Unit 7. International organizations Key terms

Centralized government – A government where countries would be non-sovereign subunits that serve only administrative purposes

Confederal government – A government where members are highly interdependent and join together in a weak directorate organization while retaining all or most of their sovereign authority

Federal government – A government where central authority and the member units share power

Functionalism – International cooperation in specific areas such as communications; trade; travel; health or environmental activity. A bottom-up approach to fostering political integration through transnational organizations that emphasize pooling sovereignty

Hague System – Name given to the peace conferences held in the Netherlands in 1899 and 1907. This serves as the first example of an international attempt to improve the condition of humanity

Intergovernmental organizations – International/transnational actors composed of member countries (national governments)

Neofunctionalism – The top-down approach to solving world problems. The revised functional theory that explains that the IGOs states create to manage common problems exert new pressures to expand the benefits further, and that this leads to states' political integration, the creation of additional IGOs, and the globalization of international relations in an expanding network of interdependence that reduces state's intensions to wage war

Nongovernmental organizations – International/transnational organizations with private membership (private individuals or groups)

Realpolitik – Operating according to the belief that politics is based on the pursuit, possession and application of power

Regime – A complex of norms, treaties, international organizations and transnational activity that orders an area of activity such as the environment or oceans

Regional government – A possible middle level of governance between the prevalent national governments of today and the world government that some people favor.

Supranational organization – Organization that is founded and operates at least in part on the idea that international organizations can or should have authority higher than individual states and that those states should be subordinate to the this organization

World government – The concept of a supranational world authority to which current countries would surrender some or all of their sovereign authority

Text 1. The origins and growth of International organizations

The sovereign state has been the primary actor in world politics and the essential building block of the state-based international system. Indeed, it is hard to conceive of any other form of organizing and conducting international rela­tions. Yet there are alternatives.

International organization is one of these alternatives. Some analysts are convinced that basing global relations on self-interested states operating in an anarchical international system is outmoded and even dangerous. As an alternative, these observers believe that international organizations can and should begin to regulate the behavior of states, and that working through these organizations is the best way to address world problems. Those who take this view would join in the counsel given by Shakespeare in Henry VI, Part III: "Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts." Such advice may be right. It is just possible that ongoing organi­zations will serve as prototypes or building blocks for а future, higher form of political loyalty and activity.

Surrendering some of your country's sovereignty to an international organization may seem unsettling. But it is neither inherently wrong, nor unheard of in today's world. In fact, the growth in the number, functions, and authority of international organizations is one of the most important trends in international relations.

The concept of international organization is not а new one, although the practice of having а continuous international organization is а relatively recent advance in the conduct of international relations. Now there are а growing number of permanent international organizations. They can be divided geographically into global or regional organizations and grouped by functions into general or specialized international organizations (see table 1). Whatever their specifics, though, all the organizations that we will discuss in this chapter share the fact that their member­ships consist of national governments. Therefore, they are termed international intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). They are distinct from the transnational (or international) nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), whose members consist of private individuals or groups.

The origins of IGOs

IGOs are primarily а modern phenomenon. Nearly all of them were created in the last 50 years or so. Yet the origins of IGOs extend far back in history to three main sources.

Belief in a Community of Humankind

The origins of IGOs are rooted in part in а universalistic concept of humankind that extends back to 300 В.С and the Stoics. Philosophers such as William Реnn (1644-1718) and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) argued that the way to create а community of humankind was through general international organizations. The first example of an IGO based on this goal was the Hague system, named for the 1899 and 1907 peace conferences held at that city in the Netherlands. The 1907 conference was more comprehensive, with 44 European, North American, and Latin American states participating. Organizationally, the Hague system included а rudimentary general assembly and а judicia1 system. The conferences also adopted а series of standards to limit the conduct of war.

The next step on the path was the creation of the League of Nations after World War I. The League had а more developed organizational structure than that of the Hague system. It was intended mainly as а peacekeeping organization, although it did have some elements aimed at social and economic cooperation. Unfortunately the League could not survive the turbulent post-World War era that included the Great Depression and the rise of militant fascism. After only two decades of frustrated existence, the League died in the rubble of Wor1d War II.

The United Nations (UN) is the latest, and most advanced, deve1opmental stage of universal concern with the human condition. Like the League of Nations, the UN was established mainly to maintain peace. Nevertheless, it has increasingly become involved in а broad range of issues that encompasses almost all the world's concerns. In addition, the UN and its predecessor, the League, represent the coming together of all the root systems of international organization. They are more properly seen as the emergent saplings of extensive cooperation and integration.

