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原題目題號：DSE-2020-Essay-07
你是否同意20世紀的特徵是國際合作較國際衝突更為顯著？試解釋你的看法。
「衝突」指爭吵、摩擦的情況，甚至有可能動用武力，以致處於戰爭的狀態；「合作」指聯合起來做共同的項目。 在20世紀期間，儘管發生了多次的國際衝突，但事實上，國際合作的意識迅速提高，更令國際社會在不同方面均開始了史無前例的大規模合作關係，故題目所言確能成立。以下，將從政治、經濟、社會方面討論。
政治方面，20世紀期間充斥著許多大大小小的危機和戰爭。踏入20世紀，國際關係已經因民族主義和殖民地爭奪等因素而使關係極為緊張，最終1914年因奧匈皇儲被塞爾維亞極端民族主義分子行刺而發生的塞拉耶佛危機更成為了第一次世界大戰爆發的導火線，人類迎來了首次的世界性大戰。戰後，隨著極權主義的興起，德、意、日等軸心國的侵略，例如日本1937年全面侵略中國、1939年德國突襲波蘭和意大利入侵阿爾巴尼亞，令人類在一次大戰結束後不足20年的時間就再次陷入另一場世界大戰。二次大戰後，儘管全面性的大戰未有在20世紀結束前出現，但零星的衝突和戰爭卻持續不斷，例如柏林危機(1948-49年)、古巴導彈危機(1962年)、韓戰(1950-53年)及越戰(1961-75年)等，形成了資本主義和共產主義國家分庭抗禮的冷戰形勢。可見，20世紀的國際衝突持續不斷。
然而，20世紀更多的是國際合作。為了避免戰爭爆發，世界各國均積極進行合作以營造出勢力均衡及和平友好的氛圍。在20世紀初時，列強以同盟制度建立防守性的合作，例如德奧意的三國同盟(1882年)及英法俄的三國協約(1907年)，防範敵對國的威脅。儘管一次大戰印證了同盟制度的失敗，但戰後由美國總統威爾遜提倡而成立的國際聯盟成為了人類歷史上第一個國際維和組織，會員國多達63個。至二次大戰後，國際間亦成立了聯合國以取代國聯，聯合國成功匯聚了全球大多國家參與，會員國至今更多達193個，成為了人類歷史上最大規模的維和組織。聯合國透過以經濟制裁及軍事行動等的合作方式以維持和平，例如於韓戰(1950-53年)時，聯合國向中國實施禁運，同時得到會員國的軍隊支援下，援助南韓對抗北韓入侵。除了聯合國外，20世紀下半葉時資本主義國家和共產主義國家也分別建立了北約(1949年)和華沙公約(1955年)以組成合防守的同盟，以防受到敵對陣營的攻擊，其中北約成員國亦於1983年開展「星戰計劃」，建立戰略防禦合作以防受到蘇聯的導彈攻擊。可見，國際合作是持續不斷地進行。
相比之下，國際合作較國際衝突更為顯著。就趨勢而言，儘管20世紀上半葉的國際衝突接連不斷，更發生了兩次大戰，但趨勢在二次大戰後得到放緩，資本主義與共產主義兩大陣營進入了冷戰的對抗形勢，卻未有發生直接的大規模熱戰，僅是出現零星的地區性危機和戰爭，此趨勢更隨著時間而減少，至1970年代後已經鮮有大型危機，後來冷戰更於1980年代中後期的緩和趨勢中落幕。相反，國際合作的趨勢不斷加強，由同盟制度發展至國際性維和組織，由國聯的失敗經驗再發展至聯合國的規模性合作，至20世紀下半葉，國際衝突已經大大減少，取而代之的是緊密無間的合作關係。因此，20世紀的特徵是國際合作較國際衝突更為顯著。
經濟方面，20世紀期間存在不同形式的經濟衝突。經濟發展是國家利益的重中之重，各國對經濟利益均十分重視，因而會觸發不少危機或衝突。例如在20世紀初，列強為了爭奪殖民地利益而屢生衝突，包括德法為爭奪北非摩洛哥而導致的兩次摩洛哥危機(1905年；1911年)。一次大戰後，儘管殖民地爭奪已經放緩，但經濟爭端已經不斷，例如法國及比利時基於德國未能償還《凡爾賽條約》的賠款而派軍進佔德國魯爾區，使魯爾危機(1923年)出現。往後，雖然因經濟問題而出現的實質衝突減少，但衝突就演變成新的形勢鬥爭 – 貿易戰。其中，在1929年經濟大蕭條後，各國大幅提高關稅，掀起了近代最大規模的貿易戰，國際關係在1929年後急劇惡化。二次大戰後，最顯著的貿易戰就是1980-90年代的美日貿易戰。隨著美日之間的貿易逆差不斷擴大，美日在經濟問題上的磨擦不斷，美國更在1980年代對日本的汽車、電子產品徵收高達100%的懲罰性關稅。可見，20世紀期間亦有頗多經濟衝突。
