History of the World Bank involvement in Third-World Countries.

The Bank was created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, and although many countries were represented, United States of America and United Kingdom dominated the negotiations; the US dollar was chosen as the main unifying factor of international exchange (“Bretton Woods Conference”). Before 1968, small loans were issued and the applications passed through strict criteria. France was the first country to receive a loan from the Bank and before it was approved, the French had to remove the Communist party and agree to giving priority to the debt repayment. After the approval of the loan, France was closely monitored to make sure the use of the funds were according to the conditions. The World bank usually gained and still gains some power over important issues in the borrowing country not forgetting the profit from the issued loans.

In 1947, the Marshall plan which was the US sponsored program to provide aid to European countries after World War II (“Marshall Foundation”), went into effect leading to many European countries seeking funds from other sources apart from the World Bank. Faced with competition, the Bank focused on non-European countries especially in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Until 1968, the Bank funded income-producing infrastructure in the developing countries like sea ports, highways, railway roads, to enable the loan borrower country to generate income to pay back the loan.

According to a New Times writer Bovard, in 1968, McNamara was appointed new president of the Bank and he made several changes that were particularly meant to attain the highest level of lent loans ever issued before. This was to be done through funding more sectors which included: building multiple airports, schools and agriculture reform, building hospitals. McNamara created a system that gathered the necessary information from borrowing countries and processed their loans faster; this led to increased lending hence rapid rise of third-world debt. From 1976 to 1980, the debt in developing countries increased by 20% and the profit from the interest loans also increased for the Bank.

In 1980, A.W Clausen was nominated as the new president of the Bank, and his policies werefocused on lending to help reduce the third-world debt by making the economies in those countries more efficient. However, in the late 1980's, the UNICEF reported that the structural adjustment programs had been responsible for "reduced health, nutritional and educational levels for tens of millions of children in Asia, Latin America, and Africa."

In the beginning of 1989, the World Bank started being involved and loaning environmental programs and Non-Governmental Organizations in response to the harsh criticisms from many groups of people; this was to tone down the past effects of the developmental policies that had prompted the criticisms. The Bank put in place policies that would promote the environment for development purposes. For example, in 1991, the Bank announced that there was urgent need to protect against deforestation, and approved a US$ 15.9 million in the Global Environment Faculty grant to conserve the Amazon forest, as well as work on adding more 13.5 million hectares to the protected areas in the then following four years (“World Bank Press Release”). The Bank also declared that it would not finance any commercial logging or infrastructure projects that would harm the environment. In order to increase and encourage safe trade of global public goods, the World Bank wanted to ensure the traders were healthy, hence joined forces to fight against contagious diseases such as Tuberculosis and actually joined the Tuberculosis partnership, as well as other deadly diseases like malaria, HIV/Aids, also delivering vaccines in many parts of the world. In addition to that, for the first time, a non-European or non-US candidate- Jim Yong Kim was appointed as the president of the Bank in 2012.

Despite the good changes made, while the world bank represents 188 countries in the world, it is still run by the most economically powerful countries who provide the most funds; therefore, they choose the Banks management and their interests dominate. The United States Committee on Foreign Relations released a report that criticized the World Bank for focusing too much “on issuing loans” rather than on fighting corruption which is the sole cause of poverty in most third world countries; it therefore called on the Bank to “strengthen Anti-corruption efforts.” The money given to most if not all third world countries has strings attached, that is the country is required to spend it on goods from the one of the economically powerful countries that indirectly run the World Bank. Such transactions don't take into account the poor country's market place, therefore making it hard for that country to rise above the current situation. Many developing countries have become so dependent on the money from the world bank that they feel they can't exist without it; this has encouraged laziness to make alternative local sources of income. When there's a lot of money given to a country, inflation occurs leading to that country's currency losing value. Also, there are big sums of money given for military equipment and weapons which majorly encourages wars.

Works Cited

"Bretton Woods Conference | The Institute for New Economic Thinking."The Institute for New Economic Thinking. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. <http://ineteconomics.org/initiatives/conferences/bretton-woods>.

"The Marshall Plan."The Marshall Plan. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://www.marshallfoundation.org/TheMarshallPlan.htm>.

"The World Bank Vs. the World Poor."The World Bank Vs. the World Poor. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. <http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa092.html>.

"World Bank and GEF Grants to Protect 13.5 Million Hectares in the Amazon."- Climate Change Policy & Practice. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. <http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/world-bank-and-gef-grants-to-protect-13-5-million-hectares-in-the-amazon/>.

