International Affairs: Global Governance - Week 4

I am doing a MOOC on global governance from The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. 

Here are my thoughts on week 4:

Blending global governance instruments
Different fields have taken different approached. Food standards have been embedded into the WTO. Labour standards have not, although the USA incorporates them into free trade agreements. different blends in different fields!

Summary
I found the MOOC quite interesting. It introduced me to new terminology (hard and soft laws) and how they are combined differently in different fields.

International Affairs: Global Governance - Week 3

I am doing a MOOC on global governance from The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. 

Here are my thoughts on week 3:

Hard Laws and Soft Laws
A hard law is a treaty/agreement which is agreed by national bodies and contains rights and responsibilities. An example of this is the European Convention on Human Rights which is an international treaty which created a court which can penalise national bodies if judgements go against them.

A soft law is a resolution passed by an international body, which national bodies voluntarily choose to follow. An example of this is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which is a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. Whilst it affirms a number of rights, they are not legally enforceable.

The arguments in favour of a hard law (and therefore against a soft law) include:
 - they are legally enforceable
 - there is a single interpretation of the law
 - if a national government changes, the law still has to be implemented

The arguments in favour of a soft law (and therefore against a hard law) include:
 - A national body can work towards compliance without being penalised
 - A government has to choose to comply rather than having compliance imposed on them - embedding the policy within the nation
 - Nations can customise their compliance mechanisms to suit their situation

When should hard or soft law be used?
Hard laws should be for enforcement and sanctions. Soft laws should expand and clarify the hard laws e.g. exemptions or an evolving standard that you don't want to make permanent yet. Soft laws might be all that is possible politically at a certain time.

The advantages of soft law
Soft laws can be preludes to hard laws to prepare the ground politically. They are easier to create and amend over time. You don't need hard laws if a soft law will lead to compliance e.g. Basel and banking.

International Affairs: Global Governance - Week 2

I am doing a MOOC on global governance from The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. 

Here are my thoughts on the week 2:

What's the biggest challenge facing the world today?
War, Poverty, Climate Change, Inequality, Terrorism, or Other?
I chose inequality but they are all interrelated and can't be resolved individually.

How to address global problems?
Some problems (e.g. trade and environmental problems, or terrorism) need a multinational response
Does an emphasis on nation-state activities hinder action at a lower level (e.g. US states vs the US on climate change)? Probably, and only going to get worse

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Sustainable Development Goal 17 calls for partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society
https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/fact-sheets/lgbt-global-development-partnership
The LGBTI Global Development Partnership is a partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency (Sida) and a range of other partners to support LGBTI human rights and development in 14 countries around the world.

Global governance and the role of nation-states
Should they give up power to larger entities? Citizens feel disconnected from nation-states already, let alone larger entities
Could they devolve powers to cities and regions? Unlikely to give up power!

What are your views on the future of the nation state?
There is pressure to integrate states to include multiple nations (e.g. the EU) but also pressure to split states into single nations (e.g. Scottish independence from the UK).
I would love to see more of the former, to create larger democracies able to stand up to global corporations and resolve global problems but i fear that populist nationalism will lead to more fragmentation and lower the effectiveness of global solutions (by many states opting out of solutions)

International Affairs: Global Governance - Week 1

I am doing a MOOC on global governance from The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. 

Here are my thoughts on the week 1:

What is Global Governance?
My one word answer: Diplomacy
A framework of values, institutions and agreements to manage international trade and other activities
Temptation to do "deals" rather than "rules" - too much power for richer nations
"Global governance is the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs, as long as those affairs have effect or implications beyond national borders."
Visible - meetings and summits
Invisible - technical outputs of agencies

WTO Summits
Ministerial meetings catalyses other activities
Challenges - logistical and getting consensus at one time
Summits progress day-to-day activities of the WTO

Ad-hoc vs regular summits
Ad-hoc summits would include those focused on a specific topic e.g. Iranian nuclear situation.
Regular summits would include annual organisational meetings e.g. G20.
Summits/organisations combining the two categories would could include some of the summits following the Kyoto treaty (I think they are called Conferences of the Parties) in that they are annual meetings but the specific agenda for each meeting changes.

