copyright 2010 pearson education canada / j a mclachlan 7 - 1 chapter seven world issues global...

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education Canada / J A McLachlan 7 - 1

Chapter Seven

World Issues

• Global Inequality and Foreign Aid

• Just War Theory

• Guerrilla Warfare and Terrorism

• Environmental Issues


The Causes of Third World Poverty

• Poor natural assets (fertile land, a temperate climate, natural resources and clean drinking water)

• Internal influences (history and culture, education and health care systems, population density, physical infrastructure, political stability, corruption and mismanagement, civil freedom and equality)

• External influences (colonialism and the trade practices of Western nations—subsidies, trade agreements and global competition )


Foreign Aid and the Millennium Development Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and whose income is less than $1 US per day.

2. Achieve universal primary education. Ensure that children everywhere are able to complete a full course of primary education.

3. Promote gender equality and empower women. Eliminate gender disparity in education.

4. Reduce child mortality. Reduce the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds.

5. Improve maternal health. Reduce the maternal mortality rate by three-quarters.

(Continued)


Foreign Aid and the Millennium Development Goals6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of malaria and other diseases.

7. Ensure environmental sustainability. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into national policies, reverse the loss of environmental resources, halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and significantly improve the lives of slum dwellers.

8. Develop a global partnership for development. Include governments, international organizations and the private sector in assisting Third World development.


Problems Associated with Foreign Aid

There are four potential problems in how foreign aid is distributed.

1. Fragmentation (Aid budgets are divided into many tiny, ineffective pieces.)

2. Poor selectivity (Aid is given to corrupt and/or relatively wealthy regimes.)

3. High overhead (administrative and payroll costs)4. Ineffective aid channels (such as food aid, which

harms recipient economies and local farmers, and tied aid, which comes with strings attached that harm the recipient country)


Charitable Giving by Individuals

What is our responsibility to those less fortunate?

Do you agree with Peter Singer that we are morally obligated to give as much of our money as we can, without causing suffering to ourselves and our dependents?

Why or why not?


Just War Theory

• Militarism is the belief that military force is noble and a natural aspect of human nature; it brings out the virtues of heroism, self-sacrifice and loyalty.

• Pacifism is the belief that the use of lethal force against another person or nation can never be justified.

• Just war theory maintains that non-violent resolutions are morally preferable to violent ones; however, war is necessary and morally justified at times, if conducted within ethical guidelines.


Principles of Just War Theory

• Jus Ad Bellum establishes the criteria for deciding when entering into war is morally justified.

• Jus In Bello determines what behaviours are morally acceptable during a war.

• Jus Post Bellum covers the criteria for ceasing conflict, such as fair peace agreements, reparation and reconstruction, and the trying of war criminals.


Jus Ad Bellum

There are six principles which a nation must consider before deciding to declare war:

• just cause • legitimate authority • right intention • probability of success • last resort • proportionality

All six must be satisfied in order for a war to be morally justified.


Jus In Bello

There are four principles concerned with ethical combat practices:

• proportionality

• distinction (also called discrimination)

• military necessity

• responsibility


Jus Post Bellum

There are three considerations when nations cease hostilities:

• cause for termination of hostilities (i.e., the just cause for the war has been resolved)

• peace agreements and terms of surrender (i.e., observing the principle of proportionality)

• trials of war criminals (i.e., observing the principles of right intent and objectivity)


Guerrilla Warfare and Terrorism

• Guerrilla warfare usually is not legitimized by a head of state. Combatants target military opponents, but they employ evasive and covert tactics rather than direct confrontation.

• Terrorists achieve their goals by spreading terror. They target non-combatants going about their daily lives and non-military operations such as water supplies, commerce centres and computer systems.


Child Soldiers Used by Terrorists

• The International Convention on the Rights of the Child condemns the use of any person under the age of 18 in armed conflict. It prohibits armed groups or family members from recruiting or using children under age 18 in hostilities. It requires that child soldiers be immobilized and given assistance for their emotional and physical recovery and their reintegration into society.

• According to international law (the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court) recruiting and using children under age 15 is a war crime.


Omar Khadr, Canada’s Child Soldier

Should Omar Khadr have been left in Guantanamo Bay?

What crimes were committed by or against Omar Khadr?

What legal and moral obligations, if any, does Canada have concerning Omar Khadr?


Environmental Issues

Pollution Includes the emissions, by-products and wastes of

producing food, energy and consumable products

Use of natural resources Includes sustainability (e.g., current mega-farms are not

sustainable because they deplete and poison the land) and use of non-renewable resources (e.g., fossil fuels are limited)

Land health Includes preserving wild areas and biological and

ecological diversity


Positions on the Environment

• The anthropocentric perspective: a traditional, human-centred view that protecting the environment is in the best interests of human beings.

• The biocentric perspective: animals and plants have rights just as people do, for their own sake, not only for ours.

• The ecocentric perspective: attaches value and rights to whole ecosystems, including non-living elements such as rivers and soil. Rainforests, wetlands, savannahs and tundra all have value in their own right.


Responsibility for the Environment

What responsibility do we have as individuals for protecting the environment? What should we be doing?

What responsibility do businesses have for protecting the environment? What should they be required to do?

What responsibility does Government have for protecting the environment? What should our Government do?

copyright 2010 pearson education canada / j a mclachlan 7 - 1 chapter seven world issues global...

Documents

continuedforeign aid

food aid

tied aid

global competition foreign

ineffective aid channels

war theorymilitarism

poor selectivity aid

fragmentation aid budgets