"A Call for Change." N.p., 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. <http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/55285.pdf>.

Species and Habitat Endangerment: A Surprisingly Historic Issue

by Rachael L

Natural extinctions have been occurring for billions of years. Change in climate, food supply, and other factors can cause the biome or ecosystem of an area to shift so much that a species is killed off. Mass extinctions, where huge numbers of species are obliterated, happen fairly regularly in the Earth's time-line. The most recent, and the most well-known, happened around 65 million years ago when a catastrophe (some say changing climate, others say a meteor crash) obliterated over half of the species on Earth, clearing the way for the rise of the mammals and the eventual evolution of humans. Today, 99.9 % of all the species that have ever existed on Earth are extinct. However, human activities, lifestyles, and unsustainable practices have resulted in an unprecedented rate of habitat loss and endangerment or extinction of species.

When humans they migrated across the Bering Strait from the eastern hemisphere to the western one 14,00 years ago they unknowingly carried non-native seeds and pollen with them, resulting in one of the first human-caused imbalance in an ecosystem. When farming first started to rise about 11,000 years ago, humans selected the best variations from wild plants to grow as crops, domesticating and changing the natural plant into something else. This was one of the greatest advancements in human history, but in some areas that proved detrimental. For instance, when the climate changed in the Fertile Crescent and became more dry and arid, the nomadic hunter-gatherers were forced to settle down and start farming so as to have a reliable source of food. However, the dry and fragile environment couldn't support the rigors of continuous farming and collapsed, becoming even more desolate and killing off many plant and animal species.

Later, human population booms, advances in technology, and the use of hunting as a sport by upper classes all contributed to a rapid decrease in certain animal populations. Species were targeted and hunted down because because they were good for eating, they were viewed as pests who killed meat animals that humans ate, or because they made good trophy prizes. In the United States, wolves and other predators were purposely hunted almost to extinction (many sub-species were eradicated entirely), resulting in detrimental booms in their prey populations. Native bison, whose population numbered in the millions, were reduced to a few hundred in less than eighty years. Entire species or subspecies of tigers, ibex, elk, bears, and hundreds of birds were driven to extinction by over-hunting, pollution, and habitat loss. In some cases, the extinctions happened unknowingly when livestock animals and crops were traded, or when seeds and animals hitched rides upon ships and other forms of transportation. When the Society Islands were first visited, the rats that were on board the ships migrated to the island and multiplied, endangering the native rare bird species. The introduction of pigs, deer, goats, and rabbits to New Zealand, where there were no natural predators to keep the populations in check, caused an extreme overpopulation that had harmful effects upon the natural ecosystem.

However, it is human activity resulting in habitat loss that is perhaps the greatest issue facing endangered species. Unsustainable farming or land use techniques render huge swathes of land barren. For example, the introduction of new farming technology in the 1920's caused over five million acres of previously-unploughed land in Oklahoma and Kansas to be turned into farmland. The loss of the drought-resistant, soil-retaining natural prairie grasses of the area, coupled with overgrazing by cattle and an extreme drought, caused the famous Dust Bowl. Expanding urban areas and human activities use up natural habitats, and the corresponding pollution endangers many more natural areas.

However, lots of people working to change this. When humans realized the effects they were having on the natural world, many people leaped into action. Organizations all around the world are working hard to preserve remaining habitats and animal populations, and legislation has been passed regulating human use of land or protecting endangered species. One of the most influential laws in the United States was the Endangered Species Act of 1973. A similar act had been passed earlier that, while offering some protection, was not broad enough and or powerful enough to protect species and habitats. The new Endangered Species Act made plants and invertebrates eligible for protection, allotted Federal and State funds and resources towards protecting species and their habitats, and planned for habitat conservation and species reintroduction. Although many people are not educated about the issue and many more are not willing to change their harmful lifestyles, there are a lot of people working very hard to change our habits and protect already-endangered species and habitats.

Sources:

• Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton, 1999. Print.
• Nilsson, Greta. "The Endangered Species Handbook." The Animal Welfare Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sep 2013. <http://www.endangeredspecieshandbook.org/index.php>.
• "Timeline of Extinctions." Wikipedia. N.p.. Web. 26 Sep 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_extinctions>.
• Trimarchi, Maria. "What Caused the Dust Bowl?." How Stuff Works. n. page. Web. 26 Sep. 2013. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/dust-bowl-cause.htm>.
• United States of America. US Fish and Wildlife Service. History of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Web. <http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/history_esa.pdf>.

