Class 12 Political Science Chapter 2 Contemporary Centres of Power Important Questions with Answers in English

Q. When was ASEAN established, by which document, and by which five countries?

Answer: ASEAN was established in 1967 by signing the Bangkok Declaration. The five founder countries were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Q. What is meant by the ‘ASEAN Way’?

Answer: It is the form of interaction ASEAN countries have celebrated: informal, non-confrontationist and cooperative. Respect for national sovereignty is critical to it.

Q. What is the ASEAN Regional Forum, and when was it established?

Answer: The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was established in 1994. It is the organisation that carries out coordination of security and foreign policy.

Q. Which plan influenced the establishment of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation, and in which year was the OEEC established?

Answer: The Marshall Plan, under which America extended massive financial help for reviving Europe’s economy. The OEEC was established in 1948 to channel aid to the west European states.

Q. What does a Schengen visa allow?

Answer: Under the Schengen agreement, you have to get a visa from just one of the EU countries and that allows you entry in most of the other European Union countries.

Q. What were the ‘four modernisations’, who proposed them and when?

Answer: Premier Zhou Enlai proposed them in 1973. The four were agriculture, industry, science and technology, and military.

Q. The 1962 border conflict between China and India was principally over which two regions?

Answer: Over competing territorial claims principally in Arunachal Pradesh and in the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh.

Q. What is meant by the ‘Miracle on the Han River’?

Answer: It is the term used for South Korea’s rapid development into an economic power between the 1960s and the 1980s.

Q. How did the Cold War aid European integration after 1945?

Answer: America extended massive financial help for reviving Europe’s economy under the Marshall Plan, and also created a new collective security structure under NATO. Under the Marshall Plan the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation was established in 1948 to channel aid to the west European states, and it became a forum where the western European states began to cooperate on trade and economic issues.

Q. What do the flag of the European Union and the logo of ASEAN each stand for?

Answer: The EU flag. The circle of gold stars stands for solidarity and harmony between the peoples of Europe. It has twelve stars, as the number twelve is traditionally the symbol of perfection, completeness and unity.
The ASEAN logo. The ten stalks of paddy (rice) represent the ten Southeast Asian countries bound together in friendship and solidarity, and the circle symbolises the unity of ASEAN.

Q. What does it mean to call the EU a supranational organisation, and what limits that description?

Answer: As a supranational organisation the EU is able to intervene in economic, political and social areas, that is, it can act above its member states rather than only between them. The limit is that in many areas its member states have their own foreign relations and defence policies that are often at odds with each other, so the EU cannot always speak with one voice on foreign relations and defence.

Q. What were the primary and the secondary objectives of ASEAN when it was founded?

Answer: The objectives of ASEAN were primarily to accelerate economic growth and through that ‘social progress and cultural development’. A secondary objective was to promote regional peace and stability based on the rule of law and the principles of the United Nations Charter.

Q. Why did China’s state controlled economy run into a crisis before the reforms?

Answer: The economy grew at a respectable rate of 5-6 per cent, but an annual growth of 2-3 per cent in population meant that economic growth was insufficient to meet the needs of a growing population. Agricultural production was not sufficient to generate a surplus for industry, industrial production was not growing fast enough, international trade was minimal and per capita income was very low.

Q. State any four facts the chapter gives about Japan’s standing in the world.

Answer: Any four of these. Japan became a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1964. In 2017 it is the third largest economy in the world. It is the only Asian member of the G-7. It is the eleventh most populous nation in the world. It is the second largest contributor to the regular budget of the UN, contributing almost 10 per cent of the total. It has a security alliance with the US since 1951. Its military expenditure is only one per cent of its GDP, yet it is the seventh largest in the world.

Q. How does China hope to resolve its differences with Taiwan?

Answer: China regards Taiwan as a renegade province, and it hopes to resolve its differences with Taiwan by integrating it closely into its economy. This is one example of a wider pattern: the integration of China’s economy and the interdependencies this has created have enabled China to have considerable influence with its trade partners, so its outstanding issues with Japan, the US, ASEAN and Russia have all been tempered by economic considerations.

Q. Describe the political, diplomatic and military influence of the European Union, and explain why it still cannot always act as one.

