Iloilo City Community College

Bachelor of Science in Office Administration

MODULE 3
Lesson 3 – A History of Global Politics: Creating an International Order
(Week 4)

I. Learning Outcomes
Dear student, at the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
• Identify key events in the development of international relations;
• Differentiate internationalization from globalization;
• Define the state and the nation; and
• Distinguish between the competing conceptions of internationalism.
II. Learning Materials
a. References
• Brazalote, T. & Leonardo, R., The Contemporary World, Quezon City: C&E Publishing, Inc., 2019
• Claudio, L. & Abinales, P., The Contemporary World, Quezon City: C&E Publishing, Inc., 2018
• . PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT. https://openstax.org/details/books/principlemanagement
b. Video
• Sumabong, C. ( September 15, 2020) Lesson 3:The Contemporary World.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXKGMe0Dw3g. Youtube
III. Learning Activities

The world is composed of many countries or states, all of them having different forms of government. Some scholars of
politics are interested in individual states and examine the internal politics of these countries. For example, a scholar studying the
politics of Japan may write about the history of it bureaucracy. Other scholars are more interested in the interactions between
states rather than their internal politics. These scholars look at trade deals between states. They also study political, military, and
other diplomatic engagements between two or more countries. These scholars are studying internal relations. Moreover, when
they explore the deepening of interactions between states, they refer to the phenomenon of internationalization.

Internationalization VS Globalization

• Internationalization refers to the increasing importance of international trade, international relations, treaties,
alliances, etc. Inter-national, of course, means between or among nations. The basic unit remains the nation, even as
relations among nations become increasingly necessary and important.
• Globalization refers to global economic integration of many formerly national economies into one global economy,
mainly by free trade and free capital mobility, but also by easy or uncontrolled migration. It is the effective erasure of
national boundaries for economic purposes. International trade (governed by comparative advantage) becomes
interregional trade (governed by absolute advantage). What was many becomes one.

4 Key Attributes of World Politics

1. There are countries or states that are independent and govern themselves
2. These countries interact with each other through diplomacy
3. There are international organizations that facilitate these interactions
4. Beyond simply facilitating meetings between states , international organizations also take on lives of their own.

Country
• A country is a region that is identified as a distinct entity in political geography.
• A country may be an independent sovereign state or part of a larger state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign
political division, or a geographic region associated with sets of previously independent or differently associated people
with distinct political characteristics.
• Countries can refer both to sovereign states and to other political entities, while other times it can refer only to states.
• A country refers to a territory with its own borders as well as total sovereignty over its territory and people.

1| Course Module on GE-7 CONTEMPORARY WORLD

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Sovereign State
• A sovereign state, sovereign country, or simply state, is a nonphysical juridical entity that is represented by one
centralized government that has sovereignty over a geographic area. International law defines sovereign states as
having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other
sovereign states.
• It is also normally understood that a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subjected to any other power or state.

Sovereignty
• Sovereignty, in political theory, the ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process of the state and in
the maintenance of order.
• The concept of sovereignty—one of the most controversial ideas in political science and international law—is closely
related to the difficult concepts of state and government and of independence and democracy.
• the full right and power of a governing body over itself, without any interference from outside sources or bodies. In
political theory, sovereignty is a substantive term designating supreme authority over some polity
• Internal sovereignty
• The unhindered power of the state to rule over its people
• External sovereignty
• Freedom from foreign rule/control

State
• A state is a people organized in a definite territory with functioning government and sovereignty
• State, political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more narrowly, the institutions of government.
• The state is a form of human association distinguished from other social groups by its purpose, the establishment of
order and security; its methods, the laws and their enforcement; its territory, the area of jurisdiction or geographic
boundaries; and finally by its sovereignty.
• The state consists, most broadly, of the agreement of the individuals on the means whereby disputes are settled in the
form of laws. In such countries as the United States, Australia, Nigeria, Mexico, and Brazil, the term state (or a
cognate) also refers to political units, not sovereign themselves, but subject to the authority of the larger state, or
federal union.

4 Attributes of a State
1. It exercises authority over specific population (citizens)
2. It govern territory
3. Has a structure of government that crafts various rules that people (society) follow
4. Has sovereignty over its territory

Nation
• Refers to a large group of individuals who believe that they belong together because the share common identity
• Nation a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country
or territory.
• Nations are born out of confluence of two factors
• A group of people have cohesion in order that a community continue to exist as distinct entity
• Individual members aspire to belong to a homogenous community to have security and meaning

Classification of Nation
• Ethnic nation
An entity that is united on the basis of ethnicity. Populated by a single ethnic group
• Territorial nation
An entity that is populated by various ethnic groups that have been assimilated into a nation

Nation State
• Relatively modern phenomenon in human history, and people did not always organize themselves as countries.
• A nation state (or nation-state) is a state where the great majority shares the same culture and is conscious of it. The
nation state is an ideal in which cultural boundaries match up with political ones.

