Test: Class 12 Contemporary World Politics NCERT Based-1 - UPSC MCQ

• Hegemony as Soft Power: It would however be a mistake to see US hegemony in purely military and economic terms without considering the ideological or the cultural dimension of US hegemony.

• This third sense of hegemony is about the capacity to ‘manufacture consent’. Here, hegemony implies class ascendancy in the social, political and particularly ideological spheres. Hegemony arises when the dominant class or country can win the consent of dominated classes, by persuading the dominated classes to view the world in a manner favourable to the ascendancy of the dominant class.

• Adapted to the field of world politics, this notion of hegemony suggests that a dominant power deploys not only military power but also ideological resources to shape the behaviour of competing and lesser powers. The behaviour of the weaker countries is influenced in ways that favour the interests of the most powerful country, in particular its desire to remain pre-eminent. Consent, in other words, goes hand-in-hand with, and is often more effective than, coercion.

• Some people argue that it is strategically more prudent to take advantage of the opportunities that hegemony creates. For instance, raising economic growth rates requires increased trade, technology transfers, and investment, which are best acquired by working with rather than against the hegemon.

• Thus, it is suggested that instead of engaging in activities opposed to the hegemonic power, it may be advisable to extract benefits by operating within the hegemonic system. This is called the ‘bandwagon’ strategy. Another strategy open to states is to ‘hide’. This implies staying as far removed from the dominant power as possible.

• There are many examples of this behaviour. China, Russia, the European Union—all of them, in different ways, are seeking to stay below the radar, as it were, and not overly and unduly antagonise the US.

• However, this would not seem to be viable for the big, second-rank powers for very long. While it may be an attractive, viable policy for small states, it is hard to imagine mega-states like China, India, and Russia or huge agglomerations such as the EU being able to hide for any substantial length of time.

• The European Union has evolved over time from an economic union to an increasingly political one. The EU has started to act more as a nation state. While the attempts to have a Constitution for the EU have failed, it has its own flag, anthem, founding date, and currency. It also has some form of a common foreign and security policy in its dealings with other nations.

• The European Union has tried to expand areas of cooperation while acquiring new members, especially from the erstwhile Soviet bloc. The process has not proved easy, for people in many countries are not very enthusiastic in giving the EU powers that were exercised by the government of their country. There are also reservations about including some new countries within the EU.

• The EU has economic, political and diplomatic, and military influence. The EU is the world’s second biggest economy with a GDP of more than $17 trillion in 2016, next to that of the United States of America. Its currency, the euro, can pose a threat to the dominance of the US dollar. Its share of world trade is much larger than that of the United States allowing it to be more assertive in trade disputes with the US and China. Its economic power gives it influence over its closest neighbours as well as in Asia and Africa.

Timeline of European Integration:

• 1951 April: Six west European countries, France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

• 1957 March 25: These six countries sign the Treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).

• 1973 January: Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the European Community (EC).

• 1979 June: First direct elections to the European Parliament 1981 January: Greece joins the EC.

• 1985 June: The Schengen Agreement abolishes border controls among the EC members.

• 1986 January: Spain and Portugal join the EC.

• 1990 October: Unification of Germany.

• 1992 February 7: The Treaty of Maastricht was signed establishing the European Union (EU).

• 1993 January: The single market was created.

• 1995 January: Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU.

• 2002 January: Euro, the new currency, was introduced in the 12 EU members.

• 2004 May: Ten new members, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia join the EU.

• 2007 January: Bulgaria and Romania join the EU. Slovenia adopts the Euro.

• 2009 December: The Lisbon Treaty came into force.

• 2012 : The EU is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

• 2013: Croatia becomes the 28th member of the EU.

• 2016: Referendum in Britain, 51.9 percent voters decide that Britain exit (Brexit) from the EU.

• After the inception of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, following the communist revolution under the leadership of Mao, its economy was based on the Soviet model.

• The economically backward communist China chose to sever its links with the capitalist world. It had little choice but to fall back on its own resources and, for a brief period, on Soviet aid and advice.

• The model was to create a state-owned heavy industries sector from the capital accumulated from agriculture. As it was short of foreign exchange that it needed in order to buy technology and goods on the world market, China decided to substitute imports by domestic goods.

• This model allowed China to use its resources to establish the foundations of an industrial economy on a scale that did not exist before. Employment and social welfare was assured to all citizens, and China moved ahead of most developing countries in educating its citizens and ensuring better health for them. The economy also grew at a respectable rate of 5-6 per cent.

• By 2011, the UN had 193 member states. These included almost all independent states. In the UN General Assembly, all members have one vote each. In the UN Security Council, there are five permanent members.

• These are: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China. These states were selected as permanent members as they were the most powerful immediately after the Second World War and because they constituted the victors in the War.

• In taking decisions, the Security Council proceeds by voting. All members have one vote. However, the permanent members can vote in a negative manner so that even if all other permanent and non-permanent members vote for a particular decision, any permanent member’s negative vote can stall the decision.

• This negative vote is the veto. While there has been a move to abolish or modify the veto system, there is also a realisation that the permanent members are unlikely to agree to such a reform.

• Also, the world may not be ready for such a radical step even though the Cold War is over. Without the veto, there is the danger as in 1945 that the great powers would lose interest in the world body, that they would do what they pleased outside it, and that without their support and involvement the body would be ineffective.

• One of India’s major concerns has been the composition of the Security Council, which has remained largely static while the UN General Assembly membership has expanded considerably. India considers that this has harmed the representative character of the Security Council.

• It also argues that an expanded Council, with more representation, will enjoy greater support in the world community. We should keep in mind that the membership of the UN Security Council was expanded from 11 to 15 in 1965. But, there was no change in the number of permanent members.

• Since then, the size of the Council has remained stationary. The fact remains that the overwhelming majority of the UN General Assembly members now are developing countries. Therefore, India argues that they should also have a role in shaping the decisions in the Security Council which affect them.

• Human Rights Watch: Human Rights Watch is another international NGO involved in research and advocacy on human rights. It is the largest international human rights organisation in the US.

• It draws the global media’s attention to human rights abuses. It helped in building international coalitions like the campaigns to ban landmines, to stop the use of child soldiers and to establish the International Criminal Court.

• Amnesty International: Amnesty International is an NGO that campaigns for the protection of human rights all over the world. It promotes respect for all the human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It believes that human rights are interdependent and indivisible.

• It prepares and publishes reports on human rights. Governments are not always happy with these reports since a major focus of Amnesty is the misconduct of government authorities. Nevertheless, these reports play an important role in research and advocacy on human rights.