Answer: Political and diplomatic influence. One member of the EU, France, holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and the EU includes several non-permanent members of the UNSC. This has enabled the EU to influence some US policies, such as the current US position on Iran’s nuclear programme. Its use of diplomacy, economic investments and negotiations rather than coercion and military force has been effective, as in the case of its dialogue with China on human rights and environmental degradation.
Military influence. The EU’s combined armed forces are the second largest in the world and its total spending on defence is second after the US. One EU member state, France, also has nuclear arsenals of approximately 335 nuclear warheads. The EU is also the world’s second most important source of space and communications technology.
Why it cannot always act as one. In many areas its member states have their own foreign relations and defence policies that are often at odds with each other. Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair was America’s partner in the Iraq invasion and many of the EU’s newer members made up the US-led ‘coalition of the willing’, whereas Germany and France opposed American policy. There is also a deep-seated ‘Euro-skepticism’ in some parts of Europe about the EU’s integrationist agenda: Britain’s former prime minister Margaret Thatcher kept the UK out of the European Market, and Denmark and Sweden have resisted the Maastricht Treaty and the adoption of the euro. This limits the ability of the EU to act in matters of foreign relations and defence.

Q. Explain the ‘ASEAN Way’ and name the three pillars of the ASEAN Community with the objective of each.

Answer: The ASEAN Way. Unlike the EU there is little desire in ASEAN for supranational structures and institutions. ASEAN countries have celebrated what has become known as the ‘ASEAN Way’, a form of interaction that is informal, non-confrontationist and cooperative. The respect for national sovereignty is critical to the functioning of ASEAN.
The three pillars, agreed in 2003. With some of the fastest growing economies in the world, ASEAN broadened its objectives beyond the economic and social spheres and moved along the path of the EU by agreeing to establish an ASEAN Community comprising three pillars.
1. The ASEAN Security Community, based on the conviction that outstanding territorial disputes should not escalate into armed confrontation. By 2003 ASEAN had several agreements in place by which member states promised to uphold peace, neutrality, cooperation, non-interference, and respect for national differences and sovereign rights.
2. The ASEAN Economic Community, whose objectives are to create a common market and production base within ASEAN states and to aid social and economic development in the region. It would also like to improve the existing ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanism to resolve economic disputes.
3. The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, which carries forward the founding objective of social progress and cultural development.

Q. ‘Not everyone in China has received the benefits of the reforms.’ Explain the costs of China’s economic reforms.

Answer: While the Chinese economy has improved dramatically, not everyone in China has received the benefits of the reforms.
1. Unemployment. Unemployment has risen in China, with nearly 100 million people looking for jobs.
2. Conditions of work for women. Female employment and conditions of work are as bad as in Europe of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
3. Environmental degradation and corruption. Both have increased.
4. Inequality. There has been a rise in economic inequality between rural and urban residents, and between the coastal and the inland provinces.
These costs sit beside real gains: privatisation of agriculture raised agricultural production and rural incomes, high personal savings in the rural economy led to an exponential growth in rural industry, and the new trading laws and the Special Economic Zones led to a phenomenal rise in foreign trade and made China the most important destination for foreign direct investment anywhere in the world.

Q. How have India’s relations with ASEAN changed since the Cold War years?

Answer: During the Cold War. Indian foreign policy did not pay adequate attention to ASEAN during those years.
The change. In recent years India has tried to make amends. India’s ‘Look East’ Policy since the early 1990s and the ‘Act East’ Policy since 2014 have led to greater economic interaction with the East Asian nations, that is, ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea.
The agreements. India signed trade agreements with three ASEAN members, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, and the ASEAN-India FTA came into effect in 2010.
Why ASEAN matters to India. The current economic strength of ASEAN, especially its economic relevance as a trading and investment partner to the growing Asian economies such as India and China, makes this an attractive proposition. ASEAN is also the only regional association in Asia that provides a political forum where Asian countries and the major powers can discuss political and security concerns, so it gives India a seat at a table it can find nowhere else in the region.

