Allison Clark

INR2002
March 22, 2015
Global Level of Analysis
This level of analysis does not exist in the textbook. There are global issues that are
discussed in the text, which are the environment, population growth, and disease. This global
level would be the most comprehensive level for the globe. It focuses mainly on global issues
and sees the nation states as the key actors.
This level of analysis sees the nation states as the key actors. This level is mostly
concerned with the uneven distribution of resources and the reality of the imbalance of energy in
the world. The issues which concern the global level include the environment, resource
shortages, climate change, and population. These issues are mainly North-South Axis issues.
These issues can be fixed or controlled largely through policies. There are two categories in
which people fall under which says whether they would be for or against the policies. These two
categories were given during the lecture and are the ecological nationalists and ecological
internationalists.
Environment
There is not a lot of scientific disagreement over what harms the environment. This level
of analysis deals with the biosphere which is the earths ecosystem, and micro-issues concerning
the environment include conservation of land, water, and clean air; the upper atmosphere, and
maintaining all living organisms. The wellbeing of people and animals depends on the proper
ecological state of the world. As said in the lecture, the biosphere is the life support, or the
umbilical cord for life, and people are straining the umbilical cord. People who take the

traditional approach to IR do not believe in sacrifices in their country so that others will benefit
which is where the two categories for people opposing or not opposing policy emerges. There are
economical nationalists and economical internationalists. Economical nationalists make up most
people because it ties into the traditional approach to IR. This group opposes policies which
restrict their country because they are advocates for sovereignty. Ecological internationalists,
such as Paddy Ashdown from a Tedx talk shown in class, believe that the interest of their country
is bound together with other countries. This group wants to protect the biosphere and wants to
regulate the global space. They do not believe that state sovereignty allows for destruction of the
biosphere.
There are catch-twenty-two scenarios in many nation states. For example, during the
lecture, we discussed corn in the US. In the US corn is subsidized and is very cheap to produce.
Corn destroys the environment by polluting fresh water which is a cause for the shortage of
water.
Resource Shortages
This issue for the global level concerns conservation. There is an unequal distribution of
resources between developed countries (DCs) and lesser developed countries (LDCs).
Conservation involves using fewer resources or involves a much more efficient use of resources.
As said in the lecture, the use of solar paneling on roofs is much more efficient and inexpensive
than traditional energy sources for homes. Some people in both the DCs and LDCs believe that
using less resources involves creating a lower standard of living for themselves. This is a
misconception as implementing the technology for more efficient energy and resource
consumption can actually raise the standard of living.

The biggest concern for the shortage of resources is the inevitable loss of oil. The world
will one day run out of oil. For example in the lecture, the whale oil shortage of the 1880s
highlighted the effect a shortage has on society. In the 1880s, whales were being over-killed, and
so as the oil supply was dwindling, people had to become more efficient with their resources, or
find a new source of energy. Today we are still primarily using fossil fuels, but there has been a
greater push recently for hybrid and electric cars as said in the lecture.
The issue with implementing an alternative car is the people willing to buy it, and
therefore the market. Cars are a market based decision, and unless hybrid and electric cars are
said by the market to have a high value, people will not purchase them. On the other hand, if the
price of oil goes up, less people will drive personal cars and public transportation or other
plausible transportation will grow. When the oil eventually runs out, moving away from oil will
be slow and expensive.
The most valuable resource on Earth is shrinking every day. Fresh water as stated above
is being polluted by the production of corn in the US. Corn requires nitrogen to be produced, but
nitrogen runs off into the fresh water supply and takes out all the oxygen. This in turn causes the
fish supply to dwindle, which is another valuable resource. Corn is also fed to cattle, but cattle is
not built to digest corn and so the cattle must take drugs to digest the corn, but this produces drug
resistant bacteria. This dwindles the supply of effective drugs. In response to the food shortage is
the green revolution which is the introduction of new strains of high yielding rice, wheat, and
other crops which resulted in increased agricultural production (Bova 245).
Resources are needed by every country, and the most important resource in the world is
water. About one fifth of the worlds people have no clean water. These people are located
mainly in the LDCs. Just like the production of corn in the US, other countries are destroying

their water supply. For example, hydro cleaners can produce clean energy but they kill fish by
polluting water. There is also technology available to treat salt water and produce clean water,
but it is highly expensive and not very efficient. Sewage systems which treat sewage are deadly
to marine life and the run off leeches the oxygen from water. Leaky pipes in places where people
do not have the money to afford repairs can waste around 75,000 gallons of water. This shortage
of water can cause water wars such as the water wars between Iran and Iraq.
Climate Change
Most scientific research says that climate change is caused by natural occurrences in the
globe, and also human activity. Many people reject that global warming is not the result of
human activity, but it is completely natural, or reject dispute global warming all together. In the
lecture we discussed that researchers have taken samples of snow and ice from Iceland from very
far down in the ground and have recorded that the level of carbon present is too high to be
considered natural. Carbon levels in the ice show a rise in carbon since the Industrial
revolution, which makes sense as the market and industrial revolution caused for a rise in the
amount of carbon put out by factories. The worlds consumption of oil also releases a large
amount of CO2 into the atmosphere which causes the greenhouse effect.
Problems that arise from climate change are the free-rider problem, and a proper solution
for climate change. The environmental challenge is exacerbated by the fact that a clean, healthy
environment is what political scientists would call a public good (Bova 241). A public good
involves a good or service whose benefits are freely available to anyone else. This can include
things like planting trees to offset carbon emissions. If some businesses or individuals expend
money and effort to reduce pollution, the benefits go to all. This leads to the free rider problem,
where some benefit from the contribution of others without paying anything back. Rational

