Weblinks   International Monetary Fund http://www.imf.org/ The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an IGO with global membership that was created to promote international monetary cooperation and facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade by promoting exchange stability. It does this by making monetary resources temporarily available to its members. Choose two or three countries of interest to you and see how they have interacted with the IMF. Examine the "current topics" section. What are the main issues discussed here? Which countries or groups of countries are affected? The World Trade Organization http://www.wto.org/ The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an IGO with a global membership and multiple purposes. Its mission is to ensure that trade flows between states as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible. Decision making within the WTO is by consensus among all 135 member countries. Trade agreements are then ratified by members’ parliaments. The WTO also uses a dispute settlement process that focuses on interpreting agreements and ensuring that member countries’ trade policies follow them. Click on "WTO News" and "Trade Topics." What important issues is the WTO currently addressing? Exchange Rates http://www.x-rates.com There is no common international currency for carrying on financial transactions. Currency rates of exchange show the value of one country’s currency in relation to another’s. The Exchange Rates site allows you to compare currencies for thirty-five different countries. Using this site, see how the euro, the currency of the European Union, is doing in relation to the U.S. dollar, or use the Custom Table to compare the U.S. dollar with all other currencies. For fun, you can click on Photos to see what a Belgian franc looks like, or you can even order foreign currencies before your trip abroad. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development http://www.oecd.org/ The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) began with the purpose of rebuilding war-ravaged economies after World War II and administering the distribution of the Marshall Plan’s aid to Europe. Today, the OECD promotes policies that contribute to the expansion of world trade on a nondiscriminatory basis. It provides a forum in which the governments of the twenty-nine member states can compare their experiences and further the principles of a market economy. From the OECD’s homepage, you can access the largest source of comparative statistical data on the industrialized countries. Look at the Frequently Requested Statistics contained within the Statistics Portal to compare economies. Trade Resources http://www.usitc.gov/ The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has created an information referral service for those seeking information related to international trade and investment. Interested in investing in a chemical company in Canada? Want to export tractors to Russia? This Web site provides Internet resources to help those interested in international trade and investment to obtain information on their client country, research various products, access trade assistance, understand patent law, or view international law. U.S. Trade Representative http://www.ustr.gov/ The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is responsible for "developing and coordinating U.S. international trade, commodity, and direct investment policy, and leading or directing negotiations with other countries on such matters." Learn about the history of the U.S. Trade Representative, read speeches by the current representative and other past trade representatives, and scan the trade agreements the United States has with many other countries of the world. World Bank http://www.worldbank.org/ The World Bank is the world’s largest source of development assistance. The Bank was first created to aid European countries in their recovery from World War II. Today the Bank’s mission is to help developing countries achieve stable, sustainable, and equitable growth. Its main focus is to help the poorest people and the poorest countries to grow economically. Explore this Web site to find out the eligibility requirements for borrowing money. What are some of the criteria? European Union http://europa.eu.int/index.htm The EU is an IGO with regional membership and multiple purposes. Chapter 5 characterizes the authority structure of the EU as one of pooled sovereignty, under which the member states grant the EU legal authority to make some collective decisions for them. After entering the Europa Web site, explore the main institutions of the EU. How does the Court of Justice differ from the UN’s International Court of Justice? How many political groupings are represented in the European Parliament? How might these divisions affect the formation of a unified EU foreign policy? LaborNet http://www.labornet.org/ LaborNet provides labor news from around the world, Internet services, and Internet training to those interested in workers’ causes. Want to be a sympathetic striker? Click on the Strike Page and find out the who, what, where, and why of current strikes anywhere in the world. This Web site also has extensive links to international labor unions. Want to form a student union organization? This is the place to look for support and more information. It also gives the reader a sense of how the Internet has contributed to the globalization of labor. The Age of Imperialism http://www.smplanet.com/imperialism/toc.html Chapter 6 begins with a discussion of European imperialism and its effects on the Global South. To extend your analysis of imperialism, review the Small Planet’s Web site. Recommended by the History Channel, this site chronicles American expansion in the Pacific, the Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, and U.S. intervention in Latin America. See historic photos of the battleship Maine, maps of the regions, and portraits of the participants. Read letters, anti-imperialist essays from the past, and cartoons. You can even download movie clips. Many U.S. citizens have trouble understanding the plight of the Global South. Use the following Web sites to familiarize yourself with these countries and the problems they face. Your might choose a country from each of the following regions: Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Using the Web sites listed here, compare and contrast each of the countries in terms of political and economic structures. Keep the following questions in mind: What type of government does each country have? Which industrial revolution has it experienced? What primary goods does each country import and export? Based on your findings, can you identify the biggest obstacles for each country in the development process? African Studies WWW http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/AS.html The University of Pennsylvania’s African Studies Center has created a Web site that provides extensive links to country-specific information as well as a bulletin board that lists current events and important documents. A multimedia archive allows you to view African sculptures. Check out the Alligator Head from Nigeria. Why is the Standing Male Figure from Zaire impaled on so many blades? Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-AsianStudies.html This global collaborative project provides bibliographic and hypertext access to scholarly documents, resources, and information systems concerned with or relevant to Asian Studies. The Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library Web site is divided according to global, regional, and country-specific areas. It provides a wealth of information on the region as well as specific countries. This site is well monitored, and each link is checked for its accuracy and content. The Center for Middle Eastern Studies http://menic.utexas.edu/menic/ The Middle East Network Information Center at the University of Texas at Austin is an inclusive source for general as well as country-specific information. Read about various countries’ history, culture, business, energy resources, and government. View maps and scan the newspapers of the region. Learn more about Islam, Judaism, and Christianity and how these religions interact in the region. Click the News and Media link and hear Arabic spoken on numerous radio stations. Political Database of the Americas http://www.georgetown.edu/pdba/ A joint project of Georgetown University, the Organization of American States, and the Canadian Foundation for the Americas, this database provides documentary and statistical political information on Latin America, including constitutions, electoral laws, political parties, legislative and executive branch information, and election data. Look in the Links section to find Web sites of newspapers and embassies and consulates. The following Web sites provide general information on international development. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) http://www.unctad.org/en/enhome.htm From the UNCTAD homepage, go to the Least Developed Countries sub-site and investigate the backgrounds of the countries that the United Nations has deemed the poorest countries in the world. Examine the various policies UNCTAD has for helping the Least Developed Countries. Which do you think have the best chance of succeeding? Why? United Nations Development Program (UNDP) http://www.undp.org/ This United Nations branch helps countries in their efforts to achieve sustainable human development. As discussed in Chapter 6, the fulfillment of basic human needs (food, water, clothing, shelter, sanitation, health care, employment, and dignity) are important measures of a country’s development level. The UNDP focuses its efforts on assisting countries in the Global South to design and carry out national development programs. Examine the various projects of the UNDP. Which have had the greatest impact on development? U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) http://www.usaid.gov/ USAID is the federal government agency that implements foreign economic and humanitarian assistance programs to advance the political and economic interests of the United States. It assists countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. On the homepage you can choose regions from the Where section. Now you are able to explore U.S. aid efforts in each country of the world. What are the U.S. aid priorities in each region? Do you think aid should be tied to advancing U.S. interests or given to the needy without strings attached? Virtual Library on International Development http://w3.acdi-cida.gc.ca/Virtual.nsf/ This Canadian site outlines international development issues by topic, region, country, and organization. You can click on the outlines to discover links to organizations, news, and resources. The reference desk advises you of upcoming conferences and events related to international development and links you to libraries, periodicals, and reports of value in the study of international development.