The Rise Of Dictatorship in Third World Countries Number of words:1128

       To understand the origin of dictatorship in third world countries, there is need to look back at third world countries before dictatorship was an issue. The question then is what led to the rise of dictatorship in third world countries? Third world countries have a history of colonization that left them with problems to deal with. Let's take Africa for example, most countries have failed in recreating a western like government also known as democracy. What happened was that, when colonizers ( Europeans) came to Africa, Africans already had their own kind of government. Most African countries had kingdoms. The kingdoms were governed by kings and elders who had nearly all the power. “The King's power was often based on his ability to collect revenue and tribute, usually through the control of trade, and use the army to defend his sovereignty” ("Unit Two: Studying Africa through the Social Studies'').

         In the 1880's Europeans started colonizing and discovering Africa. Then in 1984 to 1985, the Berlin conference took place. This conference was started to end the disputes that were between European countries over the boundaries of Africa that they controlled. Africa was divided into 50 countries. The Europeans while dividing Africa didn't consider the different tribes, ethnic groups or even traditions that they might damage through this process. “ Before the conference, 80% of Africa remained under traditional and local control” ( "Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 to Divide Africa" ). After the conference Europeans put up colonies with administrations that they fully controlled. After decades of colonization, African culture and traditions had fallen apart.

         Europeans started teaching or “civilizing” Africans by introducing them to government. By the time colonization ended, Africa was left with no good understanding of the way government works. “ Europeans had intellectual elites that were familiar with the ideas of the Enlightenment and who resented being second class citizens in European empires”. These African elites were the ones to transmit their knowledge to people and to start the post colonial governments ("Military Dictatorships in Developing Countries").

        How was an elite who had never lived in democracy or even experienced it supposed to start one? Europeans aftermaths on Africa were a political geographic failure. Since After dividing Africa all different tribes were found divided into different countries. There was not that much nationalism in countries after colonization, every tribe was trying to get the power. All those problems with the addition that Africa lacked of democratic tradition, led to dictatorship emerging in Africa. These problems led to people struggling with the understanding of democracy that they had never really experienced even when Europeans were colonizing and later to dictatorship.

           How did all these problems lead to dictatorship? First before colonization, Africa had kings and elders, the power was in their hands which might be viewed as an older version of dictatorship. The king would have the power to execute anyone who spoke against him or said things that he disagreed with, which is like dictatorship. Second despite the fact that Europeans taught to some African elites their culture and the idea of enlightenment/democracy, Europeans didn't rule their African colonizes as a democracy. Most Europeans countries ruled their colonies as properties, so they could basically enforce any rule without any African opposing and took advantages of the resources that were in those countries. Third, Africa division of tribes and groups into countries led to tribal rivalry in countries. When a tribe was living in an area with more resources, they would not share the resources with the other tribes even when they were in the same country and were suppose to be a nation.

          Due to the reasons mentioned above most post independent governments' rulers ruled their countries as dictators as if they owned the country, just as the European had done in colonization. A good example for this would be DRC ( Democratic Republic of Congo). During colonization DRC was the personal property of King Leopold because of all the gold and resources that was found there ('' Shillington, 1989: 312; Meredith, 2005: 95'').Then in 1960's when DRC gained it's independence, it was ruled by president Mobutu S. Seko who ruled as a dictators and used the country's resources as if they were his property. “ The exploitative character of the master-colony relationship that reigned in the colonialism time continued in different forms even after colonialism was long gone and continues to impact contemporary African politics” ( "Post-Colonial Colonialism"). With all these tribal problems too, dictatorship was the best government since the president was voted by the stronger and biggest group or tribe. Also the post colonialism government of kingdoms can also be compared to dictatorship. Other tribes were not happy, but they found a way to live under that government and this kept the country stable to start development.

         It was not only in African third world countries that colonization lead to dictatorship, this also happened in Latin America. In Latin America when the Spanish arrived to take over, they wanted to replace the native culture by their culture. Spanish came to Latin America with the idea to promote Christianity and concur more land. Spanish forced natives to learn a new religion and changed their culture through that. Spanish new system promoted exploitation on the native people although the native could complain to the court that they were abused, the court was mostly in favor of the Spanish. Latin America had an “existing power structure mostly based on castes and nobility” but this system was divided and destroyed when the Spanish arrived ("Latin American History: Introduction to the Colonial Era''). During the reign of the Spaniard the most powerful leaders had all their wealth taken away from them.

