Pre-release June 2013 - Economic development in East Asia II

KOF Index of Globalisation
KOF Index of Globalisation maps
China's top brands - video clips
Japan's top brands
Korea's top brands

HEEACT university ranking 2010

WIPO

Tension in the region - 31 May

WTO
UN Security Council
G20
ICCPR

Pre-release June 2013 - Military issue in East Asia

Use these links to help with the question sheet:

US military situation
USS Freedom arrives in Singapore as part of US 'pivot'
China warns US on Asia military strategy
Military balance: The US and other key countries
N Korea 'removes' missiles from east coast launch site
US accuses China government and military of cyber-spying
Strength and power in seas off Japan

China military situation
Japan defence review warns of China's military might
China military modernisation gathers pace
China extending military reach
China navy to carry out Pacific exercises
How China is advancing its military reach

Unit 3 pre-release June 2013 - Geopolitical tensions in East Asia

There is a huge amount of material online on this isssue. Here are a selection of links to help with the first worksheet:

BBC country profiles:
North Korea
China
South Korea
Japan

Use these links to create the timelines as well.

North Korea recent history - Guardian
An excellent Guardian graphic on events in China over the last decade

There is also a lot of excellent information on the recent Korea crisis. A selecion of links are below. There should be no need to spend hours searching for additional information.

All BBC
Korea crisis
China / North Korea relationship
North Korea / US relationship
Impact of recent history on current crisis

Disputed territories
Kuril Islands
Sea of Japan
Liancourt rocks
N / S Korea border
Socotra rock
Taiwan
Senkaku Islands

Senkaku dispute - Guardian
Senkaku dispute II - Guardian

Putin's Cold Rush

An article from The Times about the Russian land grab - focus on energy resources. Ask if you need the School Times login.

Russia - superpower?

Unreported World - Channel 4 - Russia: Railway of bones

The truth behind Putin's Russia.

Some articles to help with the essay:
An Economist article on the Russian economy
An article on the population problem in Russia
Wikipedia - Demographics of Russia
Should Russia be a BRIC? BBC
Will Russia ever reduce its reliance on oil? BBC

Rare earth minerals

The control of resources is vital to maintaining superpower status. As well as energy resources, rare earth minerals are becoming more and more important for renewable technologies and hi-tech devices. China control 95% of the world supply of these rare earth metals. The following resources introduce this interesting topic.

BBC - Has China missed a 'rare' opportunity?

BBC - Rare earths - Newsnight

The Times - Digging for victory - includes resource maps

Cultural imperialism

Use these links to complete the worksheet on cultural imperialism.

Top 10 global brands

Highest grossing films

Best selling albums

TV events

Newscorp

Intergovernmental Organisations

There are key links between the superpowers and various intergovernmental organisations.

Here are some links to aid your research into a few of them.

BBC guide to the Davos Group

The BBC also has a very good summary of a number of International Organisations:

UN

UN Security Council

G8

IMF and World Bank

NATO

WTO

The OECD offical website gives you information on its development.

There is always wikipedia too...

China in Africa

Some resources looking at the impact of neo-colonialism.

An episode from Channel 4's Unreported World series on China's influence in Africa.

Article 'Why Africa welcome the new colonialism' from The Times

Article 'China tightens its grip on Africa with a $4.4bn lifeline...' from The Times

Wikipedia entries

Intergovernmental Organisations

There are key links between the superpowers and various intergovernmental organisations.

Here are some links to aid your research into a few of them.

BBC guide to the Davos Group

The BBC also has a very good summary of a number of International Organisations:

UN

UN Security Council

G8

IMF and World Bank

NATO

WTO

The OECD offical website gives you information on its development.

There is always wikipedia too...

China in Africa

Some resources looking at the impact of neo-colonialism.

An episode from Channel 4's Unreported World series on China's influence in Africa.

Article 'Why Africa welcome the new colonialism' from The Times

Article 'China tightens its grip on Africa with a $4.4bn lifeline...' from The Times

Wikipedia entries

Transport, trade and education questions

Links to support the questions on 'Transport, Trade and Education'.

UAE Interact news site

Link about GDP growth in the region

Link about Fujairah Free Trade Zone

Social and environmental issues in the small Gulf States

Some articles to help with the questions set on the environmental and social issues in the small Gulf States.

Abu Dubai commits to renewables

The fate of economic migrants in Dubai

Indian migrants going home

‘Water scarcity: an impending crisis' in Qatar

MENA report - Unit 3 pre-release

The World Bank produces an annual development report for the Middle East and North Africa (2008 MENA Economic Developments and Prospects : Regional Integration for Global Competitiveness).

Below are some of the key points from the overview:

During 2007 MENA experienced average growth of 5.7%
Fifth year in a row the growth has been above 5%
An achievement against the backdrop of turbulence in the financial markets and arise in the costs of food stuffs
Oil prices rose by 78% in 2007
UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain are categorized as ‘resource-rich, labour importing’ countries
Region has done well when compared to it’s past, but not when compared to other regions
Global financial turbulence seems to have had little impact
All countries remain high importers of food
FDI reached $45 billion in the region
UAE one of the three largest FDI recipients in the region
16% of all migrant earnings are in the Middle East
Oil boom has led to increased migration to the oil-exporting countries
Despite the positives, much still needs to be done if this region is to keep up in an increasingly competitive global market

Unit 3 pre-release materials

Some links to help with the work on this. More will be added as we go through the material so check back.

BP Statistical Review of World Energy

MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Economic Developments and Prospects Report - worth reading the overview

Nationmaster - good for background statistics

Article about China's influence in the region

Global Trends 2025: A transformed world - an interesting perspective on the future from the US NIC

IMF

Some more articles about the IMF and G20 from the Economist. Also the involvement of China in the G20.

China

A great series of articles in The Guardian about the changes in China.