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Burnell & Randall: Politics in the Developing World 2e

Chapter 4

  1. What could the United Nations do more, or do more effectively to contribute constructively to political self-determination in the developing world?

  2. Should an appropriate international response to the debt crisis distinguish between the nature, origins, and consequences of debt on a country-by-country basis?

  3. How might the major international organizations be organized differently so as to be more representative of and more responsive to developing countries, and could the developing world make that happen?

  4. Do developing countries have more to gain from the presence of a hegemonic power like the United States than from a highly fragmented world system of state and non-state actors?

  5. What prevents developing countries organizing collectively in international bodies like the World Trade Organizations from achieving their objectives more often and more effectively than hitherto?

  6. In the post-cold war era, is the United Nations becoming a more, or less, important international political player?

  7. In the light of recent summits, can the World Trade Organization provide a forum for the advance of developing countries' interests?

  8. What is the Non-Aligned Movement? Why has it declined in importance since the middle years of the 20th century?

  9. Compare and contrast the impact of the 'debt crisis' on countries in Latin America and in sub-Saharan Africa.

  10. What are likely to be the consequences of the US-led 'war on terror' for the economic opportunities and prospects of developing countries?

  11. How far does Huntington's idea of a 'clash of civilizations' help us to understand political relations between the developing and developed worlds?

  12. Have debt cancellation and debt relief for heavily indebted developing countries increased those countries' actual political independence?

  13. Are their relations with other developing countries in the same region now more important for most developing countries than their relations with the former colonial powers?

  14. If, as President Putin has suggested, a new cold war might break out between Russia and the NATO countries would there be significant implications for any developing countries?

  15. Why should developing countries comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions when their influence over that organisation appears so slight?

  16. Should the United Nations have the authority to require all countries that are not already democracies to make progress towards democracy?

  17. Is the current entitlement of the United Nations to intervene coercively in the internal affairs of countries to protect human rights and defend regional security adequate?

  18. Who should be regarded as the rightful sovereign by international organizations like the United Nations when constructing relations with developing countries: the governments or the peoples of those countries?

  19. Has the end of the Cold War on balance proved advantageous or problematic for the developing world?

  20. Some Latin American leaders are talking about setting up a 'Bank for the South' as an alternative to the IMF and World Bank. Discuss some of  the possible difficulties such a scheme could encounter.