然而，國際合作的發展更為顯著。儘管20世紀初，國際經濟合作的概念並不流行，因各國傾向利用殖民地利益或與殖民地的關係以促進經濟發展，例如英聯邦國家於1932年簽訂了《渥太華協議》，降低英國與其殖民地的關稅以消除貿易壁壘，促進貿易。至二次大戰後，隨著歐洲各國的經濟百業蕭條，加上共產主義在惡劣的經濟環境下迅速蔓延，西歐國家率先進行經濟合作，例如德、法、意等內六國成立了「歐洲煤礦共同體」(1952年)以加強煤、鐵等資源運用，往後又成立「歐洲經濟共同體」(1958年)等持續進行合作。另一邊廂，英國為首的外七國也於1960年成立了「歐洲自由貿易聯盟」以推動會員國間的貿易發展。至於東歐方面，蘇聯與東歐國家也成立了「經濟互助委員會」(1949年)以強化相互的合作關係。歐洲經濟合作的成功也吸引了世界各國的仿傚，例如東南亞國家於1967年成立「東盟」以強化區內的經濟合作；聯合國於1995年正式成立「世貿」以促進各國的貿易夥伴關係。可見，國際合作是百花齊放。
相比之下，國際合作較國際衝突更為明顯。就形態及規模而言，經濟衝突由20世紀初實質的軍事衝突逐步轉變至往後嚴重性較低的貿易戰層面，國際合作的意識在二次大戰後迅速崛起並取代了經濟對抗的概念，世界各地為推動經濟發展而建立區域合作組織，令經濟組織如雨後春筍般湧現，百花盛開，開啟了人類歷史上最繁盛的經濟合作時期。至20世紀末，隨著冷戰的局勢緩和及結束，前東歐國家逐步融入西歐的經濟統合，加上世貿的成立，世界經濟更趨向變得一體化。可見，經濟上的合作較衝突更為耀目奪眼。
社會方面，20世紀期間不無國際衝突。社會議題上，各國因社會問題而出現的衝突也屢見不鮮。在人權問題，巴黎和會(1919年)提出了「民族自決」的原則，允許波蘭、捷克等民族國家建立，但與此同時卻在《凡爾賽條約》中將德國排除在「民族自決」的原則外。往後，德國在1938年以「民族自決」為由向捷克發出最後通牒，要求取回蘇台德區，成為了基於人權問題而出現的一大衝突。此外，在環境議題上，美國、澳洲等已發展國家與中國、印度等發展中國家在《京都議定書》的談判過程中出現重大的利益衝突，美國及澳洲更因中、印等發展中國家無需強制進行溫室氣體減排在拒絕簽訂協定，成為了環境議題上的一大衝突。可見，20世紀期間也存在有國際衝突。
然而，國際合作是前所未有地大規模湧現。於20世紀上半葉時，各國已經開始在社會議題上進行合作，例如國聯在1920年成立後，就將廢除奴隸制度視為是申請加入國聯的其中一項必要條件，將推動國際社會合力廢除不符合人權的奴隸制度。往後，國聯在國際販毒、衛生等議題上促進各國的合作。至二次大戰後成立的聯合國，國際合作的觀念更加是發光發熱，各個社會議題的合作得到了充分擴展。在醫療方面，世界衛生組織(1948年)的成立大力推動了各國在疾病及衛生問題上的合作，例如世衛在1967年開展全球性的天花根除計劃，全球各國踴躍參與，為人民接種疫苗，使得天花個案能夠在往後絕跡。在糧食方面，聯合國糧農組織(1945年)的建立也提供技術及資金援助予發展中國家，協助提高農產品以消滅飢荒。在環境方面，聯合國環境規劃署(1972年)成為了最大規模的聯合國環境專責機構，致力促進各國合作以應對各項環境議題，例如在全球暖化的議題上，促成立了京都議定書(1997年)的簽訂，為規範溫室氣體排放踏出了至關重要的第一步。可見，國際合作在不同範疇上均得到充分體驗。
相比之下，國際合作較國際衝突更為顯著。就頻率而言，國際社會衝突的頻率較低，而且除了1930年代德國以人權為由的侵略外，大多社會上的國際衝突均局限於爭執的層面，而未升級至軍事行動。相反，國際合作在20世紀中葉開始，各方面的次數均大幅度增加，合作是時時刻刻地進行，而且更是得到了全球各國在不同範疇的踴躍參與，形式了現今緊密相依、互惠互利的合作關係，規模更加是史無前例。可見，社會上的國際合作百花齊放，遠較國際衝突來得顯著。
總括而言，雖然20世紀期間的國際衝突屢見不鮮，更出現了人類歷史上的兩次世界大戰，但國際合作的概念逐步取代了國際衝突，各國展開各方面的合作，以營造出和平及互惠互利的合作關係。因此，題目所言確能成立。
Do you agree that international cooperation being more prominent than international conflict was a characteristic of the 20th century? Explain your view.
