The content listed indicates possible areas candidates might cover in their answers. They are not compulsory points. Candidates may take a different approach, which if appropriate, should be rewarded. Examiners should not expect all of the points listed and should allow other valid points.

Power, sovereignty and international relations
1. To what extent is state sovereignty an outdated concept in the 21st century?

Answers should include an understanding of the concept of sovereignty; for example, they may include reference to sovereignty as characterising a state’s independence, its control over territory and its ability to govern itself. Answers may also include an explanation of the distinction between internal and external sovereignty.

Arguments that state sovereignty is an outdated concept may include reference to:

•   the erosion of sovereignty by globalization;

•   the growth / increased influence of international organizations and other non-state actors;

•   pressures on state sovereignty from the international community, as in the case of humanitarian

  intervention or human rights abuses.

  Arguments that state sovereignty is not an outdated concept may include reference to:

•   the continued ability of states to legislate in their own national interest;

•   the strengthening of states’ national security due to the growing threat of terrorism;

•   the ability of states to isolate themselves from the international community to varying degrees

  (eg North Korea, Russia);

•   the link between sovereignty and the economic strength and power of the state.

  Answers should contain references to specific examples. For instance, candidates could refer to instances of multinational companies (MNCs) undermining state sovereignty (eg tax avoidance) or to cases where external military coalitions have intervened in a country’s conflict (eg Libya). These could be counteracted with examples of the strengthening of border controls (eg by the United States) or of nations who are seen as reluctant to engage with outside influences (eg North Korea).

  Answers should include an evaluation of the extent to which state sovereignty is an outdated concept in the 21st century.

2. “Global politics is characterized more by cooperation than by conflict.” Discuss.

Answers should include an understanding of the concept of cooperation; for example, with reference to global governance, cooperation at a regional level, the implementation (or not) of international law, or to the liberal view that emphasises cooperation as a driving force of global politics. Answers should also include an understanding of the concept of conflict; for example they may include reference to the distinction between violent and non-violent conflict, or to the realist view that national interests prevail in global politics even if they lead to conflict.

Arguments that global politics is characterized more by cooperation may include reference to:

•   the United Nations (UN) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs);

•   global governance;

•   international law and treaties;

•   economic cooperation;

•   informal cooperation;

•   the decline of inter-state conflict;

•   joint operations to provide humanitarian aid.

  Arguments that global politics is characterized more by conflict may include reference to:

•   tensions, controversies and challenges surrounding efforts at cooperation;

•   states’ resistance to intervention;

•   intractable conflicts between and within states;

•   the rise of terrorism.

  Answers should contain references to specific examples. There may be reference to specific examples of cooperation, such as cooperation through the UN framework or NATO, or bilateral cooperation (eg China in Africa); or to specific examples of conflict, such as events in the Middle East or Eastern Europe, or conflict over European integration.

  Answers should include an evaluation of whether contemporary global politics is characterized more by cooperation than by conflict.

Human rights
3. “A national or regional approach to human rights enforcement is more effective than a global

approach.” Discuss.

Answers should demonstrate an understanding of the concept of human rights; for example, reference to the widely held concept of human rights as universal, inalienable, equal, and indivisible rights to which people are entitled purely by being human. Answers should also include an understanding of the difference between national, regional and global aspects of rights; global as referring to events and trends which have far-reaching and long-term impacts across the globe, cutting across national identities and interests; regional, referring to events and trends limited to a particular geographic region such as Sub-Saharan Africa or East Asia; and national, as within a particular country.

Arguments in favour of a national or regional approach may include reference to:

•   the ability of smaller units to act more swiftly;

•   smaller-scale operations being potentially less bureaucratic;

•   greater knowledge of the situation by local actors;

•   a sense of shared regional identity aiding co-operation;

•   an avoidance of the imposition of universalism.

  Arguments that a global approach is more effective may include reference to:

•   the greater power and weight, prestige and influence of such an approach;

•   the ability of broad coalitions to access greater means/ resources;

•   a global approach as potentially avoiding cultural relativism/ providing an objective view.

  Answers should contain references to specific examples. These can include examples of global actors / activities, such as the Human Rights Council or The Hague Courts, or specific reference to regional examples such as the African Charter.

  Answers should include an evaluation of whether a national or regional approach to human rights enforcement is more effective than a global approach.

4. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) seeks to impose a Western view of human rights on non-Western societies.” To what extent do you agree with this criticism?

Answers should demonstrate an understanding of the concept of human rights; for example, reference to human rights as being widely regarded as universal, inalienable, equal, and indivisible rights that people are entitled to purely by being human. Answers should also include an understanding of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted by the UN in 1948; marking the beginning of formal discussion of human rights around the world.

