Cooperation, Not Competition, Can Lead the World Towards Peace and Prosperity Essay for CSS and PMS Aspirants | CSS Essays | PMS Essays | Essays by Sir Syed Kazim Ali
Dr Nishat Baloch has attempted this essay on the given pattern, which Sir Syed Kazim Ali teaches his students, who have consistently been qualifying their CSS and PMS essays. The essay is uploaded to help other competitive aspirants learn and practice how to write a comprehensive outline; how to write bullets in an outline; how to write the introductory paragraph; how to connect sentences and paragraphs; how to write a topic sentence; how to put evidence within the paragraphs.
Outline
1- Introduction
- ✓ Cooperation – a non-zero-sum game – breeds a conducive environment for the world’s peace and prosperity, strengthening the maxim of harmony.
- ✓ Fosters economic stability, political collaboration, and social justice, harmonizing the world community at various junctures of the modern history
- ✓ A confluence of global challenges — terrorism, global warming, arm-race, human and drug trafficking, and poverty— can be curbed with international cooperation.
2- Decoding the correspondence between cooperation and world peace and prosperity
3- How has competition among nations always led the world to devastating wars?
- Case in point: WWI and WWII – The glaring examples
4- How has cooperation helped the world move towards peace and prosperity?
✓ From a political perspective
- ✓ By setting up a list of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Case in point: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. - ✓ By discouraging arm race across the globe and standing still against the war on terror
Case in point: Formation of international associations such as NATO, United Nations ( UN), and Amnesty International - ✓ By devising the provision of fundamental human rights
Case in point: 10th December being recognized as World’s Human Rights Day
✓ From a Socio-cultural perspective
- ✓ The provision of assistance against pandemics and epidemics
Case in point: COVID-19 reveals incremental progress in the area of global health cooperation and the emergence of thick networks of global health governance - ✓ The convention of environmental conferences at the international level to combat the menace of global warming and climate change
Case in point: Since 1994, when the treaty entered into force, every year, the UN has been bringing together almost every country on earth for global climate summits or “COPs”, which stands for ‘Conference of the Parties. - ✓ Providing security services to encourage international sports
Case in point: The FIFA World Cup Security Committee has reportedly deployed 32,000 government security personnel and 17,000 individuals from the private security sector to guard the event in Qatar.
✓ From an economic perspective
- ✓ The formation of organizations like IMF, World Bank (WB), World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Economic Forum (WEF), and Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
Case in point: Developing countries can access bailouts, aid, and loans to save themselves from default. - ✓ The European Countries under the European Union’s (EU) flag are improving their socioeconomic status.
Case in point: European Union (EU), with its tremendous efforts, has made ‘the euro’ a currency of choice for nearly 40% of global cross-border transactions and half the EU’s exports worldwide. - ✓ The concept of a free market economy owing to globalization has helped nations prosper economically.
The case study of China
5- Why can the world not prosper in its true essence without cooperation in the 21st century?
- ✓ Terrorism – a global scourge – needs global cooperation to be dealt with
- ✓ The increased nuclear proliferation has made the world sweat in the face of teetering security
- ✓ Global warming – a humanitarian catastrophe – cannot be curbed single handily
- ✓ Poverty, illiteracy, and food insecurity across the globe
- ✓ Human and drug trafficking
6- Critical analysis
7- Conclusion
Cooperation – a non-zero-sum game – breeds a conducive environment for the world’s peace and prosperity that strengthens the maxim of harmony in the long run. Moreover, it fosters economic stability, political collaboration, and social justice within and among the countries. For instance, the European countries cooperating under the European Union’s (EU) flag have ameliorated their socioeconomic and political indicators. On the other hand, annals of history have proven whenever the world community deviates from cooperation and indulges in competition, it begets hostility among nations, witnessing devastating wars. Thus, cooperation has always played a significant role in harmonizing rival countries at multiple junctures of modern history by standing still against the war on terror, setting up a list of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and devising provisions for fundamental human rights. Moreover, the convention of environmental conferences, assistance against pandemics, and the formation of international economic organizations with the prevailing concept of a free market economy have steered the world towards more coordination. Undoubtedly, the world is facing a confluence of global challenges such as terrorism, global warming, arm-race, human and drug trafficking, and, above all, natural calamities. Nonetheless, to curb these challenges and further the world’s collective efforts, global harmony has become inevitable. This essay comprehensively deals with the significance of cooperation and sheds light on how cooperation, and not competition, should be the pressing priority in the modern world.