State, Nation and Country

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 • The word “state” and the word “country” can be used interchangeably. However, in a political discourse, a state can be
defined as a political unit with sovereignty (legitimate and total political power) over a region and all the people living in
that region. A nation, on the other hand, does not need to have a physical border since it is more of a group of people
with similar cultures, language, religions, and other things. A good example of a nation is Palestine where there are
several people identifying as Palestinians even though, officially, the state of Palestine has limited recognition.

Treaty of Westphalia
• System designed to avert wars in the future by recognizing that the treaty signers exercise complete control over their
domestic affairs and swear not to meddle in each other’s affairs.
• The treaty was widely interpreted as giving states the right to political self-determination, to be considered equal from a
legal point of view and as prohibiting them from intervening in the affairs of other sovereign states.

French Revolution
• Leaded by Napoleon Bonaparte
• Liberty, equality, and fraternity
• Napoleonic code
• Forbade birth privileges, encouraged freedom or religion, and promoted meritocracy in government service.
• Meritocracy is a leadership selected on the basis of intellectual criteria

Concert of Europe
• Alliance of great power
• United Kingdom, Austria, Russia and Prussia
• A system to prevent another war and to keep their systems of privilege, created by the royal powers
• Sought to restore the world of monarchial, hereditary, and religious privileges of the time before the French Revolution
and the Napoleonic wars
• Klemens von Metternich
• The main architect of the Metternich System

Internationalism
• Internationalism is a political principle which transcends nationalism and advocates a greater political or economic
cooperation among nations and people
• Internationalism is most commonly expressed as an appreciation for the diverse cultures in the world, and a desire for
world peace.
• People who express this view believe in not only being a citizen of their respective countries, but of being a citizen of
the world. Internationalists feel obliged to assist the world through leadership and charity.

Nationalism
• Nationalism emphasizes collective identity - a 'people' must be autonomous, united, and express a single national
culture. However, some nationalists stress individualism as an important part of their own national identity.
• involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation.
Often, it is the belief that an ethnic group has a right to statehood,or that citizenship in a state should be limited to one
ethnic group, or that multinationality in a single state should necessarily comprise the right to express and exercise
national identity even by minorities.

International Law
• Also called public international law or law of nations, the body of legal rules, norms, and standards that apply between
sovereign states and other entities that are legally recognized as international actors. The term was coined by the
English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832).
• International law is a collection of rules governing relations between states. It is a mark of how far international law has
evolved that this original definition omits individuals and international organizations—two of the most dynamic and vital
elements of modern international law.
• International law is distinct from international comity, which comprises legally nonbinding practices adopted by states
for reasons of courtesy (e.g., the saluting of the flags of foreign warships at sea).

Liberal Internationalism

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 • Cluster of ideas derived from the belief that international progress is possible, where progress is defined as movement
toward increasing levels of harmonious cooperation between political communities.
• Liberal internationalism is a set of related concepts on how to best organize international relations between states and
non-state actors that emphasizes a belief in international progress, interdependence, cooperation, diplomacy,
multilateralism, and support for international political structures and organizations.

Self Determination
• Self-determination, the process by which a group of people, usually possessing a certain degree of national
consciousness, form their own state and choose their own government.
• denotes the legal right of people to decide their own destiny in the international order.
• Self-determination is a core principle of international law, arising from customary international law, but also recognized
as a general principle of law, and enshrined in a number of international treaties.

League of Nation
• An organization for international cooperation established on January 10, 1920, at the initiative of the victorious Allied
Powers at the end of World War I.
• The idea of the League was grounded in the broad, international revulsion against the unprecedented destruction of
the First World War and the contemporary understanding of its origins.
• A precursor to the United Nations, the League achieved some victories but had a mixed record of success, sometimes
putting self-interest before becoming involved with conflict resolution, while also contending with governments that did
not recognize its authority.

Socialist International
• Socialist International (SI), association of national socialist parties that advocates a democratic form of socialism.
• is a worldwide association of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of
democratic socialist, social-democratic and labor political parties and other organizations.

Communism
• Is the philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of
the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of
production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state.
• Political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership
and communal control of at least the major means of production (e.g., mines, mills, and factories) and the natural
resources of a society.
• Communism is thus a form of socialism—a higher and more advanced form, according to its advocates.

Commenter
• known also as the Third International (1919–1943), was an international organization that advocated world
communism.
• The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by all available means, including armed force, for the
overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to
the complete abolition of the state".
• Though its stated purpose was the promotion of world revolution, the Comintern functioned chiefly as an organ of
Soviet control over the international communist movement.