‘Conflict’ refers to argument and friction that often involve violence and lead to wars while ‘cooperation’ refers to concerted efforts made jointly by different countries. In the 20th century, there were indeed several international conflicts, but the international community shared increasing awareness of cooperation and embarked on large-scale joint efforts in various fields. Therefore, what the question suggests is valid and this essay is going to examine it from political, economic and social perspectives.
Politically speaking, there were various crises and wars of different scales in the 20th century. Shortly into the 20th century, there was already high tension among the international community due to nationalism, colonial rivalry and other factors. In 1914, the Sarajevo Incident塞拉耶佛危機, in which the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian extreme nationalist, triggered the First World War and the mankind experienced the first global war. In the post-WW1 period, there were the rise of totalitarianism and acts of aggression by Germany, Italy and Japan, which were also known as the Axis Powers. For example, Japan launched its full-scale invasion of China中國 in 1937, Germany started a sudden attack on Poland波蘭 in 1939 and Italy invaded Albania阿爾巴尼亞 in 1939. As a result, the mankind experienced another global war merely 20 years after the first one. After the Second World War, there was no more global war by the end of the 20th century but sporadic conflicts and armed battles continued to take place, including the Berlin Crisis柏林危機(1948-49), the Cuban Missile Crisis古巴導彈危機(1962), the Korean War韓戰(1950-53) and the Vietnam War越戰(1961-75). They shaped the confrontation between capitalist countries and their communist counterparts in the Cold War. It was clear that there were continued international conflicts in the 20th century.
