Interdependence

Mutual, two-way reliance between states and actors, so that what happens to one affects the others.

Economic (trade, supply chains), political (treaties, the UN), social & cultural (migration, ideas, media) and technological (internet, data).

Dependence is one-way (a small state relying on a big one); interdependence is two-way — both sides need each other.

A virus in one country spread worldwide through connection (risk), but vaccines were developed and shared faster together (gain).

The same connections that bring shared gains (trade, knowledge, cooperation) also bring shared vulnerability when a link breaks.

Global supply chains — the chain of countries and firms that together make and move a product.

Treaties, alliances and bodies like the UN that tie states' decisions together.

The internet, shared data and technology that connect people and states worldwide.

No — it limits how freely a state can act alone, but it does not abolish the state.

Dependence can be used as leverage — a state others rely on can turn that reliance into power over them.

Because no state can solve them alone, interdependence drives cooperation through global governance and bodies like the UN.

Economies relying on one another through trade, investment, supply chains and finance, so one economy affects the others.

Trade, supply chains, cross-border investment and linked banks and financial markets.

The chain of countries and firms that together make and move a product across borders.

Economic ties are hard to cut without hurting yourself, so they bind states tightly and make walking away costly.

A crisis that began in the US housing market spread worldwide through linked banks and markets, tipping distant economies into recession.

Cooperate through the G20 and central banks to stop a global collapse — showing interdependence drives cooperation.

Trade and investment make goods cheaper and countries richer, and may make war less likely between trading partners.

Contagion (one crash spreads), vulnerability if a supplier cuts off, and stronger economies exploiting weaker ones.

Controlling a key export or supply gives leverage — the reliance of others can be turned into power over them.

Liberals argue trade makes war less likely, because fighting a partner you depend on is too costly.

No — but it limits it: a state cannot fully insulate its economy from global booms and busts.

States tying their decisions together through treaties, alliances and international organisations like the UN.

Through treaties (binding agreements), alliances (mutual support), IGOs (like the UN) and shared rules and norms.

A state gives up some freedom to act alone in return for security, influence and cooperation.

Under Article 5, an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, so members' security decisions are tied together.

The rule that an armed attack on one member is treated as an attack on all — the core of collective defence.

A voice and influence in shared decisions it would never have alone, plus security through alliances.

Allies, legitimacy and the ability to multiply its strength through alliances and shared rules.

Less freedom to act alone, the risk of being drawn into others' conflicts, and domination by the most powerful members.

Treaties and alliances limit a state's free decision-making, though the state still governs itself.

IGOs like the UN are where states tie their politics together to solve shared problems.

Yes — bodies like the UN are places where states make decisions together, binding their choices.

When people, ideas, values and media move across borders so that societies shape one another.

Through migration, media and ideas, diaspora communities keeping ties home, and shared global culture like sport and brands.

The movement of people to live in another country, carrying their culture with them.

Money migrants send back to their home country — for many poorer countries, larger than the foreign aid they receive.

A community living outside its country of origin that still keeps ties to it, sending money and culture both ways.

It ties two societies together — migrants enrich the society they join and send home remittances and culture to the one they left.

Migrants change the society they join and stay linked to the one they left, so influence moves both ways.

New ideas, food, music and skills, remittance income, greater understanding, and diverse, dynamic societies.

Backlash over identity, fear of losing local culture, strain on services, and powerful cultures crowding out smaller ones.

Culture that others admire (films, music, values) becomes a form of influence — soft power.

Remittances are a huge source of income for many poorer countries, often bigger than foreign aid.

When states and people rely on the same shared technology — the internet, data, cables and connected systems — so a problem in one network affects many.

Through the internet and undersea cables, cross-border data flows, shared banking/transport/power systems, and a common cyberspace no state controls.

The global network of connected computers, systems and data — a shared digital space no single state controls.

It is the fastest-growing, as banks, hospitals, phones and grids increasingly run on the same global networks.

Being on the same networks means a failure or attack in one place can spread through the shared system to everyone, fast.

In 2017 one piece of ransomware spread across the internet to around 150 countries in days, locking hospitals and businesses worldwide.

Malicious software that locks systems until a ransom is paid — WannaCry was a global ransomware attack.

Instant global communication and knowledge, cheaper and faster business, problem-solving through shared information, and a global voice for ordinary people.

