Politics of the Geo

Folks Who Run Shit

In trying to understanding why some countries seem to be eternally developing while others stay "developed", why we use the finite resource of the Earth the way we do, and a slew of other "why's" I came to the conclusion that a schmuck like myself needs to know a bit about geopolitics. The eight organizations listed below are a useful starting point for understanding the Folks Who Run Shit (FWRS).

International Organizations

United Nations

After the chaos of World War II on the 24th of October 1945, the United Nations Charter was put into effect in order to replace the faltering League of Nations whose power was as broken as the rubble shards that covered Europe. It has grown into an intergovernmental organization of 193 member states (every internationally recognized soverign state EXCEPT the Vatican) who, in theory, are bound to the articles describing its aim and how it will function. The UN is split into the following major organizational bodies: the General Assembly (all members involved; deliberates and votes to give “recommendations” NOT binding resolutions), the Security Council (5 permanent members holding veto-power and 10 non-permanent members switched every two years; creates binding resolutions regarding global security issues), the Economic and Social Council (54 member states; gather data/produce reports to be used at other meetings), the Secretariat (currently headed by Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon; gathers info and produces reports), and the International Court of Justice (15 members; debates and rules on legal issues). A tall gray building (aren't they all) plopped on a piece of international terra firma in New York City houses the first four bodies, and the last is stationed at The Hague in the Netherlands. These five plus a slew of other more-specialized agencies (the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Health Organization, World Food Programme etc.) work, in theory, toward the stated goal of world-peace, international cooperation, international security, and human rights.

European Union


The initial seed of this intergovernmental organization reaches back to World War II, but it isn't until the June 1993 hammering out of entry requirements in the Copenhagen Treaty and the integration of this into the November 1st signing of the Maastricht Treaty that a true growth occurs. These two, along with the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, set out the structural and ideological foundations of the EU. To join, members must have a liberal democracy, respect human rights (as described in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights), agree to the EU Acquis (a 170,000 page tome of law), and have a rule of law. Currently the EU is composed of 27 member-states collectively representing 500 million people strewn across a mosaic of land and water that spreads from the Atlantic Ocean in the East to the Russia/Belarus/Ukraine border in the West. Within this lies the Eurozone, a group of 17 member-states who use the Euro as currency. These people are, theoretically, represented in the seven main organizational bodies of the EU, with the European Council (proposing and enacting legislation) and the European Central Bank (directing monetary policy and monitoring the Euro) being the most important. The stated aim of this immense entity is to abolish restrictions (trade barriers etc.) on the free movements of goods, people, and capital across member nations.

World Trade Organization

In Geneva lies a standard slab of tall concrete that houses the World Trade Organization (WTO). This intergovernmental organization of 156 member states (including the EU) can be broken down into four main parts: the Council for Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the Council for Trade in Services (oversees implementation of General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS), and Trade Negotiations Committee (headed by Director-Manager Pascal Lamy; debates global trade policy, currently in the Doha Development Round). When the Marrakesh Agreement was signed on January 1st 1995, the WTO was born, integrating and expanding upon the half-century year old General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO aims to liberalize international trade by spreading a free-market ideology that lowers import tariffs amongst many other things. To enforce conformity it can impose trade restrictions on any of its members that don't abide by their rules.  

International Banks

Bank of International Settlements (BIS)

Inside the Hague on the 20th of January 1930, agreements were made that led to the creation of this "central banker's central bank". Despite a brush with possible extinction during the Bretton Woods conference of 1944 due to allegations of supporting Nazi war criminals, this bank has chugged along. Currently it's housed inside a garrish and grey twenty-story building in Basel, Switzerland. Comprised of 58 member banks (many being the central banks of their own countries), the task of the BIS is to unite the financial and monetary policy of its members --- and do this with immunity from the pesky laws of any national government. 