Arguments that the UDHR does present and impose a Western perspective may include reference to:

•   the geo-political climate in which it was written (the 1948 post-WW2 context; a heightened

  sense of human sacrifice; the influence of Judeo-Christian values; a limited understanding or

  appreciation of non-Western value systems, etc);

•   the people who refer to the UDHR in the global public space and the contexts in which they

  refer to it, ie typically, Western leaders referring to it to justify Western perspectives or actions;

•   the role of human rights NGOs, and their primarily Western bases;

•   the individual-centred notion of human rights of the UDHR versus more collective notions;

•   the differences between the UDHR and non-Western perceptions of human rights.

  Arguments that the UDHR does not present and impose a Western perspective may include reference to:

•   the idea of rights as being universal, so the context is irrelevant;

•   the development and evolution of more recent global human rights legislation that is more

  sensitive to cultural diversity;

•   the influence of non-Western figures on the implementation of the human rights embodied in the

  UDHR in non-Western contexts;

•   the similarities between the UDHR and non-Western perceptions of human rights.

  Answers should contain references to specific examples. These may include, for instance, the influence of Western and non-Western human rights advocates (eg Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Malala Yousafzai) and examples of similar and dissimilar human rights declarations (eg the Bangkok Declaration of 1993, the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam of 1990, the Maputo Protocol of 2005).

  Answers should include an evaluation of whether or not the UDHR presents a Western perspective on human rights and seeks to impose those values on non-Western societies.

Development
5. Evaluate the claim that development is impossible to measure.

Answers should demonstrate an understanding of the concept of development; for example reference to the fact that development is not the same as economic growth, that it reflects the living standards and well-being of an entire population over time, and that it incorporates ideas such as access to basic goods and services, including education and healthcare as well as environmental concerns.

Arguments that development is impossible to measure may include reference to:

•   the non-quantifiable nature of a concept as complex as development: people value different

  kinds of lives, and in different cultures different things are considered important;

•   the difficulty of whether absolute or relative measures should be focused upon;

•   the difficulty of whether development should be focused on current or on future generations;

•   the difficulty of acquiring reliable data: some countries may not have reliable enough

  administrations at all levels to gather data;

•   the manipulation of data for political means;

•   data conflicts, time lags and the difficulty of drawing conclusions from a great variety of human

  motivations.

  Arguments that development is not impossible to measure may include reference to:

  •   a consensus on the fundamental ingredients of a society that enables people to achieve

    well-being, as illustrated by the similarities in philosophical traditions in different cultures; by the universal elements incorporated in international human rights laws and treaties, and by the emergence of global measurements;

  •   a better awareness of what are legitimate demands for development, enabled by the globalization of communication;

  •   a greater focus on previously “hidden” groups, such as children, women or bonded labour;

  •   improvements in the collection of and access to data, and an enhanced ability to report and

    analyse data.

    Answers should contain references to specific examples. For instance, candidates could discuss the strengths and weaknesses of specific measurements, such as the Human Development Index, the Happy Planet Index or corruption indices. Similarly, they might consider specific situations where development is clearly contested (eg Nepalese bonded labour in Qatar, or conditions at garment factories such as the one that collapsed in Savar, Bangladesh) and cases where there are conflicting arguments for and against development (eg an increase in traffic and industrial activity resulting in poor air quality in major Chinese cities).

    Answers should include an evaluation of the claim that development is impossible to measure.

6. Discuss the view that the biggest obstacles to development in today’s world are political.

Answers should demonstrate an understanding of the concept of development; for example that development is not the same as economic growth, that it reflects the living standards and well- being of an entire population, including access to basic goods and services such as education and healthcare, as well as environmental concerns. Answers should also demonstrate an understanding of what is meant by, specifically, “political” obstacles to development, i.e. obstacles having to do with the distribution and operation of power. Answers may discuss whether development is understood in relativistic or universalistic terms, ie whether development is understood in the same way or not in different parts of the world and by different communities and individuals.

Arguments in favour of the biggest obstacles to development being political may include reference to:

•   countries and regions which do well on development measures tend to have stable,

  accountable and transparent political regimes, whereas those that do poorly tend to have

  suffered from conflict, lack of accountability or lack of transparency over time;

•   many of the conditions that significantly influence development and people’s well-being are

  determined by political processes, such as labour laws, taxation decisions and environmental

  regulations;

•   state sovereignty and the grip of ruling elites on power result in situations where development

  can be severely compromised, such as in situations of war or famine, or where people are harmed by forces outside of their own control, such as through exposure to the negatives of global production: there are limits to how individuals or communities inside or outside a country can influence the situation;

•   if “political” is understood broadly to mean any action through which power is exercised, then obstacles that may initially seem to stem from, for instance, economic or environmental considerations, on closer inspection can turn out to be more related to political factors.