However, there was in fact more international cooperation in the 20th century. In order to prevent the recurrence of war, various countries across the world were committed to create the balance of power as well as a peaceful and friendly climate. In the early 20th century, the powers established defensive cooperation through alliance system to protect themselves against hostile powers, as exemplified by the Triple Alliance三國同盟(1882) between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, as well as the Triple Entente三國協約(1907) between Britain, France and Russia. Although the First World War proved that the alliance system was a failure, the League of Nations國際聯盟 proposed by US President Woodrow Wilson after the war was the first international peacekeeping organization in human history with as many as 63 member states. After the Second World War, to replace the League, the international community also established the United Nations聯合國 whose membership covered most countries in the world. With as many as 193 member states now, it has become the largest peacekeeping organization in human history. The United Nations maintained peace through different ways of cooperation such as economic sanctions and military actions. For example, during the Korean War韓戰(1950-53), the United Nations imposed an embargo禁運 on China and assisted South Korea in resisting the invasion by its northern neighbor with military support by its member states. Apart from the United Nations, capitalist countries and their communist counterparts also established defensive alliances in the second half of the 20th century, namely the NATO北約 (1949) and the Warsaw Pact華沙公約(1955), to protect themselves against the hostile bloc. Some members of the NATO also launched the Strategic Defense Initiative星戰計劃 in 1983 to protect themselves from Soviet missile threats with strategic defensive cooperation. It was clear that international cooperation was ongoing throughout the period concerned.
In comparison, international cooperation was more prominent than conflict. In terms of trend, there were indeed continued international conflicts in the first half of the 20th century and even two world wars, but such trend was bucked after the Second World War as the capitalist and communist blocs confronted each other under the context of the Cold War with no large-scale hot wars but only sporadic regional crises and armed battles. This trend became increasingly weak over time as major crises rarely happened in the 1970s and the Cold War ended amid reduced tensions in the mid-late 1980s. In contrast, the trend of international cooperation was ever-increasing as the international community developed the alliance system into an international peacekeeping organization and established sizeable cooperation under the United Nations after learning lessons from the League of Nations. In the second half of the 20th century, international conflict became rarer and was replaced by close cooperation. Therefore, international cooperation being more prominent than conflict was a characteristic of the 20th century.
Economically speaking, there were indeed different kinds of economic conflicts in the 20th century. Economic development is crucial to national interest and most countries care a lot about economic interests, which often sparked crises and conflicts. For example, in the early 20th century, the powers had frequent conflicts due to colonial rivalry, including the two Moroccan Crises兩次摩洛哥危機(1905 and 1911) in which Germany and France competed for Morocco in North Africa. After the First World War, economic conflicts continued to arise despite the decline of colonial rivalry. For example, as Germany failed to pay the reparations required by the Treaty of Versailles, France and Belgium occupied the Rhur region of Germany and caused the Rhur Crisis魯爾危機(1923). Later on, physical conflicts arising from economic issues became less common but trade war貿易戰 emerged as a new form of conflict. After the Great Depression of 1929, many countries raised their tariffs and led to one of the largest trade wars in modern history, which marked the rapid deterioration of international relations after 1929. After the Second World War, the US-Japan trade war was the most prominent trade war in the 1980s and 90s. Due to the ever-increasing trade deficit of the US with Japan, the two nations had frequent conflicts over economic issues and the US eventually imposed punitive tariffs懲罰性關稅 of 100% on Japanese cars and electronic products in the 1980s. It was clear that there was a considerable number of economic conflicts in the 20th century.
However, international cooperation was still more prominent. It was true that the concept of international economic cooperation was not prevalent in the early 20th century as most countries were more inclined to facilitate their economic development by means of colonial interests or relationship with their colonies. For example, the Commonwealth nations signed the Ottawa Agreements渥太華協議 in 1932 that reduced tariffs between Britain and its colonies to remove trade barriers and promote trade. After the Second World War, economic stagnation across Europe and the spread of communism under poor economic circumstances prompted Western European countries to take the initiative and started economic cooperation. For example, the Inner Six such as Germany, France and Italy established the European Coal and Steel Community歐洲煤礦共同體(1952) to pool resources such as coal and iron among the member states. They also established other organizations such as the European Economic Community歐洲經濟共同體(1958) to continue their cooperation. Meanwhile, the Outer Seven with Britain as the leader also established the European Free Trade Association in 1960 to promote trade among its member states. As for Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries also set up the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance經濟互助委員會(1949) to strengthen their economic ties. The success of European economic cooperation encouraged other countries to follow suit. For example, Southeast Asian countries established the ASEAN東盟 in 1967 to strengthen regional economic ties and the United Nations set up the World Trade Organization世貿 in 1995 to cement trade ties between its member states. It was clear that international cooperation was flourishing.