The World Bank

From the interior of a plush hotel in July of 1944, delegates at the Bretton Woods Conference gave textual birth to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Agency (IDA). These two make up the World Bank. From its headquarters in Washington D.C., this intergovernmental agency of 188 member countries employs a Board of Governor's (one from each country) and a more powerful Board of Directors (25 members to represent all) to determine how to reduce poverty in two major constituencies. The first, covered by the IBRD (which includes all 188 countries), are the middle-income developing nations that need help with infrastructure building. The second, covered by the IDA (which includes only 172 countries), are the poorest developing nations. Each member has to be part of the International Monetary Fund, pay membership fees, approve activities, and vote on policy --- although a disproportionate amount of power is given to France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the United States. The World Bank, granted an immunity that makes it impossible for any government to have authority over it, lends loans to these two constituencies in order to "help". However, to ensure a payback on their investment, certain Structural Adjustment Policies (SAP's) are imposed. These controversial tactics, are often referred to as The Washington Consensus, include: privatization of resources, deregulation of markets, trade barrier relaxations, currency devaluation, and austerity cuts to social services.  

International Monetary Fund

Although written up in the legendary Bretton Woods Conference of July 1944, it wasn't until December 27th of the following year that 29 countries ratified its Articles of Agreement. Initially the IMF worked toward creating fixed exchange rates tied to the U.S. Dollar to aid Europe in rebuilding its decimated cities post-WWII. During this period, each member-country would pay a quota of money to a collective pool and this would be loaned to countries in fiscal crisis. All this changed on August 15, 1971 when President Nixon cancelled the ability to convert U.S. Dollars into reserve gold --- in comes fiat currency and the collapse of the Bretton Woods System. From its relatively simple beginnings, the IMF has grown in size and ambition. Currently it monitors the economic and financial policy of its 188 member-countries and judges how it will effect the global economy. This is done by a Board of Governors (1 actual and 1 alternate for each member-country) discussing policy and appointing directors to the Executive Board (24 members in all; headed by Managing Director Christine Lagarde), which makes most of the important policy decisions. Since the Executive Board is disproportionately represented by the U.S. and other developed countries, its bias is toward neoliberalism and global capitalism. A situation has arisen in which borrower countries (almost-always developing countries) have devastating conditionality's imposed on them by loaner countries (almost-always developed countries). These Structural Adjustment Policy's (SAPs) mirror the World Bank because they lower corporate tax, privatize public industries, and cut public spending, all in the name of maintaining fiscal health. 

Military Organizations

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4th 1949 and shortly after this intergovernmental military alliance was created. From its headquarters in Brussels, delegates from each of the 28 member-states (mostly Western European countries plus the U.S.) debate policy and work toward the collective defense of NATO defined territory. The main decision-power lies in the North Atlantic Council (NAC), a group of elected senior members headed by Secretary General Anders Rasmussen, that sets the policy and strategy (with the aid of the military committee) to be adopted by member-states. Although Article 5 of the NATO Charter (an attack on one is an attack on all) wasn't invoked until September 11, 2001, when the NATO member-states decide to provide collective defense, the combined military support represents 70% of global defense spending. 

United States Military
 

Established on an as-needed basis in 1775, the US military (like all military's) has grown into a large standing army that helps attain political objectives through the use of force inside and outside the country. The transition to a standing army was something many Americans were skeptical of prior to WWII, but with the passing of the National Security Act in 1947, it became a reality. 
To organize the vast military structure, the Department of Defense (headed by the Secretary of Defense) was established two years later. This department along with the President and the head of the National Security Council are the top decision makers for military policy. This job is complex, to say the least. Currently the US Military is composed of 5 branches (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard), employs over two million people (active and reserve), and operates in over 150 countries. To maintain this, the budget of the Department of Defense runs to $550 billion, NOT including the over $100 billion that goes to “Overseas Contingency Operations” (aka the War on Terror). Although only 5% of the world's population, the US military gobbles up 41% of worldwide defense spending. This is more than enough force to obtain some political objectives. 

As the world continues to become more centralized, globalized, and complex, an understanding of (at least) some basic geopolitical players is essential. The war of centralized-hierarchies versus decentralize-holarchies continues to and the timeless advice of Sun Tzu stays pertinent: know thy enemy.

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