International Organizations

Internationalization Globalization Conflict and cooperation on the international scale Reducing conflict and enhancing cooperation Issues:
How to provide for human security How to facilitate social development How to protect and advance human rights

Organizing an international order As an alternative to international anarchy

HOW TO BUILD AN INTERNATIONAL ORDER 1. The oldest method: an empire

Direct compulsion of the weak by the strong, or: Hegemonic stability

2. A more democratic approach: sovereign states

Voluntary agreements between sovereign states to work out and maintain international rules of behaviour (international law) Where are the guarantees that states will abide by the rules?

3. The states must be democratic

Democratic in what sense? Have elections?

4. Transform societies to establish conditions for social justice, equality, development, well-being THE 20TH CENTURY EXPERIENCE

International governance and state sovereignty Are they at odds? International governance presumes limits on national sovereignty But many states feel they are not sovereign enough So, the issue is not how much sovereignty, but what kind of sovereignty?
Sovereignty to control a nations resources? Sovereignty to ignore international environmental protection rules? Sovereignty to violate human rights?

On the one hand: The sovereign state remains the key organizing principle of the global society The nation-state is considered the normal political unit Empires are no longer legitimate Struggle for state sovereignty is continuing
power to regulate economic forces in the interests of the nation is clearly insufficient Inequalities of power among states

Concert

of Great Powers The Superpowers Nuclear vs. non-nuclear states

The proliferation of sovereign states has a positive impact on world politics

The greater the number of sovereign states, The more dispersed the power in the global society The more collective the international governance Multilateralism vs. unilateralism

On the other hand, sovereignty can be abused. It can be invoked:

To violate human rights To justify acts of aggression To violate international law To ignore international opinion

Nationalism has two faces:

National liberation Imperialism

The key variable: democracy The more democratic a state,

the less likely are its rulers to abuse sovereignty the more cooperative and responsible it will be in its relations with other states the more interested it will be in democratic international governance

Democracy enhances sovereignty by giving the state a strong base in society And it also limits it by making the rulers more accountable both domestically and internationally But what about cases when democracy destroys a state? Or makes it incapable of any independent actions? In such cases, a state may go authoritarian to defend its sovereignty Should democratic states tolerate this authoritarianism? Or should they violate state sovereignty in the name of democracy? Current consensus: only in extreme cases

International organizations are created on the basis of interests and concerns which transcend interstate borders Examples:

Universal Postal Union Universal Postal Union, UPU: Worldwide postal organization International Red Cross/Red Crescent International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Home International Labour Organization International Labour Organization - ILO Web site World Health Organization WHO | World Health Organization Greenpeace Greenpeace Amnesty International Amnesty International - Working To Protect Human Rights Worldwide Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders Doctors Without Borders/Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) U.S. Web Site The Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO Official Homepage

Structures and networks of the growing global society What do they do? What goals do they pursue? What impact do they make on the human condition? World government or global governance?

Types of international organizations: By membership: States: Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

Global (UN, IMF)) Regional (NAFTA, EU, NATO)

Investors: Transnational corporations (TNCs) Individuals: Civil society organizations (CSOs)

Legitimate Illegitimate (terrorist groups, organized crime structures)

By focus of activity: International security Trade and investment Economic development Human rights Social problems Protection of the environment Political agendas Others UNIVERSAL (all of the above) The United Nations system

What interests, what forces determine the activities of these organizations?

Powerful states weigh in on political issues TNCs weigh in on economic issues

The global society is shaped by the structures of power in the same way as are national societies:

those possessing more power will have more say in making policy

So, the challenge is to develop international organizations in such a way as to reduce the inequalities of power The struggle for a democratic global society The best path to a viable international order

Issues in the struggle

How representative are the IGOs? Do the IGOs have influence over TNCs? Do CSOs have influence over IGOs? The status quo:
IGOs are dominated by the most powerful states They have less power than TNCs CSOs have minimum impact on IGOs

Concentration of political, economic and military power on a global scale

An alternative model, based on democratic principles:

Power in IGOs would be distributed more equally between states IGOs would be directly accountable to citizens CSOs would have real influence on IGOs

As a result, international institutions have a greater amount of democratic power To counterbalance the current concentration of state/corporate power

Citizens will have more control over nation-states and IGOs The power gap between major powers and the other states will be reduced The global society will have more control over the TNCs Can it be done?

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