       After colonization, Latin Americans tried to regain their culture and tradition but it was already lost. “The destruction of the natives' whole cultures-in every sense-left the majority of the population lost and struggling to find their identities, a struggle which continues to this day” ("Latin American History: Introduction to the Colonial Era). Most Latin American countries are still trying to find their roots but also still have the Spanish system of government entangled with their politics. An example would be Cuba, Cuba's government is a “ communist authoritarian dictatorship and police state” since January 1959 when the Castro's brother took power. (''Latin American History).

       Dictatorship emerged in third world countries due to the events in their history. Looking at the impact of colonization and their culture or tradition structure, it can be said that democracy was hard to start. Since before colonization the third world country had a structure where the power was in one man's or groups' hand and the country was prosperous. Dictatorship was close to that structure, it was the right way to go.

MLA Citations

• "Unit Two: Studying Africa through the Social Studies."Exploring Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
• Joy Asongazoh Alemazung,. "Post-Colonial Colonialism:."Journal Pan Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
• "Latin American History: Introduction to the Colonial Era." About.com Latin American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.

Education Across the Nations

The education from the United States of American to China varies greatly in the resources provided to them.  Some other countries are so far behind in their education systems that they are no longer able to compete with the US, Europe, and other countries in education. The quality of education also varies from high quality private schools to the lower of most public schools. There are also varying degrees of education throughout the world. Education is always evolving and changing, constantly being corrected and add to, and the past 50 years has seen a huge jump in education.

Some of these jumps are things like standards based grading from the original grading system. Standards based grading is one based on the outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy. Some of the other jumps can come from teacher who found either faster ways to teach something. Pedagogists; and specifically a women by the name of Lisa Nielson, that have found that finding time for teachers to meet and learn together is often very difficult, but a resourceful school team can utilize creative ideas that have worked well in other schools. Lisa and other pedagogists have said that” It is important to put these structures in place early in the year”. Teachers inviting teachers to determine how their shared preps can be used for any study group they can imagine is also a good way. Organize some regular large group activities for children.  Some schools have a weekly K-2 sing-along run by the music teacher on Friday mornings, allowing K-2 teachers to meet in a weekly study group. And at those same schools, on Friday afternoons, an activity for the upper grades could be planned.  Other schools organize large group gym activities, like Olympics or Field Days, run by the gym teachers and educational assistants.

With these jumps and bounds in education it has left some other countries far behind in their education and are no longer able to compete with the US, Europe, and other countries in education, thus harming the world as whole.

Word Count: 346

Works Cited

Nielson, Lisa. "Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator." Web log post. Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator. N.p., 1 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.

Wikipedia. "Standards-based Assessment." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 July 2013. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.

Global Economic Issues

Sebastian Ashley

9/5/2013

Rise of China

China: one of the oldest countries, and at the same time one of the newest. It has millennia of history and is one of the most influential countries in the world. It has had an average growth rate over the past thirty years of more than 10%, making it the fastest-growing major economy in the world. The socialist market economy of the People's Republic of China is also the second largest economy in terms of GDP (Gross Domestic Party), making up approximately one-eighth of the global GDP. However, China has gone through some pretty major upheavals to get to this point.

This economic turnaround began in 1949, in a post-war China where frequent foreign invasions, revolutions, restorations, and civil wars had left the economy in tatters and no infrastructure to mention. Mao Zedong and the Communist Party put almost all their efforts into boosting the economy while also eliminating anyone who might oppose any of their decisions. These often coincided through the many policies that were introduced, especially the Three-Anti/Five-Anti Campaigns. These campaigns basically punished the private sector (those controlling major industries and companies) by confiscating the businesses and publicly humiliating these “capitalists”. Though the entire Maoist Era brought famine and civil unrest to China, it also provided the base for industrialized China. From there, with time, China began to settle. Leaders like Li Xiannian and Deng Xiaoping introduced a more pragmatic system, incorporating capitalism and encouraging foreign investment. China utilized it's resources and has done terrifically as a nation.