Q. Trace India-China relations from 1950 to 1981.

Answer: After India regained its independence from Britain, and China expelled the foreign powers, there was hope that both would come together to shape the future of the developing world and of Asia particularly, and for a brief while the slogan of ‘Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai’ was popular.
1950. Soon after independence both states were involved in differences arising from the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950 and the final settlement of the Sino-Indian border.
1962. China and India were involved in a border conflict in 1962 over competing territorial claims principally in Arunachal Pradesh and in the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh. The conflict, in which India suffered military reverses, had long-term implications for India-China relations.
Till 1976. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were downgraded until 1976.
After the mid-1970s. Thereafter relations began to improve slowly. After the change in China’s political leadership from the mid to late 1970s, China’s policy became more pragmatic and less ideological, so it was prepared to put off the settlement of contentious issues while improving relations with India.
1981. A series of talks to resolve the border issue were also initiated in 1981.

Q. Explain how China’s economic integration has given it influence in the region and beyond.

Answer: In the region. Its economic integration into the region makes China the driver of East Asian growth, thereby giving it enormous influence in regional affairs. The strength of its economy, together with other factors such as population, land mass, resources, regional location and political influence, adds to its power in significant ways.
With its trade partners. The integration of China’s economy and the interdependencies that this has created have enabled China to have considerable influence with its trade partners. Hence, its outstanding issues with Japan, the US, ASEAN and Russia have been tempered by economic considerations.
Taiwan. It hopes to resolve its differences with Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, by integrating it closely into its economy.
Reassuring the region. Fears of China’s rise have also been mitigated by its contributions to the stability of the ASEAN economies after the 1997 financial crisis.
Beyond the region. Its more outward looking investment and aid policies in Latin America and Africa are increasingly projecting it as a global player on the side of developing economies. China’s large foreign exchange reserves now allow it to make big investment in other countries, and it plans to deepen its integration into the world economy and shape the future world economic order.

Q. What makes the European Union a highly influential regional organisation? Explain its economic, political, diplomatic and military influence, and mention what limits it.

Answer: How it grew into one. The European Union has evolved over time from an economic union to an increasingly political one. It has started to act more as a nation state: while the attempts to have a Constitution for the EU have failed, it has its own flag, anthem, founding date and currency, and it also has some form of a common foreign and security policy in its dealings with other nations.
Economic influence. The European Union’s GDP is projected to be approximately $19.35 trillion in the year 2024. Its currency, the euro, can pose a threat to the dominance of the US dollar. Its share of world trade is much larger than that of the United States, allowing it to be more assertive in trade disputes with the US and China. Its economic power gives it influence over its closest neighbours as well as in Asia and Africa, and it functions as an important bloc in international economic organisations such as the World Trade Organisation.
Political and diplomatic influence. One member of the EU, France, holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and the EU includes several non-permanent members of the UNSC. This has enabled the EU to influence some US policies such as the current US position on Iran’s nuclear programme. Its use of diplomacy, economic investments and negotiations rather than coercion and military force has been effective, as in the case of its dialogue with China on human rights and environmental degradation.
Military influence. The EU’s combined armed forces are the second largest in the world and its total spending on defence is second after the US. France has nuclear arsenals of approximately 335 nuclear warheads. The EU is also the world’s second most important source of space and communications technology.
What limits it. As a supranational organisation the EU can intervene in economic, political and social areas, but in many areas its member states have their own foreign relations and defence policies that are often at odds with each other, as the Iraq invasion showed. Deep-seated ‘Euro-skepticism’ in some parts of Europe, Margaret Thatcher keeping the UK out of the European Market, Denmark and Sweden resisting the Maastricht Treaty and the euro, and the 2016 Brexit referendum in which 51.9 per cent of voters decided that Britain should exit, all limit the ability of the EU to act in matters of foreign relations and defence. People in many countries are also not very enthusiastic about giving the EU powers that were exercised by their own governments.

