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Global systems and global governance

infoWhy this? We study this topic to understand how globalisation connects countries and people through flows of goods, money and ideas. It explores how these connections create opportunities but also inequalities and power imbalances. Students examine how global issues are managed through governance and organisations, and how this affects people and environments worldwide. Overall, it helps students understand modern global challenges and their place in an interconnected world.

scheduleWhy now? I introduces students to key ideas in human geography, particularly globalisation and interdependence. It helps build a strong understanding of how the world is connected economically, politically and socially, which is essential for later topics. Studying it early also develops important skills such as critical thinking, data analysis and evaluating different viewpoints, which are needed throughout the course. It provides a foundation for understanding major global issues like inequality, trade, development and environmental management.

neurologyYou need to know

  • Globalisation is the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of places through growing flows of capital, labour, products, services, information, ideas and technology.
  • The idea of a ‘global village’ means that improvements in transport and communications make distant places feel more closely connected, while a ‘shrinking world’ describes falling travel times and faster communication between places.
  • International capital flows include foreign direct investment, aid, loans, remittances and repatriated profits moving between countries through the global financial system.
  • Foreign direct investment is investment by a company or individual in business assets in another country, such as building a factory or buying a controlling share in a foreign company.
  • Remittances are money transfers sent by migrants to people in their country or place of origin, and they can be an important source of income for households and national economies.
  • Containerisation uses standard-sized containers that can be moved between ships, trains and lorries, reducing transport costs and helping global supply chains to expand.
  • Economies of scale occur when the average cost of each unit falls as production increases, which helps large transnational corporations reduce costs through global production and marketing.
  • Global shift describes the movement of manufacturing and some services from higher-income countries to lower-cost emerging economies, while deindustrialisation is the decline of manufacturing employment and output in an economy or region.
  • The Asian Tiger economies are Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan; BRIC refers to Brazil, Russia, India and China; and MINT refers to Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey.
  • Transnational corporations are businesses that operate in more than one country and often organise headquarters, research, production, assembly, marketing and sales across different locations.
  • Unequal global flows of people, money, ideas and technology can promote growth and stability in some places but can also create inequalities, exploitation, conflict and injustice in others.
  • Brain drain occurs when skilled and educated workers leave a place of origin, which can reduce that place’s human capital while benefiting the destination place.
  • The Gini Index measures income inequality on a scale from 0 to 1, where 0 means complete equality and 1 means complete inequality, and Lorenz Curves show how far income distribution is from perfect equality.
  • Hard power is the use of military or economic pressure to influence others, while soft power is influence gained through culture, values, diplomacy and attraction.
  • A trade agreement is a formal arrangement between countries to manage trade, and a trading bloc is a group of countries that cooperate to reduce barriers to trade between members.
  • A free trade area removes tariffs between members but allows each member to set its own external tariffs, whereas a customs union has a shared external tariff and a common market also allows freer movement of labour and capital.
  • Protectionism is the use of barriers such as tariffs, import quotas, import licences, subsidies, sanctions, embargoes and technical regulations to restrict international trade.
  • Differential access to markets is caused by factors such as unequal levels of development, membership of trade agreements or blocs, and special and differential treatment within the World Trade Organisation system.
  • Fair trade aims to improve prices, working conditions and environmental standards for producers, whereas free trade focuses on reducing trade barriers between countries.
  • The recognised global commons are the high seas, the atmosphere, Antarctica and outer space, and they require governance because no single state owns them but all people have an interest in their sustainable use.

rocket_launchYou must be able to

  • Define key globalisation concepts accurately, using examples such as supply chains, migration flows, global brands and international financial flows.
  • Construct and annotate maps of global flows, trading blocs, economic groupings or foreign direct investment, using appropriate labels to show spatial patterns and relationships.
  • Explain how specific factors such as containerisation, communications technology, financial deregulation, trade agreements and transnational corporations have accelerated globalisation.
  • Analyse global production, distribution and consumption patterns by linking locations to labour costs, skills, markets, transport, trade barriers and government incentives.
  • Interpret Lorenz Curves and Gini Index values to compare inequality within countries and link the evidence to the effects of globalisation.
  • Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of trade agreements, protectionism, free trade, fair trade and special economic zones for countries at different levels of development.
  • Assess the impacts of a named transnational corporation by considering its spatial organisation, production networks, employment effects, environmental impacts and influence on host countries.
  • Compare hard power and soft power in geopolitical examples, explaining how unequal power relations allow some states to shape global systems more than others.
  • Assess the governance of Antarctica by weighing the effectiveness and limitations of the Antarctic Treaty, the Environmental Protocol, the International Whaling Commission and NGOs.
  • Critique globalisation by balancing evidence of growth, development, integration and stability against evidence of inequality, injustice, conflict and environmental damage.


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