However, China has a relatively low GDP per capita rate, with an average of about $6,076 USD ($9,162 Purchasing Power Parity, the international conversion currency used for calculating relative GDPs, which can be shortened to PPP). This, as well as a host of other problems, is primarily due to China's enormous population. In this blog, I hope to reflect on China's roots that turned it into a major economic force and China's modern problems, and try to see where it's going, what it should be doing, and what went wrong.

Works Cited

• “China: Rising Red Star over the East” Thomas White International. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2013. http://www.thomaswhite.com/world-markets/china-rising-red-star-over-the-east/
• “Historical GDP of the People's Republic of China” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 09 July 2013. Web. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_GDP_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China

Vietnam human trafficking issue

Po Chiao

257 Words

Vietnam human trafficking issue

While many people go through their daily lives, there are some people being taken away

from their homes and sold into slave labor. There have been numerous countries where citizens

are traffic others into slavery. For instance, Vietnamese woman and children being trafficked to

People's Republic of China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, the

United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic for prostitution and labor. According to World Human

Right Organization, a third of prostitution in Czech Republic is young Vietnamese. Usually, these

kids will be transported to other countries while they are still young. Imagine how harmful this will

be to these children. Basically, these children are either victims of rape or child labor in factories

while receiving little or no payment. In this environment, children would not be able to have the

opportunity to receive a good education or education at all. In addition, once they get older the pimp

will likely dump them on the street when they can no longer serve as a prostitute. Without food

and with limited amount of education they are unlikely to survive and accepted by society. This is

inhumane for the Vietnamese that are trafficked, and also create a social issue for the countries they

are trafficked to. These people have a limited amount of education and probably barely speak the

local language. For instance, they might end up stealing food for survival or being a drug addicted

in rest of their life. It is our responsibility as human beings to care about this Vietnamese tragedy.

Sources:

"Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery." . government . Web. 9 Sep 2013. <http://http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Vietnam.htm.americanthinker.com/2013/05/communist_vietnam_human_trafficker_extraordinaire.html>.

. N.p.. Web. "Communist Vietnam -- Human Trafficker Extraordinaire." American Thinker. N.p., 4 may 2013. Web. 9 Sep 2013. <http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/05/communist_vietnam_human_trafficker_extraordinaire.html>.

"Vietnam: Human Trafficking." global exchange. N.p.. Web. 9 Sep 2013. <http://www.globalexchange.org/country/vietnam/trafficking>.

Climate Change: a Truly Global Issue

                                                        Climate Change: a Truly Global Issue                                         349

Alejandro Rubinstein-Nadeau

Although it may not immediately strike the average person as a global issue, climate change is perhaps the most global issue, in that the actions of the people of one nation, with no intention of international interaction, still affect the entire country. Due to increased Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere trapping more heat (known as the greenhouse effect), icecaps and glaciers are melting, causing sea levels to rise at an alarming rate- levels are projected to rise 59 centimeters between 2007-2100. Although this may not seem like much, it means that 6.2 million households in the U.K. alone will likely be unlivable well before 2100.

Climate change is not only an international issue in that respect. Socioeconomic status and access to resources will be an immense factor in losses suffered due to rising sea levels. It is actually a lamentable inequality that has arisen: the groups that have contributed the most to climate change, and specifically rising sea levels, will suffer the least; the groups that have contributed the least will suffer the most. 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) studies have concluded that climate change at this rate is certainly being caused by humans, and that 70% of Carbon Dioxide emissions in the past century have been output by 'developed' nations. However, the more wealthy people in developed nations will have better access to resources to relocate to safety and in general prosper, while the people of less developed countries that have contributed little to CO2 levels will likely have much more problems.

Lastly, climate change is a foreign policy issue. Numerous panels and United Nations conventions have been brought about, bringing about most famously the Kyoto Protocol (setting binding limitations on CO2 output for developed countries), which, notably, four U.N. members did not ratify, including the United States and Canada. Although this issue is being pushed very hard by many different parties and lobbying groups, and will be critical in the coming centuries, it tends to be put on the back-burner by many administrations. It will be interesting to see how things develop in the coming years.

"AR4 SYR Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers - 3 Project climate change and its impacts." IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2013. <http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/spms3.html>.

"Global Warming Fast Facts." Daily Nature and Science News and Headlines | National Geographic News . N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2013. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1206_041206_global_warming_2.html>.

"What are the social impacts of climate change? | Joseph Rowntree Foundation."Poverty, place and ageing society | Joseph Rowntree Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2013. <http://www.jrf.org.uk/topic/climate-change>.