Q. Trace the growth of ASEAN from an economic association into an important regional organisation.

Answer: Why it was needed. Before and during the Second World War this region of Asia suffered the economic and political consequences of repeated colonialisms, both European and Japanese. At the end of the war it confronted problems of nation-building, the ravages of poverty and economic backwardness and the pressure to align with one great power or another during the Cold War. This was a recipe for conflict, which the countries of Southeast Asia could ill afford. Efforts at Asian and Third World unity, such as the Bandung Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement, were ineffective in establishing the conventions for informal cooperation and interaction, so the Southeast Asian alternative was to establish ASEAN.
The founding. ASEAN was established in 1967 by five countries of this region, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, by signing the Bangkok Declaration. The objectives were primarily to accelerate economic growth and through that ‘social progress and cultural development’, with the secondary objective of promoting regional peace and stability based on the rule of law and the principles of the United Nations Charter. Over the years Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar (Burma) and Cambodia joined, taking its strength to ten.
The ASEAN Way. Unlike the EU there is little desire in ASEAN for supranational structures and institutions. ASEAN countries have celebrated the ‘ASEAN Way’, a form of interaction that is informal, non-confrontationist and cooperative, and respect for national sovereignty is critical to its functioning.
Broadening the objectives. With some of the fastest growing economies in the world, ASEAN broadened its objectives beyond the economic and social spheres. In 2003 it agreed to establish an ASEAN Community comprising three pillars: the ASEAN Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. The ASEAN Regional Forum, established in 1994, carries out coordination of security and foreign policy.
Still principally economic. ASEAN was and still remains principally an economic association. While the ASEAN region as a whole is a much smaller economy compared to the US, the EU and Japan, its economy is growing much faster than all these, and this accounts for the growth in its influence both in the region and beyond. It has focused on creating a Free Trade Area for investment, labour and services, and the US and China have already moved fast to negotiate FTAs with ASEAN.
Vision 2020 and mediation. Its Vision 2020 has defined an outward-looking role for ASEAN in the international community, building on the existing ASEAN policy to encourage negotiation over conflicts in the region. ASEAN has mediated the end of the Cambodian conflict and the East Timor crisis, and meets annually to discuss East Asian cooperation. Its strength lies in its policies of interaction and consultation with member states, with dialogue partners and with other non-regional organisations, and it is the only regional association in Asia that provides a political forum where Asian countries and the major powers can discuss political and security concerns.

Q. How did China move from a command economy to its present economy? Describe the old model, the decisions of the 1970s and the reforms that followed.

Answer: The old model. After the inception of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, following the communist revolution under the leadership of Mao, its economy was based on the Soviet model. The economically backward communist China chose to sever its links with the capitalist world, and had little choice but to fall back on its own resources and, for a brief period, on Soviet aid and advice. The model was to create a state-owned heavy industries sector from the capital accumulated from agriculture, and as it was short of foreign exchange needed to buy technology and goods on the world market, China decided to substitute imports by domestic goods.
What that model achieved. It allowed China to use its resources to establish the foundations of an industrial economy on a scale that did not exist before. Employment and social welfare were assured to all citizens, and China moved ahead of most developing countries in educating its citizens and ensuring better health for them. The economy also grew at a respectable rate of 5-6 per cent.
The crisis. An annual growth of 2-3 per cent in population meant that economic growth was insufficient to meet the needs of a growing population. Agricultural production was not sufficient to generate a surplus for industry, industrial production was not growing fast enough, international trade was minimal and per capita income was very low.
The decisions of the 1970s. China ended its political and economic isolation with the establishment of relations with the United States in 1972. Premier Zhou Enlai proposed the ‘four modernisations’, that is, agriculture, industry, science and technology and military, in 1973. By 1978 the then leader Deng Xiaoping announced the ‘open door’ policy and economic reforms in China, the policy being to generate higher productivity by investments of capital and technology from abroad.
The reforms. China followed its own path in introducing a market economy. The Chinese did not go for ‘shock therapy’ but opened their economy step by step. The privatisation of agriculture in 1982 was followed by the privatisation of industry in 1998. Trade barriers were eliminated only in Special Economic Zones where foreign investors could set up enterprises. In China, the state played and continues to play a central role in setting up a market economy.
The results. The new economic policies helped the Chinese economy to break from stagnation. Privatisation of agriculture led to a remarkable rise in agricultural production and rural incomes; high personal savings in the rural economy led to an exponential growth in rural industry; and the new trading laws and the creation of Special Economic Zones led to a phenomenal rise in foreign trade. China has become the most important destination for foreign direct investment anywhere in the world, has large foreign exchange reserves that allow it to invest in other countries, and its accession to the WTO in 2001 was a further step in its opening to the outside world.

Q. Identify the contentious issues between India and China, and explain how relations between the two have improved since the end of the Cold War.