In comparison, international cooperation was more prominent than conflict. In terms of form and scale, economic conflicts de-escalated from actual armed conflicts in the early 20th century to trade wars of less severity, while international cooperation quickly gained popularity after the Second World War and replaced economic confrontation as the mainstream concept. There were various regional cooperative organizations across the world with the goal of promoting economic development and the diversity of these economic organizations marked the period with most economic cooperation in human history. Towards the end of the 20th century, due to the easing of Cold War tensions and eventually the end of the Cold War, Eastern European countries were gradually incorporated into the economic integration of Western Europe. In addition to the establishment of the World Trade Organization, economic globalization became increasingly entrenched. It was therefore clear that economic cooperation was more prominent than conflict.
Socially speaking, there were indeed some international conflicts in the 20th century. In terms of human rights, the principle of ‘national self-determination民族自決’ was proposed at the Paris Peace Conference (1919) and provided the foundation for the establishment of nation states such as Poland and Czechoslovakia, while Germany was rejected from national self-determination under the Treaty of Versailles. For this reason, Germany issued an ultimatum to Czechoslovakia in 1938 on the basis of ‘national self-determination’ to demand the return of the Sudetenland蘇台德區. This served as an example of the major conflicts over human rights issues in the period concerned. In addition, in terms of environmental issues, developed countries such as America and Australia had major conflicts over interests with developing countries such as China and India when negotiating the Kyoto Protocol京都議定書. In the end, America and Australia refused to sign the protocol as it was not compulsory for developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This exemplified the conflicts over environmental issues. It was clear that there were international conflicts in the 20th century.
Meanwhile, international cooperation emerged at an unprecedented rate in the period concerned. As early as the first half of the 20th century, many countries started cooperation on different social issues. For example, abolishing slavery廢除奴隸制度 had been one of the prerequisites for joining the League of Nations since its establishment in 1920 and such requirement promoted the abolition of slavery, which was a violation of human rights, in the international community. Besides, the League also facilitated cooperation among its member states on issues such as international drug trafficking and hygiene. As for the United Nations established after the Second World War, the spirit of international cooperation became more prevalent and the scopes of cooperation on different social issues were extensively broadened. In medical aspect, the World Health Organization 世界衛生組織(1948) greatly promoted global cooperation on disease and hygiene related issues. For instance, the WHO kickstarted the worldwide Smallpox Eradication Program in 1967 in which most countries actively participated and eradication was achieved after vaccination was given to people across the world. In terms of food, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations聯合國糧農組織(1945) also provided technical and financial support for developing countries to increase agricultural production with a view to eliminating famine. In environmental aspect, the United Nations Environment Program聯合國環境規劃署(1972) was the largest dedicated agency in the United Nations for environmental activities, devoted to facilitated global cooperation on different environmental issues. For example, in terms of global warming, it contributed greatly to the signing of the Kyoto Protocol (1997) that was an important first step towards limiting greenhouse gas emissions. It was clear that international cooperation was fully achieved in different aspects.
In comparison, international cooperation was more prominent than conflict. In terms of frequency, international social conflicts happened less frequently, and most international conflicts remained disputes and did not escalate into armed conflicts except the acts of aggression by Germany on the basis of human rights in the 1930s. In contrast, international cooperation had occurred more and more frequently in various fields since the mid-20th century. Such cooperation took place ever since and was actively participated by different countries across the world in various aspects, leading to the close, mutually beneficial and cooperative relationship of unprecedented scale we see nowadays. It was clear that international social cooperation of great diversity was far more prominent than conflict.
In conclusion, there were indeed frequent international conflicts and even the two world wars in the 20th century, but international cooperation gradually overshadowed conflict as many countries started cooperation in different aspects and established peaceful, mutually beneficial and cooperative relationship. Therefore, what the question suggests is valid.
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