  Arguments against the biggest obstacles to development being political may include reference to:

  •   in a globalized economy, powerful economic actors such as multinational corporations (MNCs) and financial actors, have a great deal of influence on political processes and hence on development outcomes;

  •   development is a complex process, where the interplay between a myriad of factors such as resource endowment, climate and history, over time influence development paths;

  •   a factor that is perceived as an obstacle to development in one place may be a desirable characteristic of society in another: how a country or a region develops and wishes to develop is heavily influenced by social factors such as values and traditions, as evidenced by the different pathways towards development witnessed in different parts of the world.

    Answers should contain references to specific examples. For instance, candidates could discuss how the political obstacles to development in Venezuela differ from those in Germany or China, and whether non-political obstacles also influence development outcomes in these respective societies.

    Answers should include an evaluation of whether the biggest obstacles to development in today’s world are political.

Peace and conflict
7. Examine the view that peace can be defined as the absence of physical violence.

Answers should demonstrate an understanding of the concept of peace; for example the distinction between negative and positive peace, or between conceptions of peace in different political traditions and religions. Answers should also include an understanding of the concept of violence; for example, the distinction between physical and structural violence. This is a highly conceptual question so candidates are likely to spend much of their time discussing various perspectives on these concepts.

Arguments that peace can be equated with absence of physical violence may include reference to:

•   traditional understandings of peace equate peace with the opposite of war, which, to achieve its

  objectives, involves physical violence;

•   stopping physical violence is often the first objective of restoring peace in a situation of conflict,

  so the absence of physical violence may be perceived as the first (necessary) step towards

  peace;

•   from the perspective of those having lived in a situation of conflict, the absence of physical

  violence, and the threat of physical violence, can be perceived as a major achievement and “feel like” peace.

  Arguments that peace cannot be equated with absence of physical violence may include reference to:

  •   the need to address the root causes of conflict: in a situation of conflict, where peace is

    considered established when physical violence has stopped, the conflict may still escalate again because its root causes have not been addressed; in this sense an absence of physical violence is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition of peace;

  •   the need to set up processes and devote time for reconciliation and forgiveness, which are necessary for creating sustainable peace after a conflict;

  •   positive peace as being more than simply the absence of violence, as it can be narrowly conceived of; it also requires work to improve those structures of society that disadvantage people’s lives, or even curtail them, and which prevent people from achieving their basic needs.

    Answers should contain references to specific examples, such as the evolution of post-conflict societies in areas like the former Yugoslavia, or Sierra Leone or Liberia, or to societies that are struggling with issues of structural violence, such as South Africa with racial relations or European countries with migrant integration.

    Answers should include an evaluation of the degree to which peace can be equated with the absence of violence.

8. Evaluate the claim that humanitarian intervention is a justifiable intrusion into the sovereignty of a state.

Answers should demonstrate an understanding of aspects of humanitarian intervention; for example, the provision of troops for the protection of people facing extreme danger or human rights violations. They should also demonstrate an understanding of the concept of sovereignty; for example, sovereignty as characterizing a state’s independence, its control over territory and its ability to govern itself. Answers are likely to refer to humanitarian intervention as being a liberal concept, and refer to criticism of this by realists.

Arguments that humanitarian intervention is a justifiable intrusion may include reference to:

•   the doctrine of responsibility to protect (RtP);

•   the motivation to save lives;

•   the need to address human rights violations;

•   limitations in the aims of humanitarian intervention;

•   the fact that it is often not an unilateral action, but legitimized by a collective security

  organisation.

  Arguments that humanitarian intervention is not a justifiable intrusion may include reference to:

  •   that it weakens the institution of sovereignty;

  •   that it can be used as an excuse, or as a mask, for the pursing of national interests by

    intervening states;

  •   that its results can be uncertain and can result in possibly greater instability or even loss of life;

  •   the assumption of moral superiority by the intervening nations.

    The answer may make reference to specific examples, such as to NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999; to military intervention in Libya in 2011; or to non-intervention, eg in Darfur or Syria, and to the effects of these actions or non-actions.

    Answers should include an evaluation of whether humanitarian intervention is a justifiable intrusion into the affairs and sovereignty of the state.