Political Factors on Global Interactions (HL IB Geography)

Revision Note

Jacque Cartwright

Expertise

Geography Content Creator

Multi-Government Organisations

  • Multi-Government Organisations (MGOs) are organisations or countries that come together to form a single unit, mostly for trading purposes

  • Some are international, such as the UN, World Bank and IMF, while others are regional, such as when Armenia made an agreement with the EU in 2019 to create the EU-Armenia regional trade agreement (RTA)

  • MGOs allow state boundaries to be crossed to facilitate the free movement of goods, services, finance and ideas

  • Members are encouraged to end tariffs and promote the exchange of ideas in areas of security, trade, etc

  • They are seen as promoting global interactions as they encourage different people to become one

  • Organisations such as the UN maintain international peace and have substantial influence on global geopolitics

  • MGOs such as the WTO and IMF dictate international trade rules and financial regulations, influencing global economic health, trade tariffs and development policies

  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) tackle global challenges, from pandemics to environmental issues, and guide national health policies and environmental strategies

  • MGOs such as UNESCO promote cultural exchanges, safeguard world heritage sites and set international educational standards

Regional MGOs

  • Regional MGOs have agreements between countries within the same geographical area

  • These are normally referred to as trading blocs and allow free trade between member countries but impose tariffs on external countries that trade with them

  • As of January 2024, there were 361 regional trade agreements in force around the world

  • There are different types of trading blocs with different levels of economic integration, ranging from a low level of integration, such as a bilateral agreement between two countries, to a high level of integration, such as the EU

  • Free trade areas are blocs in which countries agree to abolish trade restrictions between themselves but keep their own restrictions with other countries

  • An example is USMCA: (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), previously known as NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement),

Image showing the interconnection between free trade areas and external countries
Mexico, Canada and the USA have a free trade agreement between themselves but deal individually with Cuba. Mexico trades freely with Cuba, Canada imposes tariffs, and the USA heavily restricts imports from Cuba.
  • Customs unions such as Mercosur in South America operate as a form of economic cooperation by having a common external tariff on overseas imports

Diagram showing how a customs union operates
Countries in the European Union have eliminated all tariff barriers between themselves but impose common tariff barriers on third party countries such as the UK or China
  • Common markets are custom unions that also allow the free movement of people and capital within the member nations

  • Economic unions such as the EU (European Union) allow groups of nations to trade freely but also allow the free movement of people and capital. All member nations must have common policies on various sectors such as agriculture, employment, industry, regional development, etc.

    Map identifying trade blocs around the world
    Free-trade blocks

Advantages and Disadvantages of Trading Blocs

Advantages

Disadvantages

Greater access to markets offer the potential for economies of scale

With freedom of labour, there are greater employment opportunities

Membership in a trading bloc may allow for stronger bargaining power in new multilateral negotiations

Greater political stability and cooperation between the countries within the bloc due to the increased interdependence
 

Trade Creation
Trade creation occurs when a regional trade agreement (RTA) leads to the expansion of trade between member countries. By eliminating or reducing trade barriers, such as tariffs or quotas, within the agreement, member countries can access new markets and increase their trade volumes.

Loss of sovereignty as nations increasingly give up their autonomy, perhaps most visible when joining a monetary union (nations lose the ability to set their own monetary policy)

Multilateral trading negotiations become more challenging as countries within a trading bloc have to maintain the existing bloc rules when dealing with third-party countries
 

Trade Diversion
Trade diversion occurs when a regional trade agreement redirects trade away from more efficient external suppliers towards less efficient internal suppliers. It can sometimes lead to higher costs and reduced efficiency due to the loss of access to lower-cost suppliers outside the agreement.

 

Free Trade Zones

  • Free Trade Zones (FTZs) are specific areas where goods undergo processing, storage, and re-exportation, often without being charged standard customs duties

  • FTZs are usually located in areas with global access for trade, such as major seaports, international airports and national borders

  • As goods in FTZs are not charged customs tariffs, this makes imports and exports more viable and cost-effective

  • FTZs boost exports by offering business incentives to produce goods, mainly for international markets

  • FTZs encourage foreign investors, leading to improvements in international businesses, stimulating local economies and increasing employment

  • Countries increase trade relations, economic ties and interdependence through the removal of tariffs

  • FTZs improve customs procedures and become key hubs/nodes in global supply chains, ensuring faster delivery of goods and refining international logistics

World map showing free trade areas with three or more member nations. Updated to reflect UK leaving Europe and USMCA (nee NAFTA)
Free trade areas with three or more member nations. Updated to reflect UK leaving Europe and USMCA (nee NAFTA) Image Wikimedia Commons 2023

Export-processing zone (EPZ)

  • An export-processing zone (EPZ) is a type of FTZ that is usually set up in developing countries by their governments

  • EPZs encourage industrial and commercial exports

  • The World Bank defines an EPZ as

[an] industrial estate, usually a fenced-in area of 10 to 300 hectares, that specialises in manufacturing industrial and commercial goods purely for export. It offers firms free trade conditions and a liberal regulatory environment.

  • Its main purpose is to attract foreign investors, partners, and buyers who can help a country enter the world trade market for industrial goods

  • This helps to generate employment and foreign exchange for the host country

  • In 1997, 93 countries had set up export processing zones, employing 22.5 million people

  • By 2023, more than 5 400 EPZs were in existence worldwide, located both in developed and developing economies, employing more than 70 million people

  • The majority are in Asia, with China accounting for more than half of all EPZs

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Jacque Cartwright

Author: Jacque Cartwright

Jacque graduated from the Open University with a BSc in Environmental Science and Geography before doing her PGCE with the University of St David’s, Swansea. Teaching is her passion and has taught across a wide range of specifications – GCSE/IGCSE and IB but particularly loves teaching the A-level Geography. For the past 5 years Jacque has been teaching online for international schools, and she knows what is needed to get the top scores on those pesky geography exams.