Cooperation Not Competition Leads the World Towards Peace and Prosperity Essay
Cooperation, Not Competition, Can Lead the World Towards Peace and Prosperity Essay
How Does Cooperation, Not Competition, Lead the World Towards Peace and Prosperity?
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International cooperation is undoubtedly an indispensable tool for developing a prosperous world and preserving peace across the globe. It integrates the comity of nations to help increase forbearance and acceptability for each other. Moreover, it plays a pivotal role in collectively mitigating politico-economic and social problems and curbing the world’s challenges. Additionally, collaboration reinforces inclusivity, equity, and social justice. Thus, global cooperation is inevitable for a prosperous and peaceful world. As aptly said by Bertrand Russell, “The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.”
Before elucidating the significance of cooperation, it is important to discuss how competition has indulged the world into destructive wars. To illustrate, the world has seen carnage and destruction at an unprecedented level after the two world wars – World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII). For instance, when both wars ended and the Allied powers claimed victory, more than 80 million people – soldiers and civilians alike – were dead. Not to speak of this, WWI has also been referred to as ‘the first modern war’ because many of the high-tech machinery now associated with military conflict — machine guns, aerial warfare, and tanks — were introduced on a massive scale during the first world war. Hence, the world has seen a considerable series of catastrophic events owing to competition.
Having discussed the disastrous situations caused by competition, it is now pertinent to confer about how cooperation has assisted the world at political, social, and economic levels.
First, the propagation of cooperation can be seen in the 17 targets set by the UN to secure world peace and prosperity. For this to happen, all the 189 UN member states cooperate at many levels along with 23 international organizations. However, if they fail to do so, the target of achieving long-lasting peace and prosperity will become a distant dream. For instance, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all the UN member states, provides a blueprint for a more prosperous world community. Thus, the world is in pressing need to attain global collaboration.
“We need to move from death to health; from disaster to reconstruction; from despair to hope; from business as usual to transformation. So the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are more important now than ever.”
Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations
In addition to SDGs, the global provision of fundamental human rights is another key feature of this multilateral coordination. It has been more than 70 years since world leaders – driven by the desire to prevent inhumanity – explicitly devised and adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which every single person can demand and expect simply because he or she is a human being. For instance, 10th December has been declared as World’s Human Rights Day to mobilize political will and create awareness about these fundamental human rights declared by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1948. Therefore, the result of global efforts and political cooperation has always been a net positive.
Along with the formation of international organizations, international associations have helped the countries develop a strong rapport with each other against the nuclear arms race and terrorism. These organizations – United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Amnesty International, and many more – provide leadership, coordination and capacity-building to its member states in implementing the global counter-terrorism strategy through a wide range of projects, activities, and programmes. So it is because no country can counter all the cross-border challenges posed by terrorist groups in isolation. Thus, multilateral cooperation and forming international associations at the political level have proved to be the key factor for the world’s peace and prosperity.
“Where the stakes are the highest, in the war on terror, we cannot possibly succeed without extraordinary international cooperation.”
Barack Obama
Not just in the political sphere, cooperation at the socio-cultural level also needs appreciation and encouragement. Starting from the assistance provided at the global level against pandemics to the convention of global conferences for environmental issues, the world community’s efforts are commendable. Although COVID-19 presented an unexpected exogenous shock, international health cooperation continued—even multiplied—across different sectors. Moreover, several international conferences have taken place to combat the socioeconomic threats of the consequences that global warming and climate change pose today. For instance, the main goal of COP26 was to secure net zero by 2050 and keep 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming within reach. Hence, this process of creating the international climate change regime and the concept of global health governance would lead the world towards sustainability and peace.