economic actors do not like being free riders, but ecological nationalists might because they do
not believe in giving up for the benefit of others.
In the recent years, some experts have suggested that the world is approaching peak oil,
or the point at which oil peaks and then declines (Bova 242). Although observes believe that the
Saudi Arabian oil supply was grossly underestimated at 260 million, the main focus of this level
is to wean the world off of dependence on petroleum (Bova 245). There are several solutions for
this issue according to the global level. Implementing nuclear power is an option. It is safe and
produces very clean energy, but many are wary of nuclear energy because of the risk of nuclear
power plants exploding such as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster discussed in class. There
is the solution of using hydropower, but of course it kills off fish. Biofuels do not add a lot of
carbon to the atmosphere, but require large amounts of water. There is the option to regulate coal,
as it is the worlds leading source of energy, but certain members of congress do not want to
regulate coal because it would damage the economy.
In terms of regulating emissions, there is a solution known as cap and trade. It is known
as the Kyoto Protocol in the text and was set up in 1997 as an update to the 1992 UN
framework convention on Climate Change (Bova 247). Cap and trade sets a limit (cap) on the
amount of carbon companies can emit. Companies who fall below the cap would get credits,
which would be sellable on the global market. This is known in the text as emissions trading
(Bova 247). This is a market based solution. The issue with this is that it puts a price on
pollution, and some companies would just move their factories to countries that have no cap and
trade system. There was another effort at global regulation known as the Montreal Protocol,
which aimed to phase out substances that were depleting the ozone layer. This protocol was

created in 1987, and by 2009 all countries in the United Nations were party to the protocol (Bova
246).
There are two schools in which individuals see the state of the ecosystem. The first
school includes the environmental pessimists. The school says that we live in a world of global,
ecological anarchy. Nation states have exploited the globes natural resources with little regard
for sustainability or care for child and future generations. They say that the people have poised
the air and spoiled the rivers. According to this level, it is humans who are causing the problems
with the ecosystem, and there will be warfare over natural resources.
Global optimists are the second school. This school rejects global warming but agrees
with the greenhouse effect. Most individuals in this school do not deny that the earth has
warmed. Most also do not deny that some of the global warming is caused by man. They deny
that global warming is catastrophic. This school also says that the theory of strong positive
climate feedback, meaning that strong feedbacks mean that the climate is sensitive, and it also
amplifies temperature change, is flawed. The global level of analysis depends on whether or not
strong positive climate feedback is true or not.
Population and Global Sustainability
One of the main and most important questions concerning this level of analysis is, what
is the carrying capacity of the globe? Everyday there are less resources available because every
day there are more people. In the example given in the lecture, the world is like a balloon.
Balloons can only sustain so much air before it breaks just like the Earth can only sustain so
many people before it halts. Humans will not know exactly how large the population can get
until the last baby is born.

Global Population Growth Box by Box

Unlike what many people assume, LDCs are responsible for accelerated population
growth. Families in LDCs have many children because the survival rate is low. To sustain a
population, the class present during the lecture will average at 2.1 children because the class
comes from a DC. Those who are in the developing world will have 6.3 children. This is raising
the population of the world, and in order to steadily decrease the population, the average for
these LDCs has to be brought down to 1.5, and then to 2.1 children to maintain a sustainable
population. In this Tedx talk, Hans Rosling explained why population is increasing in the LDCs,
and how to control it.
Rosling explained during this talk that during the 1960s there was an enormous gap in
the wealth between the industrialized world and the developing world. The gap was symbolized
by the aspirations of the people in these worlds. The developing world wanted food and a pair of
shoes, but the industrial world wanted a car, like a Volvo as Rosling said. Since the 1960s there
has been a surge in population growth. 4 billion people have been born and so there are more
classifications for the populations. Those who wanted a Volvo have moved up and now aspire to
have airplane tickets and travel. Those who wanted shoes have since moved up and now want a
bicycle because they are part of an emerging economy and can aspire for things like better
education, and they are relatively healthy.
The gap has been filled by the new population, however the distance between the
wealthiest people of the industrialized population and the developing nation is much wider.
There are still people in the developing country who have not moved up and still are looking for
shoes and food, but the gaps between the original groups of the 1960s have filled with the
population of the developing country (which had doubled since the 1960s) who aspire to have