Cyberattacks that cross borders instantly, reliance on a few networks and firms, surveillance and lost privacy, and fast-spreading disinformation.

Controlling key technology, networks or data gives leverage — those others rely on can turn that reliance into power.

States struggle to control a borderless cyberspace, where attacks and data ignore national frontiers.

A problem that crosses borders and cannot be solved by any single state alone — such as climate change, a pandemic or terrorism.

Because sharing a planet, economies and networks means we also share problems that no border can keep out.

Climate change, pandemics, terrorism and crime, and poverty and migration.

Everyone is better off if all states act, but each is tempted to free-ride — let others pay the cost — which makes solutions hard.

Benefiting from others' efforts (like emissions cuts) without doing the costly work yourself.

Greenhouse gases emitted anywhere warm the planet everywhere, so no single country can fix it alone.

Nearly every state signed up to limit global warming (proof cooperation is possible), but the targets are largely voluntary and hard to enforce.

Nearly all states promised to cut emissions to limit global warming — a shared goal, but with mostly voluntary targets.

There is no world government to enforce promises, and states free-ride and protect their self-interest.

Healing the ozone layer — states agreed to phase out the chemicals damaging it, a shared problem solved together.

They are the reason IGOs and treaties are built — to coordinate action on problems too big for any one state.

The United Nations — the near-universal body for keeping peace and cooperating — set up in 1945 after World War II and run by the UN Charter.

The UN's founding treaty, which sets out its aims and rules.

The UN body where all member states meet and each has one equal vote; its resolutions are not legally binding.

The UN's most powerful body, which can order sanctions or the use of force; its five permanent members each hold a veto.

The five permanent members of the Security Council — the US, UK, France, Russia and China — who each hold a veto.

The power of each permanent member to block any Security Council action single-handedly — the biggest limit on UN action.

It is the UN's staff, led by the Secretary-General, who run its day-to-day work.

The WHO (health), UNHCR (refugees), UNDP (development) — they do the UN's practical work.

Peacekeeping, coordinating aid and health, setting global norms and human rights, and providing a forum that prevents some conflicts.

The veto blocks strong action, it has no army and depends on states, GA resolutions are non-binding, and it cannot compel powerful states.

A real achievement in need of reform — effective when great powers agree, paralysed by the veto when they do not.

The way the world is run through cooperation, rules and institutions — treaties, IGOs and international law — without a single world government.

Government is a single authority that makes and enforces binding law over everyone; governance is getting things done through cooperation without one ruler above the states.

The rules that govern how states behave towards each other, coming from treaties, custom, general principles and court rulings.

Treaties, long-standing custom, general principles of law, and the decisions of international courts.

Hard law is binding (e.g. treaties); soft law is not binding but still shapes behaviour (e.g. declarations, norms).

Because there is no world government or world police to compel a sovereign state, so powerful states can sometimes ignore it.

Because it is in their interest, because of pressure and reputation, and because courts and bodies can rule against them.

IGOs (UN, WTO, IMF, regional bodies), treaties and courts, and non-state actors like NGOs, companies and expert networks.

No state can fix it and there is no world government, so states cooperate through agreements and norms — but enforcement is weak.

It enables real cooperation on shared problems, but is limited by weak enforcement because no body can compel a powerful state.

It works around, not above, sovereign states — cooperation and rules that states agree to, rather than a ruler over them.

An arrangement where an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all, so members defend one another — e.g. NATO's Article 5.

A written, usually binding agreement between states creating shared rules or promises — e.g. the NPT limiting nuclear weapons.

An agreement between states to support each other, often militarily, to gain security or advantage.

The Non-Proliferation Treaty — states agree to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.

A military alliance whose members promise to defend one another; under Article 5 an attack on one is an attack on all.

A group of oil-exporting states that coordinate oil production and prices — a form of economic cooperation.

Because interdependence makes working together pay — they gain security, wealth and solutions to shared problems they could not get alone.

Yes — the same states can cooperate on one issue and compete on another at the same time.

They can harden rivalries into rival blocs, drag members into conflicts, and only hold while members' interests align.

Because states usually cooperate because it serves their interests — cooperation and self-interest go together.

Both happen at the same time, driven by states' interests, so global politics is a constant mix of the two rather than one or the other.