World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

At the end of World War II the US helped establish three economic institutions to regulate the global economy: the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and what is now known as the World Trade Organization.  These institutions were set up to enforce and facilitate the rules of market capitalism, and membership in these organizations is, theoretically, voluntary.  But the US was also careful to craft the rules of these institutions in a manner which guaranteed that the US would have a dominant voice in their governance.   By the standard of economic growth, these institutions have been incredibly successful (perhaps less successful by other measures such as economic development).  However, the US seems to be reducing its support for these institutions in recent years even as the global economy seems to be struggling a great deal.  The strategy is probably the worst one to follow at this time, but the appetite of the American Congress to honor its commitment to these global institutions is diminishing at a rapid pace.

On the other hand, the US helped introduce new patterns to world politics in 1945 by working hard with others to create the United Nations.  The UN, on the whole, has not been the success that many had hoped for.  But it has had a dramatic effect on the incidence of aggressive war.  Fareed Zakaria is a perceptive observer of world politics and has written a great essay on how the Russian annexation of Crimea is a throwback to pre-UN rules.

The Philippines and China are playing a cat-and-mouse game in the South China Sea.   In 1999 the Philippines rammed a World War II transport chip into a reef called the Second Thomas Shoal, and stationed Filipino sailors on the rusted-out vessel (there are 8 sailors who endure three-month tours on the wreck).  The purpose is to establish its claim to sovereignty on the reef.  But it also means that the Philippines must make supply runs to their sailors periodically.   The Chinese try to prevent those runs, and the Filipinos try to evade the Chinese blockade.  This month the Filipinos were successful.