La notion d’expansion aux États-Unis et ses racines
Les espaces frontaliers
Les migrations
Économie, politique et environnement
Manifestations des peuples autochtones pour protéger leur territoire
Le monde anglophone et la coordination des efforts à l’échelle mondiale en matière d’environnement
Le tourisme et ses enjeux
Frontières et expansion virtuelle
Maîtriser l’espace, La conquête de l’espace
Les parcs nationaux et les réserves
La gestion des ressources
Étude d’une crise climatique
Initiatives et actions en faveur de l’environnement
Écologie et partis politiques
La protection animale
La nature vue par les médias et le cinéma
L’embourgeoisement
Les inégalités urbaines
Gérer la ville post-industrielle
Éco-quartiers et villes vertes
Urbanisme et architecture durable
Pratiques alimentaires urbaines
Paysages urbains
Gestion des mobilités urbaines
Vivre dans une métropole du monde anglophone
Gouverner la ville, le quartier
Gérer la ville et ses ressources
Puissance et influence culturelles
Puissance et influence économiques
Rôle géostratégique
Action diplomatique
L’évolution des équilibres mondiaux
La fragilisation d’un certain ordre libéral
Une interdépendance de fait
La langue anglaise dans le monde et dans le monde anglophone
Les relations de partage culturel
La vie dans un monde post-impérial
In January and February, we will work through Themes 2 & 3, their axes and the following questions from the AMC Terminale programme.
Following our Intensive Autonomy Week (19 to 23 January), you will be expected to discuss a series of questions in class. These discussions are an essential part of our work.
Each question must be prepared in advance, and will be assigned to Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, according to the information and links provided below.
understanding the question,
researching key ideas and examples using the resources on this site,
being ready to speak and interact in English in classroom discussions and debates,
being able to associate these notions with the 'Annales de Bac' that we will be looking at before and after the February holidays.
How do states and global actors exercise power and influence today through cultural, economic, and diplomatic means in an interdependent world?
Comment les États et les acteurs mondiaux exercent-ils aujourd’hui leur puissance et leur influence par des moyens culturels, économiques et diplomatiques dans un monde interdépendant ?
To what extent do contemporary global rivalries challenge an international order built on economic and political interdependence?
Dans quelle mesure les rivalités mondiales contemporaines remettent-elles en cause un ordre international fondé sur l’interdépendance économique et politique ?
How do shared heritage, cultural diversity, and the global role of the English language shape relations in a post-imperial world?
Comment l’héritage commun, la diversité culturelle et le rôle mondial de la langue anglaise façonnent-ils les relations dans un monde post-impérial ?
How do environmental change and global interdependence force societies to rethink power, space, and collective responsibility in today’s world?
Comment les changements environnementaux et l’interdépendance mondiale contraignent-ils les sociétés à repenser le pouvoir, l’espace et la responsabilité collective dans le monde actuel ?
Puissance et influence culturelles
Puissance et influence économiques
Rôle géostratégique
Action diplomatique
How did the British Empire define modern frontiers and nations?
How is the British Commonwealth evolving: growth, decline, or continuity?
Which historical force has had the greatest impact on today’s global order: historic British colonial expansion, the American Revolution, or post–First World War international treaties institutions?
What do the origins and transformations of NATO and the UN reveal about the evolution of global governance?
What is soft power and how is it evolving?
L’évolution des équilibres mondiaux
La fragilisation d’un certain ordre libéral
Une interdépendance de fait
To what extent was the space race a struggle between competing political and economic models rather than a scientific competition?
In what ways has the modern space race shifted from ideological rivalry to strategic, economic, and technological competition?
To what extent do Trump’s and Putin’s policies reflect a return to imperial forms of power, and how does BRICS challenge Western-led global governance?
To what extent does BRICS challenge the existing international order dominated by Western institutions?
This axe will be integrated and studied during our consolidation and revision and 'Annales de Bac' after the February holidays.
Meanwhile, here are two ways in :
How have Indigenous peoples in English-speaking countries negotiated power and autonomy in the context of colonial rule, and how do concepts such as First Nations, tribal sovereignty, and indirect rule help us understand their situation today?
How did English become a global language and how many Englishes are there?
