Global Systems and Global Governance

What Global Systems and Global Governance covers

The flows of capital, labour, goods and ideas that bind places together, the institutions that try to govern them, and the global commons — with Antarctica as the worked case. Everyone sits this as Section A of Component 2.

The 20 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Global Flows of Capital, Labour, Goods and InformationRecall questions on foreign direct and portfolio investment and remittances, permanent and temporary migration of skilled and unskilled workers, containerisation and supply chains, flows of financial, tourism, education and business services, digital networks, and global marketing by TNCs.Open →
• Global Patterns of Production and DistributionRecall questions on where manufacturing has shifted and why, and on the importance of transport hubs to distribution.Open →
• Transport and Communications in GlobalisationRecall questions on air freight, high-speed rail, the internet and mobile telephony as accelerators of globalisation.Open →
• Security, Tariffs and Trade BarriersRecall questions on the effect of security and customs procedures on trade and on what tariff reduction and quota removal achieve.Open →
• Forms of Global InterdependenceRecall questions on economic, political, social and environmental interdependence between states.Open →
• Unequal Flows and Global StabilityRecall questions on flows of people, money, ideas and technology, how unevenly they are spread and why trade reliance can deter conflict.Open →
• World Trade Patterns and Market AccessRecall questions on growing trade volumes, shifting partners and investment flows, dominant blocs, emerging and less developed economies and their trading relationships, and on differential market access, trading agreements, tariffs and the effects on economic and societal well-being.Open →
• Transnational CorporationsRecall questions on what a TNC is, its spatial organisation and production, vertical and horizontal integration, intra-firm trade and marketing, its positive impacts through employment, technology, infrastructure and government finances, and negative impacts through profit repatriation, on workers and the environment and through cultural homogenisation.Open →
• Trade in Food and Manufactured GoodsRecall questions on what should be understood about a food commodity and a manufactured product, and on trade in everyday life.Open →
• Case Study: A Transnational CorporationRecall questions on what a TNC case study must cover, and on Apple's headquarters, the spatial organisation of its production, its assembly linkages and global supply chain, its marketing and sales, and its positive and negative impacts on host countries such as China.Open →
• What Global Governance MeansRecall questions on the meaning of global governance and on the place of norms and international law within it.Open →
• Scales of GovernanceRecall questions on the local, regional, national, international and global scales of governance and how they interact, why multi-scalar analysis matters, the tension between national sovereignty and global agreements, and the actors besides nation-states that shape global governance.Open →
• The Global CommonsRecall questions on what the global commons are and on the high seas, the atmosphere and Antarctica as examples.Open →
• The Physical Character of AntarcticaRecall questions on why the continent is the coldest, driest and windiest, and on its unusually high average elevation.Open →
• The Southern Ocean and Climate Threats to AntarcticaRecall questions on the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Convergence, why Antarctica is a global common, and on climate threats including sea ice loss, ice sheet melting, ice shelf collapse, sea level rise, the vulnerable West Antarctic Ice Sheet, thermal expansion and basal melting.Open →
• Threats to Antarctic ResourcesRecall questions on overfishing, the keystone role of krill, the legacy of whaling and the minerals thought to lie beneath.Open →
• The Antarctic TreatyRecall questions on when the treaty was signed and took effect, the purpose it sets, and how it handles territorial claims and military use.Open →
• UNEP, NGOs and the Limits of Antarctic GovernanceRecall questions on the UN Environment Programme and how NGOs research, document, publicise, lobby and campaign on Antarctica, why its governance matters worldwide through ice melt, Antarctic Bottom Water and as a model for other commons, and on weak enforcement, non-signatories, national interests and future challenges.Open →
• Benefits and Costs of GlobalisationRecall questions on wealth creation, development, integration and stability as benefits of globalisation, and on unequal wealth distribution, widening inequality within countries, injustice, unfair trade practices and unequal power relations as its costs.Open →
• Conflict, Environmental Costs and Critiquing GlobalisationRecall questions on resource conflict, cultural tension and geopolitical rivalry, environmental costs from trade, resource depletion and industrial relocation, and on critiquing globalisation for different groups and places using quantitative and qualitative approaches.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Global Systems and Global Governance further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Globalisation vs Global governance

  Globalisation: increasing international interconnectedness of flows and systems. Global governance: cooperative management of issues crossing national borders.

• Foreign direct investment vs Portfolio investment

  Foreign direct investment: cross-border investment establishing lasting control of an enterprise. Portfolio investment: purchase of financial assets without managerial control.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is foreign direct investment in the context of globalisation?

   Model answer

   Investment by a company or individual in one country into business interests in another country, typically involving ownership or control of productive assets such as factories or subsidiaries.

2. 2

   How does portfolio investment differ from foreign direct investment?

   Model answer

   Portfolio investment involves purchasing financial assets like stocks and bonds in foreign countries without gaining controlling ownership, whereas FDI involves direct ownership or control of business operations.

3. 3

   What are remittances and how do they represent capital flow in globalisation?

   Model answer

   Remittances are money transfers sent by migrant workers back to their home countries, representing a significant flow of capital from wealthier to poorer nations.

4. 4

   How does permanent migration contribute to the global flow of labour?

   Model answer

   Permanent migration involves people relocating indefinitely to another country, redistributing labour supply and skills across national boundaries on a long-term basis.

5. 5

   What role does temporary migration play in globalisation?

   Model answer

   Temporary migration involves workers moving to another country for a limited period, filling seasonal or short-term labour demands before returning home.

6. 6

   Why are skilled workers significant in the global flow of labour?

   Model answer

   Skilled workers possess specialised qualifications or expertise that are in demand internationally, leading to brain drain from some countries and brain gain in others.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Global Systems and Global Governance revision questions

What does Global Systems and Global Governance cover in AQA A-Level Geography?

20 subtopics: global flows of capital, labour, goods and information, global patterns of production and distribution, transport and communications in globalisation, security, tariffs and trade barriers, forms of global interdependence, unequal flows and global stability, world trade patterns and market access, transnational corporations, trade in food and manufactured goods, case study: a transnational corporation, what global governance means, scales of governance, the global commons, the physical character of antarctica, the southern ocean and climate threats to antarctica, threats to antarctic resources, the antarctic treaty, unep, ngos and the limits of antarctic governance, benefits and costs of globalisation and conflict, environmental costs and critiquing globalisation. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Global Systems and Global Governance organised?

By the AQA 7037 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.