HL global interactions · Networks, development and global risks

IB Diploma Programme Geography HL (first assessment 2019; 2017 guide). This topic covers the HL extension 高级程度拓展部分, Geographic perspectives — global interactions. It has three units: power, places and networks; human development and diversity; and global risks and resilience. Paper 3 (HL only, 1 hour) asks one question from a choice of three, one per unit. Each question has a part (a) worth 12 marks and an essay part (b) worth 16 marks. Good answers use examples at more than one scale and show how places are connected.

In March 2021 the container ship Ever Given got stuck across the Suez Canal for six days. Hundreds of ships waited at both ends, and factories in Europe ran short of parts made in Asia. One ship in one canal showed how closely the world's places are linked, and how a problem in one place can spread everywhere. That is the idea behind this whole topic.

Must-know for this topic:

Global flows

Globalisation 全球化 is the growing connection between places through four kinds of flow 流动:

A global network 全球网络 has nodes 节点 (cities and ports) and links 连接 (shipping lanes, flight routes, undersea cables). A place with many links, such as Shanghai, Singapore or London, gains more trade, more investment and more power. A poorly connected place, such as a landlocked country with weak roads, finds it hard to join in.

Global power

A superpower 超级大国 has economic, military, political and cultural power that reaches the whole world; today the United States and China are usually named. Countries also act in groups. The G20 二十国集团 produces about 85% of world GDP and 75% of world trade. International organisations set rules for everyone: the United Nations (193 member states), the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.

Transnational corporations 跨国公司 (TNCs) operate in many countries. They usually keep research, design and headquarters in rich countries and place factories where costs are lower; this is outsourcing 外包 or offshoring 离岸外包. More of the money is made in design, branding and selling than in growing or making the product, so the core 核心地区 gains more than the periphery 边缘地区.

A global commodity chain: most value is added far from where the raw material is grown

Worked example. In the illustration, a bar of chocolate sells for $2.00 and the cacao farmer receives$0.06. The farmer's share is

The other 97% is added by processing, manufacturing, branding and selling, mostly in core countries.

Power does not only flow one way. Chinese, Indian and Brazilian companies now invest abroad, and governments can tax and regulate TNCs or refuse them entry.

Measuring development

The Human Development Index 人类发展指数 (HDI) combines three dimensions: health, education and income. Each is scored from 0 to 1, and the HDI is a kind of average of the three. In 2022, Switzerland scored 0.967, China 0.788 and Somalia 0.380 (UNDP).

The HDI combines health, education and income into one index from 0 to 1

The Gender Inequality Index 性别不平等指数 (GII) measures gaps between women and men in health, education, work and politics. About 700 million people still live in extreme poverty 极端贫困, on less than $2.15 a day (World Bank). Development is more than income: it is the freedom and ability to live the life you value.

Changing identities and cultures

Global flows carry culture as well as goods. Cultural diffusion 文化扩散 spreads foods, music, brands and languages. Some people fear cultural homogenisation 文化同质化: every city with the same shops and films. But global brands often change to fit local tastes: glocalisation 全球本土化. KFC in China sells rice porridge (congee) and fried dough sticks (youtiao) for breakfast, and Shanghai Disneyland (2016) added Chinese designs and festivals. Cultures also mix to create new hybrid 混合 forms, such as K-pop, which mixes Korean and American music styles.

Local responses

Not everyone welcomes global interactions 全球互动. Responses include:

• Protectionism 贸易保护主义: tariffs and quotas to protect local jobs.
• Fairtrade 公平贸易: a guaranteed minimum price for about 2 million farmers and workers.
• Civil society 公民社会 campaigns, such as protests against factory working conditions.
• Indigenous groups protecting their land, language and knowledge.

Risks that cross borders

Because places are linked, problems spread quickly. Global risks 全球风险 include:

A chokepoint: when one link in the network fails, every connected place feels it

Building resilience

Resilience 恢复力 is the ability to absorb a shock and recover. It works at every scale:

New technology can reduce risk (early-warning satellites, vaccines developed in under a year), but it also creates new risks, such as cyber attacks on banks and power grids.

Part (a), 12 marks. Usually "explain" or "examine" a link. Make two or three developed points, each with a named example and a number.

Part (b), 16 marks. An essay: "Discuss", "Evaluate" or "To what extent". Give both sides, use examples at different scales, and end with a clear judgement.

Worked plan. "To what extent are global interactions good for developing countries?"

1. For: FDI brings jobs and skills; remittances are about US$650 billion a year to low- and middle-income countries.
2. Against: the periphery receives little of the value (the farmer's 3% share); dependence on one export or one buyer.
3. Scale: national GDP may rise while some local places lose out.
4. Risk: COVID-19 showed that connected economies also share shocks.
5. Judgement: global interactions help most when governments invest in skills and spread links across many partners.

• The four flows with numbers; nodes and links; why connected places gain power.
• Superpowers, the G20, the UN, IMF, World Bank and WTO; TNCs and outsourcing; core and periphery; the 3% commodity-chain calculation.
• HDI (Switzerland 0.967, China 0.788, Somalia 0.380) and GII; extreme poverty.
• Cultural diffusion, homogenisation, glocalisation (KFC in China) and hybrid cultures; local responses including Fairtrade.
• The five risks with examples; chokepoints (Suez 2021); resilience at global, national and local scales (Montreal Protocol).
• Paper 3: part (a) 12 marks, part (b) 16 marks; examples at more than one scale and a clear judgement.