La notion d’expansion aux États-Unis et ses racines
Les espaces frontaliers
Les migrations
Économie, politique et environnement
Manifestations des peuples autochtones pour protéger leur territoire
Le monde anglophone et la coordination des efforts à l’échelle mondiale en matière d’environnement
Le tourisme et ses enjeux
Frontières et expansion virtuelle
Maîtriser l’espace, La conquête de l’espace
Les parcs nationaux et les réserves
La gestion des ressources
Étude d’une crise climatique
Initiatives et actions en faveur de l’environnement
Écologie et partis politiques
La protection animale
La nature vue par les médias et le cinéma
How does the National Trust balance ecological protection with public access and tourism pressure?
How does this compare with Australian conservation efforts?
How do international organisations support or regulate these transformations?
L’embourgeoisement
Les inégalités urbaines
Gérer la ville post-industrielle
Éco-quartiers et villes vertes
Urbanisme et architecture durable
Pratiques alimentaires urbaines
Paysages urbains
Gestion des mobilités urbaines
Vivre dans une métropole du monde anglophone
Gouverner la ville, le quartier
Gérer la ville et ses ressources
How are global actors using new technologies to develop smart cities that address demographic and ecological challenges
How do China's efforts compare with Indian smart cities?
DEBATE QUESTION 1
Is power today mainly exercised through territory, or through influence that goes beyond borders?
(Historical contexts – Monday)
Check for understanding
How did British colonial rule shape borders and political systems that still exist today?
What roles does the British Commonwealth play today, and how have these roles changed over time?
Which historical moment most strongly shaped the current international order, and why?
What do the creation and evolution of NATO and the United Nations show about how global cooperation has changed since 1945?
What is meant by “soft power”, and how do culture, media, and values contribute to it today?
(Modern contexts – Wednesday)
Check for understanding
Why can the Cold War space race be seen as a political and economic confrontation rather than only a scientific one?
How has competition in space changed since the Cold War, in terms of actors and objectives?
In what ways do recent policies by the United States and Russia resemble older imperial strategies?
What is BRICS, and why does it question the dominance of Western-led institutions?
How do global rivalries coexist with economic and technological interdependence today?
Check for understanding
How have Indigenous peoples in English-speaking countries responded to colonial authority?
What do terms such as First Nations, tribal sovereignty, or indirect rule help us understand about these situations?
How did English spread beyond its original borders?
Why is it more accurate to speak of “Englishes” rather than a single English language?
Check for understanding
How is the idea of the frontier connected to expansion in the United States?
Why are border areas often zones of tension, movement, and exchange?
How do migration, economic interests, and environmental issues interact in frontier spaces?
Why do Indigenous movements often focus on land and territorial protection?
How does space exploration extend the idea of borders beyond Earth?
Check for understanding
How does the National Trust attempt to protect natural sites while allowing public access?
What similarities or differences exist between British and Australian conservation policies?
How do international organisations influence environmental policies at national level?
Check for understanding
How are digital technologies used to manage urban growth and environmental challenges?
What defines a “smart city” in the context of sustainability?
How do Chinese and Indian smart city projects reflect different political and social priorities?
IS POWER TODAY MAINLY EXERCISED THROUGH TERRITORY, OR THROUGH INFLUENCE THAT GOES BEYOND BORDERS?
Entry points
Team 1: historical borders, colonial legacies, NATO, diplomacy
Team 2: space, technology, economic rivalry, interdependence
Team 3: language, culture, post-imperial influence
Team 4: physical frontiers vs virtual or extra-terrestrial spaces
Team 6: cities as new centres of power and governance
DO INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS STILL PROTECT GLOBAL COOPERATION, OR DO THEY MAINLY REFLECT THE INTERESTS OF POWERFUL STATES?
Entry points
Team 1: UN, NATO, post-1945 governance
Team 2: BRICS as an alternative model
Team 5: environmental regulation and international agreements
Team 6: global norms applied locally in cities
IS GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE REDUCING CONFLICT, OR CREATING NEW FORMS OF RIVALRY?
Entry points
Team 2: economic competition, space, technology
Team 1: diplomacy vs confrontation
Team 4: borders, migration, strategic spaces
Team 5: shared environmental challenges
Team 6: competition between global cities
CAN HISTORICAL INJUSTICES LINKED TO COLONIALISM AND EXPANSION STILL BE CORRECTED TODAY?
