Global Interdependence

Nobody runs their own country any more

A country can be **independent**, meaning it governs itself. That has not changed. What has changed is how much of what happens inside its borders is decided outside them. **Interdependence** means states depend on each other: what one does affects the others, and none of them can get what they want entirely on their own. A government can still choose its own laws, and still cannot choose the price of the fuel it imports, the weather its farmers get, or whether a disease stops at the border.

Six things that tie countries together

The specification names these six. An answer that covers three or four of them properly beats one that lists all six and explains none.

What does interdependence actually mean?

Which of these states what interdependence means, rather than something near it?

• That countries depend on one another, so what happens in one affects the others and none can act entirely alone
• That poorer countries depend on richer ones for aid and support
• That every country governs itself without outside interference
• That countries are becoming more similar to one another

Which problems cross the border?

Select the TWO problems that one government genuinely cannot solve on its own, however willing it is.

• Reducing the greenhouse gases warming the planet
• Disrupting a terrorist network that recruits, trains and finances itself across several countries
• Setting the speed limit on its own roads
• Deciding what is taught in its own schools

Find the dependence

A description of an invented country. Tap the TWO details that show Ardena depending on other countries.

• Ardena elects its own parliament every four years and
• sets its own school curriculum
• . It grows enough wheat for itself, but
• imports almost all of its fuel
• , and
• its largest factories sell most of what they make abroad
• . Its national holiday falls in March.

What a government can and cannot fix alone

This is the distinction the topic turns on, and it is more useful than any list of six.

Match each driver to how it links countries

Put the idea into a paragraph

A country that governs itself is _____, but almost every country is now also _____, meaning what happens in one affects the others. The growth of _____ has tied economies together through trade and supply chains, while _____ developments move money and information across borders faster than governments can follow. Problems such as climate change need international _____ because acting alone cannot produce the result.

Naming is not explaining

**"Explain why some issues require international co-operation. (6 marks)"** "Some problems have effects that cross borders whatever any single government decides. Emissions released in one country warm the atmosphere everyone shares, so a state that cuts its own emissions still gets the climate the rest of the world produces. That means acting alone cannot deliver the result, however committed the government is, and it can leave that country carrying the cost while others carry none. Co-operation exists to remove exactly that problem, by getting states to act together so the effort is shared and the result is achievable." Note what it does NOT do: it never lists the six drivers. It takes one, explains the mechanism, and draws the consequence. Listing is worth a mark; explaining is worth the rest.

State why alone does not work

Build a sentence that explains the collective-action problem accurately.

One river, three countries

A river rises in Ardena, runs through Borvia and reaches the sea in Calmar. Work out why this is an interdependence problem.

• Ardena's factories discharge waste into the river upstream. Who carries the consequences?
• Calmar passes a strict law against river pollution. Does that fix its problem?
• What does this show about the limits of a government's power?

Your turn: why co-operate at all?

A politician argues that their country should simply look after its own affairs and let other countries look after theirs. Explain what that argument gets right and where it breaks down.

• Explain the difference between independence and interdependence
• Name two of the six things the specification lists and say how each links countries
• Give one problem a government genuinely CAN solve alone
• Explain, with an example, why acting alone fails on a problem that crosses borders