The Global Community

Preparation and Planning

You will need to photocopy enough copies of the Student Worksheets for pair work. You will also need access to audio-visual equipment to play the videos and to project the PowerPoint Slides.
In some of the activities, students could be encouraged to conduct some individual research and so access to the internet will be required.

About the MOD Topic

The MOD and UK Armed Forces have a clearly defined Defence Vision. The key principles which provide the basis of work for Defence are:
- Defending the United Kingdom and its interests
- Strengthening international peace and stability
- A Force for good in the world

MOD is both a policy-making Department of State – like any other central government department – as well as being the highest level military headquarters in the UK, which provides political control of all military operations. It controls resources for the Armed Forces of some £30 billion per year. Within it and across the MOD, military and civilian personnel work closely together to deliver Britain's defence.

Defence Ministers

- The Ministry of Defence is headed by the Secretary of State for Defence who is responsible for the formulation and conduct of defence policy. Three Defence Ministers support the Secretary of State.

- The Minister of State for the Armed Forces is responsible for operational and policy issues affecting the Armed Forces.

- The Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support has responsibility for procurement of defence equipment and defence exports.

- The Under-Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans has responsibility for environmental and regulatory issues, service and civilian personnel casework, public service matters and veterans' issues and also for supporting youth activities (including Cadets).

The four Defence Ministers are accountable to Parliament. Parliament's role is to approve the level of Defence expenditure and to provide oversight through exposing, advising and holding the Government of the day to account for its decisions.

The Defence budget covers the UK's commitment to global peace-keeping task forces including the following:

United Nations
Since 1948 over 2,405 UK people have given their lives on UN operations around the world. The UK currently contributes 302 military and 64 civilian police personnel to UN missions. On the military side, the majority of the contribution is to UNFICYP in Cyprus with smaller numbers of officers to other missions.

With an 8% share of the UN peacekeeping budget the UK represents the 4th largest contributor in financial terms. The UK also supports the UN by providing high quality staff to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the newly established Department of Field Operations as well as field missions.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
The UK is one of the largest contributors, paying over £150 million into the common funded Civil and Military Budgets and the NATO Security Investment Programme in 2007. This helps fund the existing NATO HQ, the new HQ development, the capital and running costs of military HQs and operational deployments. A large number of the NATO civilian and military staff are British, and the UK contributes further by loaning personnel with particular expertise to NATO when needed. The UK airborne early warning aircraft fleet also complements the NATO fleet, undertaking 25% of the overall NATO tasking.

Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
A Europe-wide organisation comprising 54 states. The OSCE has a secretariat in Vienna where the UK has a permanent delegation. The OSCE's main roles are:
- promotion of: human rights and fundamental freedom, early warning, conflict prevention and post-conflict rehabilitation, democracy and the rule of law
- election monitoring
- conventional arms control
- confidence building measures.
A number of field missions are currently deployed under OSCE auspices in Central and Eastern Europe, to promote peace and stability. The OSCE's role in implementing the Bosnia Peace Agreement arms control provisions and organising elections in Bosnia, demonstrates the value of its work on conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.

Further Opportunities for Learning

Directed learning activities to find out more about any of the conflicts, humanitarian crises or peace-keeping activities covered in this lesson should prompt students to find out more about the specific role of the relevant international organisation.
Encourage students to draw up a timeline to demonstrate the apparent evolution and recognition of globalisation post Second World War. Key dates should include the formation of various international organisations (some political, others not) and how / why / when each member country joined.

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.