Furthermore, encouraging the global exchange of culture and international sports is another key factor proving the significance of cooperation. The transformative power of international sports and their positive values brings the world together. It also helps address conditions conducive to terrorism by strengthening cohesion and resilience. Consequently, it serves as a vital tool for avoiding unnecessary friction between nations and helps bring employability to one’s own country. According to a FIFA World Cup Security Committee report, approximately 32,000 government and more than 17,000 private security officers have been deployed to guard the FIFA event 2022 in Qatar. Thus, this socio-cultural cooperation, by and large, entails the principle of harmony and coexistence.
In addition to those mentioned political and social factors, the formation of several international organizations under the banner of ‘coherence’, has assisted the world community at the economic level. Due to these global economic institutions, developing countries can now get bailouts, aid, and loans. Moreover, these organizations are responsible for making international economic policies, providing food surplus, and improving various countries’ socioeconomic indicators. For instance, with its tremendous efforts, European Union (EU) have made ‘the euro’ a currency of choice for nearly 40% of global cross-border transactions and half the EU’s exports worldwide. Thus, mutual assistance and cooperation have always promoted economic development and growth.
“A rising tide lifts all boats, and maybe the little boats even faster.”
John F Kennedy
Now that it has been established that cooperation, and not competition, has made the world peaceful and prosperous, it has become imperative to elaborate on the confluence of challenges faced by man in the 21st century that require further cooperation and multilateralism.
First and foremost, terrorism – a global scourge – is disrupting the societal peace of the world community. It is because we live in an era where the misuse of modern technology by terrorist groups imposes a formidable challenge to world security. Not to speak of this, the increased nuclear proliferation and human trafficking have made the world sweat in the face of teetering security. According to The Guardian, AUKUS – a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is a serious violation of the object and purpose of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). Therefore, it has become imperative for the world to collaborate to prevent and mitigate cyber damage.
“Simply put, international terrorism made international cooperation mandatory rather than elective. As a result, collective security has become the only real security against the hydra-headed monster of international terror.”
John Ashcroft
Moving ahead, global warming – a humanitarian catastrophe – has continued to wreak havoc on the modern world’s peace, prosperity, and stability. Its impacts have triggered large-scale regime shifts politically, agriculturally, and, above all, economically. Moreover, the immense climate collapse, rising sea level, rising atmospheric temperature, and melting glaciers are daunting life-threatening scenarios for the global community. According to the scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, an increase of 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit in global temperatures has been noticed compared to the pre-industrial era, making 2021 the 6th warmest year in the continued trend. Thus, the world, more than ever, is in dire need of taking some perceptive and practical steps to become more stable and prosperous.
Last but not least, the social evils from poverty and unemployment to illiteracy and food insecurity can not be curtailed without cooperation. Today, the world community cannot prosper in its true essence without curbing these social evils. Besides progress and prosperity, mutual coordination is necessary to help the comity of nations live peacefully together. For instance, the Association of South East Asian Countries (ASEAN), owing to their mutual assistance and harmony, has shown progression in their economic and social sectors. Thereby, the world community urgently needs further strengthening of its cooperation in curtailing social challenges.
Critically articulated, it is perceptible from the earlier arguments that a multilateral approach is pertinent to attain peace and prosperity. The world must take a lesson from the past when competition caused hundreds of thousands of atrocities in destructive wars. Moreover, to mitigate the hindrances caused by the series of challenges, today’s globalized world community is left with no other option but to cooperate at social, economic, and, above all, political levels. Hence, it has become pertinent to realize the severity of these challenges and resolve the issues in the nick of time or witness devastation and conflicts owing to competition and isolated efforts.
All in all, we live in an era where the world is changing daily and the series of formidable challenges are manifold, requiring the global community to show solidarity and cooperation with renewed multilateralism. Furthermore, the critical issues confronting this globalized world in terrorism, armament, climate change, and poverty need international coordination and harmony to be dealt with. In this situation, it has become imperative to create an enabling environment free of structural hindrances, unhealthy competition and inclusive for all. Thus, the world must prioritize cooperation over the competition as never before.
“International cooperation is vital to keeping our globe safe, commerce flowing, and our planet habitable.”
Angus Deaton
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