Role Of Social And Economic Groupings Of Nations In The World

In our globalised world nations have arranged themselves into groups which brings about a number of benefits the main of which being economic as they can enhance their economy and develop . This trickles down and improves their social status. There are many different groupings some of which are based on physical geography as well as economic status. The two best known groupings in the world are the European union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) whom I will analyse for their roles in society and the economy ..

The European Union currently consist of 28 nations which neighbour each other. The union was formerly known as the European steel and coal association which then became the European Economic Community. The main aim of the EU initially was to prevent another tragic war through economic and political integration which would make another war impossible between neighbouring countries. In its current form the European Union has spread its wing into different policy areas such as environmental.

The integral founding principle of the union is the idea of a 'single market' which means there is free trade between countries in the union this principle was also applied to the free movement of people so you can live and work in any member state without requiring a visa. This economic unification was further strengthened by the Treaty of Maastricht which ratified a single currency the Euro. Having a single currency would stabilise the internal market as there would be no currency fluctuation which would mean goods are the same across the whole group. A single currency would also enhance their global market dominance as all trade would be done in a common currency. Although most nations of the EU have adopted the euro some choose to keep their native currency such as the UK. During the recession rather than being a unifying force the euro became a source of pain. The recession hit the economies of Italy and Greece hard who struggled to pay their debts. The struggle of a few devalued the single currency therefore having a domino effect on the economy of others. This was what the UK feared which prevented them from joining the euro. By maintaining their currency the UK was able to set its own interest rates through the bank of England so they could control certain factors. Whereas the countries who adopted the euro had to accept the interest rates of the European central bank which meant it could work against their economies in terms of debt repayment. So the single currency as further acerbated problems highlighting the consequence integration can bring.

The single market of the EU has also been said to have a negative effect on the market of the developing economies. The EU has a cohesive agricultural policy which subsides farmers and regulates prices within the market. In order to protect the market high import tariffs are applied to agricultural products which means farmers from the developing world are essentially excluded as the prices are undercut by EU farmers. This wouldn't have much of a economic impact if it were a single country but the EU consist of 27 countries so the farmers loose a large majority of the market to whom they could sell.

The main goal of the union has been achieved as there has been no European war. But apart from this there have been many social developments. The European convention on human rights sets out a cohesive document which outlined the rights of each individual. As part of the Lisbon treaty this has been adopted by all member nations so there is social equality in terms of the rights afforded to citizens. To bridge the gap between nations each member nation funds towards the European Union budget 10% of which is allocated towards the social development fund. This fund is distributed to member nations to reach the same development level as others. This has greatly benefited the new member nation such as Romania who has been able to develop their infrastructure and industries to move away from the traditional agriculture economy.

The EU being a large group means that environmental policy can be created which would have a major and profound impact on the world. The union has agreed to reduce carbon emission to 1990 levels by 2020 and implement 20% of power from renewable resources. This has made the EU the leader in the fight against global warming and it hoped will encourage major carbon emission producers such as the US and china to implement a similar policy.

In contrast the United Nations is an overarching social grouping consisting of 193 member states. It replaced the league of nation after world wars two with the primary aim of maintaining world security through diplomatic resolution of disputes.

The Un security council deals with matters of international security consisting of 5 permanent and 20 elected members. Any country which has grievances with another can bring a case to the Security Council where matters will be discussed and resolved. In the even it can't be resolved peacefully approval must be gained for a war to be initiated. The UN Security Council also has its own 'Peacekeeping force' which is deployed in war torn areas to protect civilians. An example being deployment in the Democratic Republic Of Congo. Although the UN Security Council can be seen as a force for good it has been accused of bias as the five permanent members on the council hold the power of veto. This means by the power of veto any case which is against t the interest of a permanent member can be dismissed. Recent controversy was raised when numerous tables on the issue of the Syrian civil war were vetoed by Russia and China. Other notable criticism is the abuse of power by member's for example the Iraq invasion was not sanctioned by the UN so was an illegal war but as the US is a permanent member no case was brought against them.

The UN has various offshoots which contribute towards social policy and equality. The world health organisation is an international health agency which researches and monitors the spread of disease. It is able to to do so as resources are pooled from all member nations which creates an interconnected system of health monitoring. It's important was proved when the outbreak of swine flu began the agency pooled resources which has thousands of scientists working on a vaccine. The WHO also has legal power which helps prevent the spread of infectious disease as it can force areas into isolation by banning travel.

In 2000 the UN set out the millennium development goals which outlined eight international development goals that they hoped to achieve by 2015. One goal was to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by halving the people who live on $1.25 a day. This goal has had varying success with some countries having achieved them while others in sub Saharan Africa still struggle. One of the reasons behind countries struggling was that they were heavily indebted. So in 2005 the G8 consisting of the eight biggest economic powers decided to cancel debts for the heavily indebted countries in order to accelerate the work towards achieving the goals.

A solely economic grouping is the world trade organisation; dealing with regulation of trade between participating countries through providing a framework negotiation and dispute settlement. The organisations main aim is to liberalise the markets by removing trade tariffs allowing the free movement of goods around borders. In theory being part of the organisation brings benefits for member countries as a platform to trade with the world is provided. But criticism has been levelled against the WTO that it favours the rich western nations as it allows them to keep agricultural subsidies and maintain high import tariffs for example the EU. Whereas for developing countries to join the WTO there are pressured into having a fully open market which can subject them to abuse. For example Ugandan farmers have no control over coffee prices instead prices are set by commodity traders who maximise their profit. Therefore I believe the WTO further widens the development gap as it is based on a bias system.