World (adjective)
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Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Government
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Flag of the United Nations
World government is the concept of a government that would legislate, enforce and interpret international law, on a level above that of national government. While there are no governments that have such power yet, the United Nations and the International Criminal Court are often seen as steps toward a world government. The concept of a world government goes back to at least the Greek and Roman times, as an attempt to preserve peace.
[edit] Law
International law is defined as law that regulates the activities of entities possessing international personality; this is usually taken to mean the interactions between nations, however has recently expanded to include the actions of international organizations and multinational corporations. The principal regulator of modern international law is the International Court of Justice.
[edit] Politics
One could consider that there exist two major relations between nations: war and peace.
“ Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death. The Tao to survival or extinction, it must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed.”
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
War is a conflict involving the organized use of weapons and physical force by states or other large-scale groups. Warring parties usually hold territory, which they can win or lose; and each has a leading person or organization, which can surrender, or collapse, thus ending the war. Until the end of World War II, participants usually issued formal declarations of war.
War seems as old as human society, and certainly features prominently in the recorded histories of state-cultures. In tribal societies engaging in endemic warfare, it is typical for the tribes armed force to consist entirely or mostly of militia or a warrior caste. The earliest city states and empires in Mesopotamia became the first to employ standing armies. Organization and structure has since been central to warfare, as illustrated by the success of highly disciplined troops of the Roman Empire.
An opposite to war is peace. A simple and narrow definition of peace entails the absence of war. (The ancient Romans defined peace, Pax, as Absentia Belli, the absence of war.)
The maintenance of longstanding peace between nations ranks among the few great successes of the United Nations. Peace can be voluntary, where potential agitators choose to abstain from disturbance, or it can be enforced, by suppressing those who might otherwise cause such disturbance. Since 1945, the world has only been 26 days without war.
International relations (IR), a branch of political science, is the study of foreign affairs of and relations among states within the international system, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs). It is both an academic and public policy field, and can be either positive or normative as it both seeks to analyze as well as formulate foreign policy.
[edit] Geography and climate
The climate of the world is highly varied; temperatures range from -88°C to 58°C. There are nine different divisions of climate that exist on Earth, allowing for amazing biodiversity. It has also been theorized that different cultures have developed as a result of varying climate. Geography is also highly varied; there are many different types of landforms, that range in elevation from 8,848m above sea level to 10,900m below sea level. World maps of the surface of the Earth are made to visualize the climatological and geographical features of the earth.
[edit] Economy
In recent years, larger corporations have begun to globalize. This movement has been a source of debate as there are those who oppose this.
[edit] Demographics
The population of the world is estimated to have reached 6.5 billion, as of 25 February 2006. The following chart shows predictions of its growth until 2050.
| Year | Population (billions) |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 6.5 |
| 2010 | 6.8 |
| 2020 | 7.6 |
| 2030 | 8.2 |
| 2040 | 8.7 |
| 2050 | 8.9 |
Many predict that if population growth at this rate continues, there will be a Malthusian catastrophe.
[edit] Language
While there are no official world languages, English has (according to many) become the most common lingua franca, superseding French as the most common diplomatic language, and spreading via electronic media. English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian are the United Nations' official languages, and all could be considered world languages, although with the demise of the USSR, use of Russian has greatly declined and its status as a world language is doubtful.
[edit] Culture
The word civilization (or civilisation) has a variety of meanings related to human society. The word "civilization" comes from the Latin word for townsman or citizen, civis, and its adjectival form, civilis. To be "civilized" essentially meant being a townsman, governed by the constitution and legal statutes of that community. Roman civil law was gathered together into a consolidated body of the “Corpus Juris Civilis” in the 6th Century for Emperor Justinian (483-565 CE). Justinian's code was rediscovered and used by law professors at the first University established in Western Europe, at Bologna in the 11th century. From 1388 the word “civil” appeared in English, while “civilization” as a “law which makes a criminal process civil”, appeared in 1704, closely followed in 1722 with “civilization” - meaning the opposite of “barbarity” and coming probably from the French language.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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