Invisible governance - standards
Internationally recognised standards - e.g. ISBN code on books - International Standard Book Number
International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a private standard setting organisation with headquarters in Geneva

My 2017 objectives - How did i do?

In January 2017, I set myself 8 objectives for the year. Let’s see how I got on…

1 Hit my fitbit target (10,000 steps per day) 90% of the time

I like my fitbit. It does provide motivation to get out of the house and get some exercise, especially on days when I’m feeling lazy (aka most Sundays!). It also has an app for your phone so you can check the historic data really easily. Here are the number of days in each month that I hit my target:

Jan 28/31 - 90.3%

Feb 28/28 - 100%

Mar 27/31 - 87.1%

Apr 28/30 - 93.3%

May 29/31 - 93.5%

Jun 26/30 - 86.7%

Jul 28/31 - 90.3

Aug 27/31 - 87.1

Sep 27/30 - 90.0

Oct 28/31 - 90.3

Nov 27/30 - 90.0

Dec 26/31 - 83.9

Total 329/365 - 90.1%

Objective achieved (just)! The dogs also benefited from me extending their evening walk just to hit the daily target!

2 Lose 5kg (~11 lbs)

I was quite careful not to say how much I weighed in January but losing 5kg would take me below a symbolic round number of kilograms. I weigh myself when I’m at the gym which pretty much most weeks of the year. Looking at the data, I lost weight in January and February, and managed to achieve my target by the end of March (go me!). My weight then pretty well stayed the same for the rest of the year. I’d put a bit on during a holiday but would lose it again soon afterwards. By the end of the year I had lost 5.4kg so objective achieved!

In March I started a secondment at work that lasted the rest of the year (and into 2018). I am enjoying the new job but it has definitely coincided with me going to the gym much less often. For the last two years I would mostly go three times a week (and it showed in my weight and fitness). By the end of the year I was managing once a week. I do miss it so I think I will try to up my attendance again…

3 Run 5k in a race

I have run quite a few 5kms on a running machine but not in anything I could call a race – so objective not achieved. I have managed to get my personal best down to 27min 34s which I am quite proud of so it’s not all bad!

4 Go to at least two Lib Dem meetings

I wanted to be a bit more politically engaged but wanted to be realistic about my normal motivation to go to evening meetings after a long day at work. I did manage to make it to a local party meeting in February and the Social Liberal Forum (SLF) conference in July so it’s another objective achieved!

5 Deliver leaflets for someone standing for election

In January 2017, my plan was to do some deliveries for local candidates standing in the County Council elections in May. Theresa May then decided to hold an early General Election In June so the campaigning got a bit mixed up. I managed at least three sets of deliveries (I wasn’t good at recording when I did so it is a bit of a blur!). I do enjoy delivering leaflets – I get some exercise, get to know my local area better, and get to be nosey about other people’s front gardens. Objective achieved!

6 Get paid by 6 people to give them a massage

I didn’t plan how or when I would do this so it is not surprising that I didn’t massage anyone in 2017, let alone get paid for doing so - objective not achieved. I did enjoy massaging people and could definitely do with some extra cash so keep an eye out for this in 2018!

7 Write 6 blog posts (that are not just News You Might Have Missed)

My blogging had basically turned into posting monthly news round-ups so I wanted to express myself more. I did manage to post four posts in February about my LGBT heroes as part of LGBT history month:

LGBT heroes - John Maynard Keynes

LGBT heroes - Arthur C Clarke

LGBT heroes - Patrick Trevor-Roper

LGBT heroes - Marguerite Radclyffe Hall

And then one post in July about the SLF conference:

My thoughts on "The Retreat from Globalisation: Social Liberal Forum Conference 2017"

If you throw in my original post about my 2017 objectives then that is six blog posts so I will call that objective technically achieved!

8 Go to one genealogy-related event

I had wanted to kick-start my genealogy hobby by going to a real world event but I never really planned anything so the objective was not achieved. I did invest in the Roots Magic software and did do some more online genealogy but that wasn’t quite what I had hoped to do.