Cominform
• It was the first official forum of the International Communist Movement since the dissolution of the Comintern and
confirmed the new realities after World War II, including the creation of an Eastern Bloc
• The Cominform’s activities consisted mainly of publishing propaganda to encourage international communist solidarity.
The French and Italian parties were ineffective in carrying out the chief task assigned to them by the Cominform—to
obstruct the implementation of the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine. Like the Third International (Comintern) in
its later phases, the Cominform served more as a tool of Soviet policy than as an agent of international revolution.
• The intended purpose of Cominform was to coordinate actions between Communist parties under Soviet direction. It
had its own newspaper, For Lasting Peace, for People's Democracy!

International Organization (IO)

• International intergovernmental organizations or groups that are primarily made up of member states.

Course Module on GE 7 – CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Prepared by: Donna G. Palermo, M.A. Ed.
 • Powers of IO
• Power Classification
• They create powerful global standards. Making the UNCHR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees
that defines refugee.
• Power to fix meanings
• IO is a legitimate sources of information. The meanings they create have effects on various
policies.
• Power to diffuse norms
• Norms are accepted codes of conduct that may not be strict law but nevertheless produce
regularity in behavior
• IO spread their ideas across the world, there establishing global standards
• IO staffed with independent bureaucracies, who are considered experts in various fields.

United Nations
• The name "United Nations", coined by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt was first used in the Declaration
by United Nations of 1 January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their
Governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.
• The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding
Charter.
• the United Nations can take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century, such as peace and security,
climate change, sustainable development, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health
emergencies, gender equality, governance, food production, and more.

5 Active Organs of UN
The General Assembly (GA)
• is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN.
• Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and
budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority.
• Decisions on other questions are by simple majority.
• Each country has one vote. Some Member States in arrear of payment may be granted the right to vote.
• he Assembly has adopted its own rules of procedure and elects its President and 21 Vice-Presidents for
each session.
• Maria Fernanda Espinosa from Ecuador is the current President
• Carlos P. Romulo was elected as GA President from 1949-1950

Security Council (SC)

• has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members, and
each Member has one vote. 10 elected members has a 2 year term and the remaining 5, permanent 5 (P5),
China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States of America.
• Under the Charter of the United Nations, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
• The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of
aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of
adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or
even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

• The principal bidy for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue, and recommendations on social and
environmental issues as well as the implementation of internationally agreed developments goals
• 54 members for 3-year terms. The Philippines is one of the current member until 2020.
• the heart of the United Nations system to advance the three dimensions of sustainable development –
economic, social and environmental.
• It is the central platform for fostering debate and innovative thinking, forging consensus on ways forward, and
coordinating efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals.
• It is also responsible for the follow-up to major UN conferences and summits.

Course Module on GE 7 – CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Prepared by: Donna G. Palermo, M.A. Ed.
 International Court of Justice
• The International Court of Justice, which has its seat in The Hague, is the principal judicial organ of the
United Nations
• To settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to its by states and to give advisory
opinions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
• The major cases of the court consist of disputes between states that voluntarily submit themselves to the
court of arbitration.
• The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations
General Assembly and the Security Council. It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ. Its official
languages are English and French.

Secretariat
• is organized along departmental lines, with each department or office having a distinct area of action and
responsibility. Offices and departments coordinate with each other to ensure cohesion as they carry out the
day to day work of the Organization in offices and duty stations around the world. At the head of the United
Nations Secretariat is the Secretary-General.
• Equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO, the Secretary-General is a symbol of
United Nations ideals and a spokesman for the interests of the world's peoples, in particular the
poor and vulnerable among them. The current Secretary-General, and the ninth occupant of the
post, is Mr. António Guterres of Portugal, who took office on 1 January 2017.
• The Charter describes the Secretary-General as "chief administrative officer" of the Organization,
who shall act in that capacity and perform "such other functions as are entrusted" to him or her by
the Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and other United Nations
organs.
• The Charter also empowers the Secretary-General to "bring to the attention of the Security Council
any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security".
• These guidelines both define the powers of the office and grant it considerable scope for action.
The Secretary-General would fail if he did not take careful account of the concerns of Member
States, but he must also uphold the values and moral authority of the United Nations, and speak
and act for peace, even at the risk, from time to time, of challenging or disagreeing with those
same Member States.

Course Module on GE 7 – CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Prepared by: Donna G. Palermo, M.A. Ed.
 Module 3

Name: ___________________________________________________________ Year & Sec.: _______________

Activity

Instructions: Below are organizations that govern international relations. Compare two of them in terms of their objectives, roles,
functions. Write your answers in bullet.

1. International Criminal Court (ICC)

2. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
3. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
4. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
5. Global Environment Facility (GEF)

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IV.Evaluation
Instruction: Read the referenced article and complete the statements that follow.
• Gehring, T. & Oberthur, S. ( 2009). The mechanism of interaction between international insttitutions. European Journal
for International Relations, 15 (1), 125-156.

1. The three (3) things that I significantly learned from the readings are….

2. I used to think that….

Course Module on GE 7 – CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Prepared by: Donna G. Palermo, M.A. Ed.