INTERNATIONALISM AND GLOBAL ISSUES

1. INTERNATIONALISM AND GLOBAL ISSUES (pg 272 – 297) KEY TERMS: Absolute Poverty Odious Debt *Is Canada obligated to share it fresh water supply?

2. What are Some Contemporary Global Issues? • Climate Change • The Spread of Disease • Access to Water • Control Over Water

3. Climate Change • 1997 Kyoto Accord • Countries that signed the protocol agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. • After initially supporting it, Canada has since announced it will not meet Kyoto targets. • It is estimated that it would cost the economy $51 billion.

4. The Spread of Disease • 1300s – Black Death • After WWI – Killer Flu Virus • 2002-2003 – SARS • West Nile Virus • Avian (Bird) Flu • Malaria • AIDS The World Heath Organization (WHO) works to prevent the outbreak of deadly diseases

5. Access to Water • Canada has 20% of the world’s fresh water but only 0.5% of the world’s population. • Over 1 billion people have inadequate access to water and over 2 million children die every year because of it. • In 2002 the UN declared access to water a fundamental human right. Canada was the only country to oppose it. Why?

6. Control Over Water • Countries can decide to sell water, divert it for hydroelectric power and decide on rules about dumping sewage into fresh water. *Does Canada need a law protecting our fresh water?

7. How has Internationalism Been Used to Address These Contemporary Global Issues? • Poverty • Hunger • Disease • Debt

8. Poverty Absolute Poverty a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information

9. Oxfam(an international NGO)identified the following causes of poverty: • Lack of Education • Lack of access to resources (land) • Conflict and War • Trade Rules • Discrimination

10. Hunger • 1 person dies every 4 seconds from starvation. • Developing countries are not the only ones affected. In Canada 11% of our citizens live below the poverty line (pg 279) • More and more people are relying on food banks to feed their families. • Should that happen in a wealthy, developed country like Canada?

11. Disease Poverty contributes to disease because people who are poor and malnourished do not have strong immune systems, do not learn about disease prevention and cannot afford medication. HIV and AIDS In the year 2007 in sub-Saharan Africa: 1,600,000 died of AIDS 22,500,000 were living with HIV  and many do not use condoms because the stigma is that if you use you have – not that you want to protect.

12. Debt • Countries borrow money from private banks, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) • Paying back the loans (and the interest on the loans) puts the country in further debt resulting in worse conditions for their citizens. • Pay for water? • http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art.shtml?x=16261

13. Odious DebtA debt that is incurred by a despotic power, not to meet the needs of the country but to strengthen the despotic regime. These debts are owed by the regime, not the people of the country so the people should not be required to repay them if the regime falls - Alexander Sack

14. Greenhouse gas emissions Disappearance of the rainforest Melting of the Polar Ice Caps UN Environment Programme (1972) Kyoto Protocol (1990s) Measuring each countries Ecological Footprint Climate Change http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/calculators/default.asp

15. Making A difference • Read about Sheila Watt-Cloutier on page 283

16. Human Rights • The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (1948) was created after the horrors of WWII. • Before the UN can take action all 5 permanent members (China, France, Russia, Britain and the US) must agree. Even if one rejects a proposal no action can be taken.

17. Conflict Darfur (western Sudan) – pg 285 In 2003 the Sudan Liberation Army and other rebel groups began attacking government targets in Darfur. The SLA claimed that the government (run by Arabs) favored Arabs over the Black population. The government has been accused of genocide and an estimated 200,000 people have been killed and another 2 million have fled their homes. The UN tried negotiating with the Sudanese government but the violence continued

18. Is internationalism the most effective way of addressing contemporary global issues? International Trade Countries that trade with each other are less likely to go to war with one another. WTO – World Trade Organization helps to promote this view. But do all countries benefit equally from trade?

19. Cont’d Some say no! “Free trade cannot be fair to the poor. With no barriers to trade, the poor swim in the same economic stream as the transnational corporations that account for 2/3 of the worlds trade”

20. Taking Turns • 3 Readers for page 289

21. Decline vs. Shift • What this really boils down to for some people is that traditional governments are losing some of their powers as the world come together. We must give some power to each other in a system that continues to change.

22. View From Here • Finish it off – 3 readers for page 291.