Summary

So I managed to achieve 5 of my 8 objectives. My main lesson learnt was that it isn’t enough to just set an objective for the year. I need to follow each objective up with a plan and then monitor my progress. That is hardly a revelation as I have had project management training but I find it easier to do in a work context rather than in my personal life. So now I just need to come up with my 2018 objectives…

My thoughts on "The Retreat from Globalisation: Social Liberal Forum Conference 2017"

On Saturday I attended the Social Liberal Forum 2017 conference: The Retreat from Globalisation. This was a day of debate and discussion about a range of topics from global warming to the recent general election. I only managed to take one picture on the day (above) but that shows how close i was to Vince Cable).

The day started with the William Beveridge Memorial Lecture, given by Lord William Wallace, on the topic of "Is a Liberal and Democratic society compatible with globalisation?".  He argued that impact of globalisation has left a substantial group of "left behind" with justifiable grievances, which led to the Brexit result. Globalisation has mostly benefited authoritarian countries and the super-rich (the real "Citizens of Nowhere"). He argued for more investment in public services, more regulation of takeovers, more mutuals and more co-operatives. Basically, if we are given a choice, we should choose democracy over globalisation and that might mean scaling back on globalisation for now.

The second session was a choice between a talk on Global Conflict by Lawrence Freedman (from King's College, London) or a fringe on Universal Basic Income. The Global Conflict talk covered the history of military interventions since the end of the Cold War, the successes (e.g. Bosnia) and the failures (e.g. Libya). He also covered the situation in Europe, Russia, China and the USA, highlighting the risks and opportunities for the UK. To say it was a wide-ranging talk would be an understatement but he managed to weave a narrative of the current dynamics of global politics.

The third morning session was on Global Warming, by Ed Davey MP and Mark Campanale (from the Carbon Tracker Initiative). Their presentations were quite frankly scary about the long term danger of short-term (<20 year) carbon emissions but also hopeful that the falling price of renewable energy will make the transition  to a low carbon economy politically possible. Ed also highlighted the impact that the UK leaving the EU will have on votes within the European Council on climate issues.

The first session after lunch was billed as a leadership hustings but was basically a one-hour Vince Cable Q&A. He was on top form, highlighting his ability to get coverage and his reputation for economic credibility. He criticised the Tories for re-toxifying themselves by working with the DUP, and the Labour party for being unrealistic. He defended the party's actions on university tuition fees arguing that the policy was mostly right (giving us 8/10) but the politics were badly wrong (giving us 2/10).

Everyone in the audience was encouraged to ask a question, so i put my hand up and was lucky enough to be picked. I asked what he would do between now and the May 2018 elections to help local parties get the share of the vote up (from the 7.5% this year, compared to the 13% in 2014 when the seats were last contested). I had mentioned that I was from Northampton and Vince said he remembered visiting when we ran the Council. He said that we can't just make incremental gains next year, we need to take inspiration from Justin Trudeau's Canadian Liberals and go from third place to first place.

The final two sessions were reflections on the general election. Firstly a panel discussion reflecting on ethnic minority voters (Joyce Onstad), Scotland (Caron Lindsay), the "progressive alliance" (Sarah Olney) and young voters (Daisy Cooper). Whilst there is currently very little data about the voting patterns of different population, each panel member discussed their reality of the general election (the good, the bad and the ugly). The final session was by David Howarth who reflected on the latest data that does exist, the British Election Study’s December 2016 report. His main message was that people didn't really know who Tim Farron was and that that the party has some serious trust issues that need resolving before they will think about supporting us.

In an ideal world (i.e. if speaker's diaries were different), the afternoon would have been structured slightly differently so that the day went:

• Morning - The world is a scary place. The UK is going alone in a world where the threats of trade wars, actual wars or environmental damage are significant.
• Afternoon - The General Election result was a small improvement on 2015 but there is still a huge mountain to climb to overcome the two-party world we are now in. We have trust issues with the electorate.
• Finale - Vince is the man to climb the mountain. He can get the party media exposure that has recently been lacking. It is only when we are heard that people will give us a second chance. Our message on Brexit was right but too soon for us to get the credit. Our time will come again.

The day was really interesting: not just the topics covered by the speakers but the questions raised by the audience and the conversations that continued into the coffee breaks. One underlying theme was the lack of diversity within the party, limiting the appeal to the diverse wider electorate.

More reflections on the conference can be found on Liberal Democrat Voice and on the #SLFConf hashtag on twitter.

I want to finish by complimenting the organisers of the day. The Social Liberal Forum is run by volunteers who managed to put on an informative day despite an unexpected general election and a leadership election - Thank you!

