Definitions

Voluntary balkanization: The separation of like-minded people into isolated groups that are
hostile to people whose values differ from their own. This separation may result in a loss of
shared experiences and values and can harm the structure of democratic societies.
Responsibility to protect: A doctrine that says the UN must protect people within the state
when that state violates or fails to uphold the rights and welfare of its own citizens.
Common human heritage: The cultural inheritance from the past that all people share and that
is preserved in world heritage sites, traditional skills and knowledge, and the arts.
Trickle-down effect: The theory that when people in developed countries have more money to
spend, they will buy goods and services offered by businesses in less developed countries and
that this spending will eventually help strengthen economies in the developing world.
UNESCO: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
WTO: World Trade Organization
EU: European Union
La Francophonie: An organization that promotes French language and cultural and linguistic
diversity.
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
IGOs: Intergovernmental organization
INGOs: International nongovernmental organization

Questions
1. Since the world becomes more globalized many things cannot be confined within the
borders of a single country. In 2002 a farmer in China died of an unidentified disease.
Three months later an American traveling in China also died from the disease. Several
people who treated him also got sick. From there the outbreak spread and the disease
was known as SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome. Challenges presented by
diseases like SARS or other things such as terroism, climate change need countries to
work together in order to solve them. Countries that support internationalism accept
collective responsibility for some of the world's problems and work together to resolve
them.
2. The UN change was recommended to change its long tradition of staying out of internal
conflicts. They say that the UN has a responsibility to protect people when states violate
or fail to uphold the rights and welfare of its own citizens. Intervention could take form in
humanitarian operations, monitoring missions, diplomacy, or as a last resort military
force. However this has been seen as controversial because it may be seen as a
challenge to sovereignty and nationalism.
3. The WTO
In 1948, 23 countries including Canada signed the General agreement on Tariffs and
Trade which set out rules that governed members on how to trade. In 1955 the GATT
became the WTO with more than 150 countries. Some people however do not think that
the WTO helps countries. They believe that the WTO threatens national identity and
countries' ability to pursue national interests. WTO rules can be upheld by economic
sanctions and this allows the organization lots of power that can be used to override the
wishes of a national government.
The European Union
The European Union became an official supranational body in 1991. In addition to
promoting peace, security, and justice the EU is dedicated to making one of the largest
free trade zones in the world by integrating economies of members. The result of this is
most obstacles standing in the way of free trade and movement of goods and people
across the national borders of member countries have been removed. One obstacle to
freer trade within the EU was national currency like the British pound or the French franc.
To overcome this many countries adapted to the euro as their currency. Britain and
Denmark however who are both members of the EU have not adapted to the euro. One
factor is that citizens believe that accepting the euro will lead to loss of sovereignty and
national identity.
Early Indigenous Peoples Association
In 1973 many indigenous people who lived in the world's circumpolar region met at the
Arctic peoples conference in copenhagen. This conference marked the beginning of
international cooperation between indigenous people. It helped inspire groups such as
the World Council of indigenous people and the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. Although
the WCIP disbanded it played an important role in developing the declaration on the
rights of indigenous people. The inuit circumpolar conference represents 160,000 inuit
who live in the arctic regions of canada, alaska, greenland, and russia. They meet every
4 years to promote the interests and rights of indigenous people and strengthen their
cultural bonds.
The Arctic Council
In 1991 representatives for the world's 8 arctic countries Canada, Denmark, Iceland,
Finland, Norway, Sweden, the US, and Russia met in Finland to discuss strategies to
protect the fragile arctic environment. This also included indigenous people who lived in
arctic regions. 5 years later the arctic council was formed. The arctic council combined
its membership representatives of arctic indigenous groups and representatives of the
governments of the 8 countries. Some observers predict that this breakthrough will lead
to a new era of cooperation and inspire other governmental organizations to broaden
their focus in a similar way.
La Francophonie
Was originally an organization of countries where French was the official language.
Although la Francophonie members are only governments they are not only national
governments. Canada is a member but so is Quebec and New Brunswick. La
Francophonie committee to promote French language and cultural and linguistic diversity
however in recent years they share a vision of international cooperation and support for
human rights. In Macedonia French is not an official language but Macedonia is still a
member country. Although la Francophonie passes resolutions they do not have the
force of law and members are not required to abide by them. They still influence
governments to make changes in their policies.
Security Organizations
When the cold war began western europe and north america feared the military threat
posed by the powerful soviet union. To protect themselves they formed the North Atlantic
Treaty Agreement or NATO in 1949. Canada was a founding member. NATO members
agreed that an attack on one member would be considered an attack on all members.
When the soviet union collapsed in the 1980 NATO shifted to a peacekeeping and
peacemaking organization. Other countries formed similar military organizations such as
the collective security treaty organization which includes Russia and other former soviet
states.