Entry points
Team 3: Indigenous peoples, cultural recognition, language
Team 1: imperial legacies and political systems
Team 4: land, territory, borders
Team 5: conservation, land use, environmental justice
SHOULD FUTURE PROGRESS BE DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION OR BY POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE?
Entry points
Team 6: smart cities and digital management
Team 2: space race, technology as power
Team 5: ecological transition and limits of technology
Team 1: political frameworks and institutions
Team 3: cultural values and collective choices
DEBATE
DEBATE
ORAL AMC : Protocols & 'dossiers'
Anticipation : BAC Blanc
Translation skills for Bac
Cambridge overview and preparation
IS GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE REDUCING CONFLICT, OR CREATING NEW FORMS OF RIVALRY?
In what ways are countries and nations globally interdependent?
What conflicts are in the news or possible in the near future and what are they're causes?
Military? Commercial? Technological?
Are space and digital infrastructures examples of shared global goods or strategic battlefields?
Who controls critical technologies today semiconductors, AI, satellites and how does that control translate into power?
If interdependence increases vulnerability, does it make states more aggressive rather than more cautious?
Entry points
Team 2: economic competition, space, technology
Team 1: diplomacy vs confrontation
Team 4: borders, migration, strategic spaces
Team 5: shared environmental challenges
Team 6: competition between global cities
DO INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS STILL PROTECT GLOBAL COOPERATION, OR DO THEY MAINLY REFLECT THE INTERESTS OF POWERFUL STATES?
What international organisations exist today, what are their stories and are they effective in 2026 ?
Do these organisations defend global cooperation or other specific interests ?
What's the difference between the UN and NATO?
Is BRICS a coherent political bloc or a loose coalition of interests?
Is BRICS a solution or simply a mirror of existing power politics?
Do global cities cooperate more effectively than states?
Is diplomacy still credible when major actors ignore international rulings?
Can diplomacy survive when trust between states is structurally low?
Entry points
Team 1: UN, NATO, post-1945 governance
Team 2: BRICS as an alternative model
Team 5: environmental regulation and international agreements
Team 6: global norms applied locally in cities
IS GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE REDUCING CONFLICT, OR CREATING NEW FORMS OF RIVALRY?
DO INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS STILL PROTECT GLOBAL COOPERATION, OR DO THEY MAINLY REFLECT THE INTERESTS OF POWERFUL STATES?
MILITARY
Ukraine / Russia
Israel / Palestine
Appropriation of Venezuela
Potentially : Greenland ?
IDEOLOGICAL
Growth of populism and nationalism
Outside forces & propoganda (Russian troll farms...)
Manipulation of Social Media (X?)
Biased AI : American bias, Elon Musk's 'far right' bias
TRADE
Influx of Chinese goods
TECHNOLOGY
American dominance (AI, Google, X..)
The new space race (moon and mars)
MILITARY
NATO, aid to Ukraine
ENERGY
Few countries are independent in terms of energy : import gas, oil etc.
However, sustainable energy is a solution
COMMERCIAL
No one country is self sufficient and most import goods that they themselves do not produce.
AGRICULTURE
No one country is self sufficient and most food that they themselves do not produce.
TECHNOLOGY
Most countries depend on American tech companies, Taiwanese chip manufacturers, Korean electronic consumer goods, Chinese electronic consumer goods even if the EU and other countries are working on independent AI and GPS systems etc.
WORKING FOR GLOBAL BENEFITS
UNICEF
The U.N.
NATO
WHO
UNESCO
WORKING FOR CERTAIN INTERESTS
BRICS
Trump's Board of Peace
British Commonwealth
G7 G20
The E.U.
The contemporary international system is composed of almost two hundred sovereign states sharing a single planet whose natural resources are finite and unevenly distributed. Despite political borders, these states are deeply interconnected through trade, energy networks, technological supply chains and security arrangements. According to the World Trade Organization, over 80 percent of global trade now takes place through international supply chains, illustrating the extent of economic interdependence.
This interdependence reduces the feasibility of complete national self-sufficiency. Very few countries are able to meet their own needs in food, energy and technology without external support. For example, many industrialised states rely on imported fossil fuels or rare earth minerals, while most digital technologies depend on a limited number of semiconductor producers located primarily in East Asia. As a result, cooperation between states becomes a structural necessity rather than a political choice.