News you might have missed: January 2017

From rail fares to sex education, and UKIP on HE to Hamilton...

Here's the news you might have missed in January...

My 2017 objectives

Here are my objectives for 2017. My cunning plan is that if i publicise them, then hopefully i will achieve them...

1 Hit my fitbit target (10,000 steps per day) 90% of the time
I received a fitbit for Christmas 2015 and a year of using it (and the associated app) has taught me many things including how immobile i can be on some days (especially working from home days). The 90% target is equivalent to just over 6 days a week so i can still have some slack days!

2 Lose 5kg (~11 lbs)
Thanks to an exercise routine, healthier eating and a great personal trainer (thanks Alex), I have lost some weight over the last two years (although not as much as some people think!). Losing another 5kg will drop my weight below a symbolic weight (which i'm not going to publicise!).

3 Run 5k in a race
So far my running has included doing a Couch to 5K programme, 30 minute runs on a road, and 5K runs on a running machine. I think the next stage is to actually run in a proper race (probably slowly but surely).

4 Go to at least two Lib Dem meetings
I have been rather a passive activist for the last few years. I supported the coalition but didn't do much for the 2015 general election or the Brexit referendum. However the cumulative effect of Brexit, unrestrained Tories, incompetent Labour and the Lib Dems coming back will hopefully motivate me to get more active. I have normally managed to make one meeting a year (either locally or nationally) so two meetings will be progress!

5 Deliver leaflets for someone standing for election
Being politically active means more than just going to meetings. This year there are county council elections and i'm sure they will be plenty of candidates that i will want to support. Delivering leaflets will also help me meet my daily step goal so definitely a win-win!

6 Get paid by 6 people to give them a massage
I completed my aromatherapy massage qualification in 2015 and proceeded to do nothing with it except massage a few friends on holiday. I enjoy massaging so plan to get back into it properly.

7 Write 6 blog posts (that are not just News You Might Have Missed)
My blogging has been sporadic over the years but i have managed a news round-up each month. As part of being more politically active, i want to find my voice and express myself in more than just facebook or twitter updates.

8 Go to one genealogy-related event
I've dipped in and out of researching my family tree over the years. I definitely think it is time to get back into it as i have many brick walls to break through (including finding the birth of my Irish great-grandmother). I can do internet searches easily enough but want to go to a real-world event to get motivated.

Why have eight objectives? Because eight is great!

News you might have missed: December 2016

From a shock by-election result to a dodgy loan, and from student visas to a graduate suing for bad teaching...

Here's the news you might have missed in December...

News you might have missed: November 2016

Apart from the US election and it's ongoing fallout, there has been some other news...

Here's the news you might have missed in November...

News you might have missed: October 2016

From Tory conference speeches to by-election results, and from Lindsey Lohan to Tim Horton...

Here's the news you might have missed in October...

News you might have missed: September 2016

From Brexit plans (or lack thereof) to Justin Trudeau, and from Freshers to algorithms...

Here's the news you might have missed in September...

News you might have missed: August 2016

From Brexit "myths" to Open Britain, and from student grants to Strictly Comes Dancing...

Here's the news you might have missed in August...

News you might have missed: July 2016

From Justin Trudeau to Owen Smith, and from FOSIS to Pokemon...

Here's the news you might have missed in July...

News you might have missed: May 2016

From psychoactive substances to the EU referendum, and from PrEP to Magic Mike live...

Here's the news you might have missed in May...

News you might have missed: April 2016

From human rights to the EU referendum, and from Star Wars to Ab Fab...

Here's the news you might have missed in April...

News you might have missed: March 2016

From poppers being unbanned to the EU referendum, and from u-turns on PreP to Xena: The Warrior Princess...

Here's the news you might have missed in March...

News you might have missed: February 2016

From Boris Johnson to satanic prayers, and from space lasers to Top Gear...

Here's the news you might have missed in February...

News you might have missed: January 2016

From MPs debating banning Donald Trump to actually banning poppers, and from the Trans Inquiry to LEGO disabled minifigures...

Here's the news you might have missed in January...

News you might have missed: December 2015

From election losers to LGBT power, and from River Song to a drag queen's Christmas message...

Here's the news you might have missed in December...