Answer: The contentious issues.
1. The boundary. The differences arising from the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950 and the final settlement of the Sino-Indian border, and the 1962 border conflict over competing territorial claims principally in Arunachal Pradesh and in the Aksai Chin region of Ladakh. India suffered military reverses in that conflict and diplomatic relations were downgraded until 1976.
2. Nuclear weapons. India’s nuclear tests in 1998 were justified on the grounds of a threat from China, and China was seen as contributing to the build up of Pakistan’s nuclear programme.
3. China’s ties with India’s neighbours. China’s military relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar were viewed as hostile to Indian interests in South Asia.
4. The recent downslide. Border disputes, the China-Pakistan economic corridor and China’s support to Pakistan in the UN against India’s move to counter terrorism are some of the factors for it.
How relations have improved.
1. Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China in December 1988 provided the impetus for an improvement in India-China relations. Since then both governments have taken measures to contain conflict and maintain ‘peace and tranquility’ on the border.
2. They have signed agreements on cultural exchanges and cooperation in science and technology, and opened four border posts for trade.
3. India-China trade has been growing at 30 per cent per year since 1999, and bilateral trade has increased from $338 million in 1992 to more than $84 billion in 2017.
4. More recently both countries have agreed to cooperate with each other in areas that could otherwise create conflict, such as bidding for energy deals abroad, and at the global level they have adopted similar policies in international economic institutions like the World Trade Organisation.
5. The talks to resolve the boundary question have continued without interruption and military-to-military cooperation is increasing. Indian and Chinese leaders and officials visit Beijing and New Delhi with greater frequency, and both sides are becoming more familiar with each other.
The chapter’s own judgement. None of the contentious issues is likely to lead to conflict between the two. Increasing transportation and communication links, common economic interests and global concerns should help establish a more positive and sound relationship between the two most populous countries of the world.

Q. Do you think Japan and South Korea can effectively function as alternative centres of power? Substantiate your answer with the facts the chapter gives.

Answer: The case for Japan.
1. Japan has very few natural resources and imports most of its raw materials, and even then it progressed rapidly after the end of the Second World War. Japanese brands such as Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Suzuki, Honda, Toyota and Mazda have a reputation for making high-technology products, and ASIMO, the world’s most advanced humanoid robot, is a Japanese product.
2. Japan became a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1964. In 2017 it is the third largest economy in the world, and it is the eleventh most populous nation in the world.
3. It is the only Asian member of the G-7.
4. It is the second largest contributor to the regular budget of the UN, contributing almost 10 per cent of the total.
Also about Japan. Japan is the only nation that suffered the destruction caused by nuclear bombs.
What holds Japan back. Japan has had a security alliance with the US since 1951, so its security does not rest on its own strength alone. As per Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, ‘the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.’ Although Japan’s military expenditure is only one per cent of its GDP, it is the seventh largest in the world.
The case for South Korea.
1. The Korean peninsula was divided into South Korea and North Korea at the end of the Second World War along the 38th Parallel, and the Korean War during 1950-53 and the dynamics of the Cold War era further intensified the rivalries between the two sides. Both the Koreas finally became Members of the UN on 17 September 1991.
2. Between the 1960s and the 1980s South Korea rapidly developed into an economic power, which is termed as ‘Miracle on the Han River’. It became a Member of the OECD in 1996.
3. In 2017 its economy is the eleventh largest in the world and its military expenditure is the tenth largest.
4. According to the Human Development Report 2016 the HDI rank of South Korea is 18. The major factors responsible for its high human development include ‘successful land reforms, rural development, extensive human resources development and rapid equitable economic growth’, along with export orientation, strong redistribution policies, public infrastructure development, effective institutions and governance.
5. South Korean brands such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai have become renowned in India, and numerous agreements between India and South Korea signify their growing commercial and cultural ties.
A balanced conclusion. Both are genuine centres of economic power and of technology, and both carry weight in the institutions that matter, Japan in the G-7 and the UN budget, South Korea in the OECD. What limits them is the political and military side: Japan’s constitution renounces war and its security rests on an alliance with the US, and South Korea sits beside an unresolved division of its own peninsula. So they function as alternative centres of economic power more convincingly than as independent centres of military and political power.