International organisations have emerged to manage this shared dependence. Institutions such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization aim to regulate cooperation, reduce instability and coordinate responses to global challenges including health crises, climate change and economic shocks. In theory, these organisations promote collective interests and reduce the likelihood of open conflict by encouraging dialogue, legal frameworks and multilateral decision-making.
However, global interdependence has not eliminated rivalry. Instead, it has transformed the nature of competition. States increasingly compete for access to strategic resources, technological leadership, energy security and geopolitical influence. Military alliances, economic blocs and political groupings such as NATO, the G7, the European Union or the BRICS illustrate how cooperation often functions within limited circles of shared interests rather than on a truly global scale. These organisations can protect their members, but they may also reinforce power imbalances and exclude weaker states from decision-making processes.
In this context, international organisations do not simply prevent conflict. They shape the forms it takes. Open warfare is often replaced by economic pressure, technological competition, information warfare and diplomatic confrontation. Global interdependence therefore acts as both a stabilising force and a source of new tensions, limiting large-scale conflict while generating more complex and indirect forms of rivalry.
Teacher
The question is simple, but the answer is not.
Does global interdependence reduce conflict, or does it create new forms of rivalry?
Who wants to start?
Student 1
I think interdependence should reduce conflict. Countries depend on each other for trade, food and energy, so going to war would be too costly.
Teacher
Too costly how?
Student 1
Economically. If you stop trade, you damage your own economy as well.
Student 2
But that did not stop Russia and Ukraine. Europe depended on Russian gas, and the conflict still happened.
Student 3
Yes, and Russia used that dependence as pressure. So interdependence can also be used as a weapon.
Teacher
So is interdependence a guarantee of peace?
Several students
No.
Student 4
It changes the type of conflict. Instead of direct war, countries use energy, sanctions, technology or information.
Teacher
Give an example.
Student 4
Sanctions against Russia, or competition over microchips between the US and China.
Student 5
Also technology. Most countries depend on American platforms or Asian chip producers. That creates power relations.
Student 6
And AI. If the technology is developed mainly by one country or one company, it influences values and narratives.
Teacher
So are we talking about cooperation or rivalry here?
Student 2
Both. Cooperation is necessary, but rivalry does not disappear.
Teacher
Let us bring in international organisations. Do they protect cooperation?
Student 7
Some do. The UN, WHO or UNICEF help countries work together on global problems.
Student 8
But they are not neutral. Powerful countries have more influence in these organisations.
Student 9
And some organisations are clearly about power. NATO protects its members, not everyone.
Student 3
Same with the G7 or BRICS. They represent groups of interests, not the whole world.
Teacher
So what is the role of these organisations overall?
Student 1
They reduce chaos, but they also organise competition.
Student 5
They make conflict more controlled, but not impossible.
Teacher
Final question. One sentence.
Does global interdependence reduce conflict, or create new rivalry?
Student 4
It reduces large wars, but creates indirect conflicts.
Student 6
It limits violence, but increases pressure and competition.
Student 8
It replaces military conflict with economic, technological and ideological rivalry.
Teacher
So your conclusion?
Student 2
Interdependence does not stop conflict. It changes its form.
CAN HISTORICAL INJUSTICES LINKED TO COLONIALISM AND EXPANSION STILL BE CORRECTED TODAY?
Entry points
Team 3: Indigenous peoples, cultural recognition, language
Team 1: imperial legacies and political systems
Team 4: land, territory, borders
Team 5: conservation, land use, environmental justice
DEBATE QUESTION 1
IS POWER TODAY MAINLY EXERCISED THROUGH TERRITORY, OR THROUGH INFLUENCE THAT GOES BEYOND BORDERS?
Entry points
Team 1: historical borders, colonial legacies, NATO, diplomacy
Team 2: space, technology, economic rivalry, interdependence
Team 3: language, culture, post-imperial influence
Team 4: physical frontiers vs virtual or extra-terrestrial spaces
Team 6: cities as new centres of power and governance
SHOULD FUTURE PROGRESS BE DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION OR BY POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE?
Entry points
Team 6: smart cities and digital management
Team 2: space race, technology as power
Team 5: ecological transition and limits of technology
Team 1: political frameworks and institutions
Team 3: cultural values and collective choices
