Essay On World Order R – Legal & Non-Legal Responses

Resource Description

– 25 marker for world order module –

24/25 marks Assess the effectiveness of both legal and non-legal measures in promoting and maintaining world order.

The need for a healthy economic, political and social order is now more intense than ever, with single conflict able to ripple and affect the worlds tenfold. Legal measures, such as international instruments, courts and intergovernmental organisations are mostly effective in maintaining and promoting the world order that society so desperately needs. However, issues regarding compliance and enforceability are constantly in focus, as well as equality in decisions of geopolitics. Non-legal measures, be that non-governmental organisations or the mainstream media, are also mostly effective in providing relief and maintaining the rule of law, allowing multilateralism to continue. Thus, both legal and no-legal measures are both mostly effective in promoting and maintaining world order. International instruments, a legal measure used by IGOs and nation states, are mostly effective in promoting and maintaining world order, favouring globalisation and multilateralism. Treaties, conventions, and charters all pass through the UN, establishing courts, organisations and bringing an end to years of conflict. The Arms Trade Treaty, in place due to the 90% of civilian deaths at war caused by illegal arms (SMH, 2014) was effective from 2014, and regulates international weapons trade, aiming to stop illegal supply. Signed by 130 countries, this treaty has had an extremely positive effect in the Pacific, cutting down on the ‘hugely destabilising impact of smuggling’ in regions such as the Solomon Islands and Bougainville, as humanitarian advocate Ben Murphy stated (SMH, 2015). Due to the porous borders of such regions, small numbers of weapons can lead to increases in serious criminal activity, the treaty aiming to prevent events such as the 2009 North Korean cargo plane bound for Vanuatu filled with illegal gunrunners. However, there remains concerns for the enforceability of the treaty, with the world’s three largest weapon exporters, China, Russia and the US not being party. This is also true for the largest buyers, with Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia not having signed, nor ratified. Yet, the treaty has been mostly effective since coming into action, preventing conflict on a massive scale in certain regions. Thus, international instruments such as the Arms Trade Treaty (2014) have been mostly effective in promoting and maintaining world order.