international tensions. These conditions, which have persisted since the war ended, continue to cause widespread anxiety among the peoples of the world as to the prospects for world peace and the ability of the United Nations to prevent a third world war.

scholarly journals The place of Sub-Sahara Africa in the Worldsportsystem

Afrika Focus ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trudo Dejonghe
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Third World ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Cultural Imperialism ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Third World

The contemporary world sportsystem is developed through globalisation with its homogenisation and heterogenisation processes. The result of these opposite forces is the division of the world in 6 classes. Sub-Sahara Africa underwent, with the exception of South- Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, a total and passive acceptance of the western (British) modern sports. The place of that part of Africa is analogue to and correlates with its place in Wallerstein's world- system periphery. The introduction of modern sports is associated with the spatial diffusion of the 19th century British hegemonic cultural imperialism. The purpose of this policy was a transformation of the traditional society into a modern functional world-culture and the incorporation of that part of the world in the world-system.The anti-western feelings after the independence resulted in a political Pan-Africanism. However, sport and more specific soccer, a typical product of the western domination, has not been rejected. On the contrary, local politicians used it to create a national identity. The strong link between soccer and soil resulted in a strong form of topophily. This connection was transformed into sportnationalism and created in the, through artificial borders developed, nations a unity and a national pride. The outcome of sport games was used to demonstrate the successes in politics and economics. The absence of any political platform on which the Third World had a strong voice brought about that the international sport scene, such as the FIFA, was used for the unification of the Third World against the former colonial powers. Nowadays, the globalisation processes result in an increasing labour migration of African football players to the rich core competitions in Europe. This form of migration can be classified as another form of "cash crop" or in this case "foot drain.. " "As Roman imperialism laid the foundation of modern civilisation and led wild barbarians of these islands (Britain) along the path of progress, so in Africa today we are repaying the debt, and bringing to the dark places of the earth — the abode of barbarism and cruelty — the torch of culture and progress... we hold these countries because it is the genius of our race to colonise, to trade and to govern "(quote by the English educationist Sir Frederick Lugard (1858-1954) in Mandell, 1986: p.102).Key Words: foot drain, globalisation, labour migration, national identity, soccer, sport nationalism, world sport-system. 

scholarly journals Namibia, After Three Years: Political Independent but Economic Unstable

Afrika Focus ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Willemot
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
South African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Collaboration ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Government

Namibia became independent on the 21st of March 1990, after seventy-five years of South African colonial and racial rule. SWAPO fought a long war for liberation, but the independence was also gained thanks to the diplomatic pressure from the United Nations. The United Nations were actively involved in the organisation of the first free elections which were held on the 7th of November 1989. The SWAPO liberation movement became by far the most important political party in the Namibian Parliament. But from the beginning the SWAPO-leaders explained that the past should be forgotten. They promoted a constructive political and economic collaboration with all Namibians, African and European. Due to this atmosphere of reconciliation Namibia had a successful political independence. One of the world's most progressive constitutions was written. It ends all racial discrimination and guarantees an extensive review of the human rights. The rules for the organisation of the legislative, executive and judiciary power are respected by all political parties. Namibia is without any doubt an example for a lot of African countries, which are now making steps towards democracy and multi-partyism. The Namibian government has still a lot of problems to deal with. The major ones are the social and economic inequalities that still exist between African and European Namibians. The conditions of life of the European Namibians are comparable to these in modern western societies, while African Namibians are living in poverty. The government will have to change this, because in the long term one cannot expect to build democracy on empty stomachs. But in order to realize the necessary economic growth, Namibians are also counting on the support and the investments from abroad. A member of government recently said: "Now we've installed democracy and the human rights are respected, where are the foreign in- vestments and the international aid?" 

“Instrumentalizing” The United Nations: Nigeria and Its Quest for Regional Leadership in Africa

World Affairs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 184 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-100
Author(s):  
Segun Oshewolo ◽  
Agaptus Nwozor ◽  
Femi Fayomi ◽  
Motolani Oluwatuyi
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Peace ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Domestic Security ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Regional Leadership ◽  
The United Nations

This study demonstrates that Nigeria’s power scheme in the United Nations (UN) clearly amounts to “instrumentalizing” the world body in favor of its hegemonic interest in Africa. Through the UN, Nigeria has employed its abundant power resources to support the dismantling of apartheid and colonialism in Africa, contribute actively to the maintenance of international peace, and promote social and economic development in the developing world, including Africa. Nigeria’s exploits in the above areas have yielded notable dividends, particularly the projection of the country as a leading African power. The notable dividends notwithstanding, there have been some major setbacks such as occasional disdain for Nigeria’s interest and ambition in the UN by smaller African countries, overwhelming domestic security challenges, and the consequent waning of Nigeria’s role in UN-mounted peacekeeping. The study recommends that Nigeria must urgently address these challenges to return to its position of prominence in the world body.

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