bicycles, and those who have bicycles and want a car. Most people in the world are of the 3 to 4
billion who want either a bicycle or a car.
Rosling predicts that by 2050, the middle population will move up and will aspire for the
next bracket of development. The poorest two billion may not because of population growth. By
population growth, Rosling is referring to child survival rate, because an increase in child
survival rate in LDCs is the key to population decrease and eventual sustainability. The poorest
two billion must move on from looking for food and shoes. They must get out of poverty to get
an education and buy things like bicycles. The only way to do this is to increase child survival
rates to ninety percent, because at ninety percent the average births goes down and the
population will decrease. By the end of the talk, the Old West was at the bottom of the boxes for
in the category of those who aspire for airplane rides. The Old West has to be the foundation for
the world and use projects and organizations to allow the worlds population to stop at 9 billion,
which Rosling says is the sustainable number.
The Magic Washing Machine
This Tedx talk by Rosling also deals with population growth. This talk supplies that like the other
Tedx talk, there is a gap in the world because of population. Rosling explains that the amount of
electricity used will directly affect population growth and economic growth. He categorized the
seven billion people of the world into four categories which show how much energy they used.
The poorest of the world were the fire people who use fire mainly and also have women hand
washing clothing. The second poorest were the lightbulb people which includes some people
who have washing machines and use more energy than the fire people, but not as much as the
next group, the washing machine people, who own the second biggest amount of washing
machines of the world, but do not use as much energy as the richest and most prosperous of the

world. Those who use the most energy are part of the DCs and use the most washing machines.
These people are the airline people, and they are in the same group as the richest group of the
world like the previous video.
Rosling predicts that by 2050 these groups will either have economic or population
growth according to how much energy they use. The poorest population will have population
growth because they still have high child mortality and cannot increase their energy consumption
in order to create an emerging economy. Those in the middle will double their energy
consumption and buy more washing machines, or other electric machines.
Rosling explained that he was able to move up with his family into the next category of
populations because of what he got out of the washing machine. His family made the tradeoff of
doing laundry for education, which is a general example. Doing less labor provides an
opportunity for people to invest their time better, and in his case he and his mother read books
and learned a foreign language.
Rosling says that for this economic growth to happen to those who are the fire people,
they must go down to only two children per household. After this occurs, they will increase
energy consumption. The same pattern will occur where the middle or light bulb people and
washing machine people will double or increase their energy consumption. This means that total
energy consumption will grow to twenty two units. This will require the richest to use energy
more efficiently and also create more green energy in order to reduce the population growth and
achieve global sustainability, because the real problem is distribution of wealth and not poverty
and disease.

Life Boat Ethics

There is a concept which was discussed during the lecture that explains the effect of
wealth on the globe. The globe cannot tolerate an infinitely growing economy just like it cannot
tolerate an infinitely growing population. The global economy will stretch the globe to its limits.
The spread of wealth is very dangerous to the population. Life Boat ethics is a metaphor created
by Garrett Hardin in 1974 where the richest countries in the world are a life boat, and the poorest
countries are helpless swimmers surrounding the life boat. The richest nations can put everyone
on the life boat, but this will sink the boat and therefore is dangerous. Another concept brought
up in the lecture is the concept of global triage. The populations of the world can be divided into
three categories: those who will survive and prosper without help, those who will do so with
help, and those who will not regardless of help. In this case, it makes sense for the richest
countries to only help the second category of nation states.
Internet and Disease
Old and New Disease
The transnational movement of birds, animals, soldiers, and travels has always facilitated
the migration of disease (Bova 250). In the post-World War II era, developed countries saw
many infectious diseases as a thing of the past because they had and still have access to things
like vaccines and health care. In the developing world the use of things like insecticide, and the
efforts of the World Health Organization to vaccine the poor people of the LDCs and improve
their water supply, was in hopes of eradicating preventable diseases like cholera and malaria
(Bova 251). By the 1980s, this was not promising. The reemergence of old diseases includes
Tuberculosis, Cholera, and as discussed in class, Malaria which is the cause of death for nearly

2.7 million people year because of the disease carrying mosquitos in LDCs. There are also new
deadly, disease causing pathogens that affect the entire globe. These include HIV/AIDS, Severe
acute respiratory syndrome, and new strains of influenza. The responses to global diseases
include the behaviors of non-government organizations, international organizations, and national
governments which combat old and new diseases through donating money and supplying health
care such as vaccines and medicine.
Internet
The internet resembles disease because it transcends authority and wreaks havoc. It has
an inherent disregard for political borders and challenges the ability of sovereign nation states to
control what happens in their nation (Bova 257). The challenges to the state authority because of
the internet include control over the flow of information, which involves the leaking of
information, such as WikiLeaks as discussed in class, where third parties leak classified
information that powers do not want people to have access to; empowerment of non-state actors
which include individuals and non-state actors which includes terrorist groups; cyberterrorism
which is the attacks on computer networks intended to intimidate governments and their citizens
as a means to force a change of policy and achieve political objectives (Bova 260).