University of the West Indies, Mona

Department of Government

GT12A Introduction to International Relations

Lecturer: Ms. Diana Thorburn

Lecture 9

Topics: IR Actors II

International Organizations and NGOs

Objectives

  1. To identify the principal international relations actors besides the nation-state
  2. To understand the role played by international organizations in international relations
  3. To understand the role played by different NGOs in international relations

 

ONE. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ACTORS

  • Nation-states not the only actors in international relations
  • Many other actors
  • Importance of other actors depends on one’s theoretical perspective on international relations (go to table one)
  • Besides nation-states the main international actors are international organizations

 

What is an international organization?

  • Any group where two or more members are from different nation-states
  • Members can be nation-states or private individuals
  • Can be multilateral (many countries), bilateral (just two countries), or region specific
  • Can be based on common history (Commonwealth), military needs (NATO), economics (EU, NAFTA, MERCOSUR), purpose/common interests and goals (OAS, EU, ASEAN, CARICOM)

 

The role of international organizations

  1. To seek solutions to international problems, or to address common concerns that are not specific to one single nation-state
    • A forum for joint decisions and actions on international issues
  1. Nation-states may see the role of the IGO as a means of furthering its own goals in the international system (eg US, UN and the Gulf War)
    • However manipulation of an IGO for such a purpose is contrary to its stated objectives
  1. Provide an institutional framework for functional cooperation
    • Functionalism a practical solution to non-controversial (non-political) issues
    • E.g. international postal system, air traffic control
    • Hopefully with continued cooperation over a technical issue, a relationship will develop, trust will grow, and interdependence will follow
    • What is non-controversial for one country or group of countries might be so for others
  1. Provide an arena for interaction
    • Especially where there is no one specific goal or objective beyond the members simply wanting to identify themselves with each other (eg Commonwealth, CARICOM?)
  1. Provide an instrument for the collective pursuit of foreign policy goals by more than one country
  2. Act as an individual entity
    • Least common role of an international organization in present international system
    • However more common than ever before, especially pre-post-Cold War era
    • International Court of Justice one of the few in the world
    • Perhaps the WTO will develop into a similar organization
  • International organizations’ existence lends credence to the liberal view of a world community

 

Types of international organizations

  • Main categories are international governmental organizations (IGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and MNCs (multi-national corporations)
  • Each of these categories has many sub-categories
  • International organization a 20th century phenomenon
  • In 1900 there were 30 IGOs
  • In 2001 about 300
  • Except for major international conferences such as Westphalia and other meetings of governments, there were few comings together of different nation-states
  • The League of Nations one of the first "real" international organizations in the world
  • Why such growth?
    • Increased international contact via improved communications and transportation technology
    • Increased interdependence among countries
    • Expansion of transnational problems—the environment, refugees, nuclear proliferation
    • Perceived failure of state-centric system to provide international security
    • Transnational political movements—socialism, human rights causes
    • Emergence of micro-states and their need for regional collaboration in security and economic matters

 

 

 

 

 

TWO. INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (IGOs)

  • The primary role is to provide a structure to settle disputes and to make and implement policies with regard to international issues
  • IGOs tend to be more successful when they are specific in their purpose, rather than general
  • IGOs work when they promote the national interests of their members, rather than when they aim for idealized objectives

 

The United Nations

  • The largest international organization
  • Created in 1945
  • Successor to the failed League of Nations
  • More prominent since the end of the Cold War
  • Closest organization to a world government, but it is NOT a world government
  • Its members are all sovereign states and those nation-states’ representatives (a country’s ambassador to the UN) issue directives to the UN to act on their behalf
  • The UN is funded by its member states
  • The main objective of the UN at its establishment was to work towards international peace
  • The primary role of the UN is to provide a global institutional framework through which states can settle their differences and come to agreements without the use of force
  • The UN Charter is the document that sets out what the UN is about
  • It states that all states are equal and sovereign under international law, and that they should be conscientious members of the international community
  • Other roles of the UN are carried out through its sub-organizations (see UN chart)
  • These sub-organizations include a wide range of commissions, specialized agencies, programmes and funds
  • The sub-organizations reflect the international consensus on what the main problems in the world include:
    • International Monetary Fund (IMF)
    • World Bank (IBRD)
    • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
    • United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF
    • United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
    • United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
    • United Nations Commission for Refugees

 

 

Main roles of the UN

    1. Create international norms against violence (WHAT IS A NORM?)
    2. Provide a forum for debate and negotiation over international issues
    3. Intervene diplomatically using its "good offices"—a neutral actor who seeks a resolution to a tense situation—e.g. Norway, Israel and Palestine
    4. Inquire into situations using neutral investigators
    5. Impose sanctions—e.g South Africa, Iraq
    6. Dispatch UN forces to make or keep peace—e.g. El Salvador, Haiti
    7. To help solve social, economic and environmental issues that are international in scope (and also localized issues of this nature)
    8. Promote international law
    9. Promote arms control and disarmament
    10. Improve the quality of human life all over the world
    11. Encourage national self-determination
    12. Promote human rights
    13. Establish economic frameworks for development (ECLAC, IMF, World Bank)
    14. Encourage interdependence among nations

 

  • Often debated whether or not the UN is a worthwhile organization
  • Some arguments about the UN:
    • As long as states have sovereignty then the UN is powerless to exercise power where it is most important in world peace
    • The UN is a Western creation and is fundamentally biased towards the Western members
    • The UN is threateningly close to exercising supra-national power and eroding state sovereign
    • If the UN were dissolved something very similar would replace it because of the nature of the international system and the need to cooperate, especially on functional matters
    • The budget of the UN is smaller than that of a typical government bureaucracy of a small country
  • Main body of the UN is the General Assembly—similar to a parliament of a country, except the delegates are appointed by the member governments (not elected)
  • The most powerful body, though smaller, is the Security Council which as 5 permanent members and 10 rotating members
  • Jamaica currently a member until the end of this year
  • In the General Assembly each member nation-state has one vote, regardless of its size
  • In sub-groups such as IMF, and in other international organizations, voting is weighted according to financial contribution, population, etc.
  • The Secretary General is the elected (by member countries) head of the UN (who is the current SG?)

 

 

 

 

 

THREE. INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (INGOs)

  • Main role help to bring people around the world together, based on different interests, regardless of nation-state borders
  • Pursue a single interest common to many nation-states
  • Create interdependence

Types of INGOs

    • Religious groups—some of the earliest non-governmental international organizations

§         Have influenced the international system throughout history

§         Many of the colonial expeditions were said to be "spreading Christianity"

§         The Treaty of Westphalia brought peace to a war over religion

§         Most international wars before then were based on religion

§         Pacifist religious groups might have an influence on war or human rights issues

§         Possible contemporary developments in Islam as a religious movement against the West

    • Amnesty International
    • Greenpeace
    • Red Cross, Medecin Sans Frontieres
    • Latin American Studies Association
    • FIFA
  • Different groups can have different influences on the international system
  • Some groups are overtly political and seek to change the international system or international governmental organizations (e.g. 50 Years is Enough, an anti-IMF and World Bank group)
  • Some international groups direct their efforts towards national policies, particularly human rights issues (e.g. Amnesty, Human Rights Watch)
  • Other groups do not directly target international or national government policies, but through their actions might indirectly influence international politics (e.g. US aid workers in Afghanistan, Peace Corps)