Alternative Centres Of Power

The correct chronological order is-

b) Establishment of the EEC -1957

c) Establishment of the EU- 1992

d) Birth of ARF- 1994

a) China’s accession to WTO- 2001

Option b.

Over the years the ASEAN member countries have developed a form of interaction that is informal, non-confrontationist and cooperative called the ASEAN Way, keeping in mind the modest ideas and goals of the ASEAN, unlike the European Union.

Option a - China.

In the 1970s, China underwent some major economic reforms. The ‘Open Door Policy’ was introduced by Deng Xiaoping by 1978 aiming at generating higher productivity by investments of capital and technology from abroad.

a) Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin.

• In 1962, there was a conflict between India and China regarding the territorial claim over the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the north-eastern part of India and the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh in the north of India.

b) 1994

c) the United States of America

While undergoing economic reforms in the 1970s, China, in 1992, decided to end its political and economic isolation with the united states of America and better it's bilateral relations with the USA.

d) Marshall Plan

Aided by the cold war, America extended massive financial help to Europe for reviving Europe's economy under a plan called the Marshall Plan. Under this plan, the organisation for European Economic Cooperation was formed in 1948 to provide aid to Europe.

e) The ASEAN Security Committee.

Out of the three pillars/committees of the ASEAN (the ASEAN Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community), it is the ASEAN Security Committee that deals with security and makes sure that territorial disputes do not turn into armed escalation.

After the end of the cold war, Us emerged as the superpower of the world. In order to control and limit its dominance, the importance of the presence of regional organisations was realised. As a result, European Union was formed in Europe and ASEAN was formed in south-east Asia. They aim to serve the following objectives-

• Such organisations focus on the needs and capabilities of the economy of their particular region and provide them development at par with the level of global development.

• Countries with similar interests and needs are clubbed together in these organisations. Therefore, they achieved their ends in similar ways and the grow together.

• It results in social and cultural development as well.

• These organisations promote peace and stability in their specified region.

Geographical proximity influences the formations of regional organisations in the following ways-

• Countries that are geographically close to each other generally have somewhat similar interests and needs. Therefore, their identification becomes easier.

• Collaboration between countries located close to each other provides the region with security and strengthens it.

• The member countries collectively deal with each other and the rest of the world as well in a collective fashion and have synchronised growth and development.

• The countries would generally share some common historical and cultural background owing to their geographical proximity and hence would provide a strong subject to the countries to bond on.

The Asean Vision 2020 (also called the Hanoi plan of action) came out in 1997. Its components are-

• An outward looking role of the ASEAN in the international community.

• Negotiation over conflicts in the region. It mediated the end of the Cambodian conflict and the East Timor Crisis.

• Discussion of cooperation among East Asian Nations.

The pillars of ASEAN community are- the ASEAN Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

The objectives of the ASEAN community are-

• To prevent territorial disputes among nations from escalating into armed conflicts.

• To uphold peace, neutrality, cooperation, non-interference and respect for national differences and sovereign rights.

• To accelerate economic growth through social and cultural devlopment.

• To create a common market and production base within the ASEAN states and aid social and economic development.

• To create a Free Trade Area(FTA) for investment, labour and services.

• To establish efficient dispute solving mechanisms for the states.

The present Chinese economy differs from the command economy in the following ways-

• The command economy was based on the Soviet order while the present Chinese economy is open to capitalism.

• In the command economy, industrial production wasn’t growing fast enough, international trade was minimum and per capita income was very low. However, in the present Chinese economy, there is a large foreign exchange reserve, immense production, high per capita income and rapid growth.

• The command Chinese economy wasn’t open to foreign trade while presently, China has an open economy and has created Special Economic Zones and is one of the hotspots of Foreign Direct Investment.

• Unlike the command economy, the present Chinese economy adopted the ‘Open Door Policy’ wherein it generated high productivity by investments of capital and technology from abroad.

After the second world war, the European economy was aided by the cold war. Under the Marshall Plan, US extended massive financial support to the European economy.

• Under the Marshall Plan, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation was established in 1998 channelling aid to the western European states. Its members were- France, west Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

• Another way forward in political cooperation was the formation of the Council of Europe in 1949. The European Parliament was formed.

• In 1973, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Committee.

• In 1981, Greece joined EC.

• The Schengen agreement abolishing border controls among the EC members was signed in 1985.

• In 1986, Spain and Portugal join EC and in 1990 Germany is unified.

• The Treaty of Maastricht was signed in 1992 establishing the European Union and a single market was created.

This is how the European Union was formed.

The EU has economic, political, diplomatic and military influence. The European Union is a highly influential regional organisation because-

• The EU is the worlds biggest economy with a GDP of about 12 trillion dollars (as in 2005) slightly exceeding that of the USA.

• Its currency, Euro, can pose a threat to the dollar.

• The EU has three times larger share of world trade, larger than that of the US and gives it influence over its neighbors and in Asia and Africa.

• It also functions as an important bloc in the international organisations like the WTO(World Trade Organisation).

• Two members of the EU, Britain and France, hold a permanent seat to UN Security Council which gives it a diplomatic edge over the others. With which it has also been able to influence certain US policies like the current US position on Iraq's nuclear programme.

• Regarding the military, the EU’s armed forces altogether are the second largest in the world.

• EU is one of the important sources of space and communication technology.

It is true that the emerging economies of China and India have great potential to challenge the unipolar world because of the following reasons-

• India and China are both emerging strong economies of the world and have broken their economy from stagnancy.

• Both the countries are popular and preferred centers for foreign direct investment from all over the world.

• China has large reserves of foreign exchange. India, too, has an economy with a strong reserve of foreign exchange.

• India and China have adopted similar policies at the global level too to deepen integration with the world economy to challenge the unipolar world.

• Special Economic Zones have been created in both these countries promoting greater international trade.

Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that India and China have great potential to challenge the unipolar world.

The statement that the peace and prosperity of countries lay in establishment and strengthening of the regional economic organisation is true. The statement is true because-

• By forming regional economic organisation the nations become integrated and unify in an economic, political, cultural, social and military sense and therefore turn out to be much stronger and prosperous.

• The nations develop cohesiveness over their shared culture, a geographical proximity which results in persistent peace within the region. For example- ASEAN.

• Because the nations unite together to form a common economic platform, their economy grows better and bigger and at par with the other large economies of the world and the region prospers. For example- the European Union.

The contentious issues between China and India are-

• The major issue between India and China is territorial. China claims the ownership of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh in India. (There also occurred the 1962 conflict between India and China for the very same reason.)

• There were differences between the two countries when China took over Tibet in 1950 and India was against it.

• The indo-china conflict of 1962 further escalated the differences between the two countries.

Ways to resolve these issues for greater cooperation are-

• Both the countries should try and take steps to resolve the border dispute without any violence.

• They must better relations with each other by trying to know each other’s past, present, and culture and accordingly form their foreign policies.

• Recently, both countries have decided to cooperate with each other in areas that could otherwise create conflict between the two, like bidding for energy deals abroad. This is a great step taken by the countries to better the severed ties and should be continued.

• Both China and India have adopted similar policies in the international economic institution like the World Trade Organisation. This should help them to realise common goals and realise the fact that their economic cooperation would be of a large benefit to both their economies and would make the region very strong.