Big-Power Peacekeeping

IGOs also evolved from the idea that powerful countries have а special responsibility to cooperate and preserve peace. Hugo Grotius, the "father of international law," suggested as early as 1625 in his classic On the Law of War and Peace that the major Christian powers cooperate to mediate or arbitrate the disputes of others or even, if required, to compel warring parties to accept an equitable peace.

This idea first took on substance with the Concert of Europe. This informal coalition of the major European powers and the following balance-of-(big)-power diplomacy managed generally to keep the peace for the century between the fall of Napoleon in 1815 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

The philosophy of big-power responsibility (and authority) carried over to the Council of the League of Nations. It had authority (Covenant Article 4) to deal "with any matter within the sphere of activity of the League or affecting the peace of the world." Significantly, five of the nine seats on the council were permanently assigned to the principal victors of World War I. The council was thus а continu­ation of the Concert of Europe concept.

When the United Nations succeeded the League of Nations, the special status and responsibilities of the big powers in the League were transferred to the UN Security Council (UNSC). Like the Council in the League, the UNSC is the main peacekeeping organ and includes permanent membership for five major powers (China, France, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States), an arrangement that is а conceptual descendant of the Concert of Europe.

Pragmatic Cooperation

Sheer necessity has also driven the evolution of IGOs. An increasingly complex and intertwined world has necessitated the creation of specialized agencies to deal with specific economic and social problems. The six-member Central Commission for the Navi­gation of the Rhine, established in 1815, is the oldest surviving IGO, and the International Telegraphic (now Telecommunications) Union (1865) is the oldest sur­viving IGO with global membership. As detailed below, the growth of specialized IGOs and NGOs has been phenomenal. This aspect of international activity is also reflected in the UN through the 20 specialized agencies associated with the world body.

The growth of IGOs

The twentieth century saw rapid growth in the number of all types of IGOs. Just in terms of sheer quantity, the number of well-established IGOs increased sevenfold from 37 in 1909 to 251 in 2000, according to the Union of International Associa­tions. Indeed, about one-third of all major IGOs in 2000 were younger than the average American, whose age in 2000 was 35.

Even more important than the quantitative growth of IGOs is the expanding roles that they play. More and more common governmental functions are being dealt with by IGOs. Indeed, there are now few if any major political issues that are not addressed at the international level by one or more IGOs. In some cases, existing IGOs take up new roles. Just as the U.S. government and other national governments have assumed new areas of responsibility over the years as problems arose, so has the United Nations moved to create units to deal with terrorism, biological warfare, environmental degradation, and а range of issues that were not part of the UN's realm when it was founded.

At other times, new areas of global concern are dealt with by creating new IGOs. For example, the development of satellites and the ability to communicate through them and the need to coordinate this capability led to the establishment of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (lMMARSAT) in 1979.

Theories of IGO Growth

А first step in analyzing the growth in the number of IGOs and the expansion of their roles is to look at two ideas about how IGOs do and should develop. These two schools of thought are functionalism and neofunctionalism.

Functionalism. The term functionalism represents the idea that the way to global cooperation is through а "bottom-up," evolutionary approach that begins with limited, pragmatic cooperation on narrow, nonpolitical issues. One such issue was how to deliver the mail internationally. To solve that problem, countries cooperated to found the Universal Postal Union in 1874. Each such instance of cooperation serves as а building block to achieve broader cooperation on more and more politically sensitive issues. Plato's description of "necessity" as "the mother of invention" in The Republic (са. 380 В.С) might well serve as а motto for modern functionalists.

Functionalists support their view about how global cooperation has been and is being achieved by pointing to hundreds, even thousands, of IGOs, multilateral treaties, NGOs, and other vehicles that have been pragmatically put in place to deal with specific international concerns. Functionalists further hold that by cooperating in specific, usually nonpolitical areas, countries and people can learn to trust one another. This, in turn, will lead to ever broader and ever higher levels of cooperation on the path to comprehensive cooperation or even global government.

Neofunctionalism. The "top-down" approach to solving world problems is called neofunctionalism. Its advocates are skeptical about the functionalist belief that nonpolitical cooperation can, by itself, lead eventually to full political cooperation and to the elimination of international conflict and self-interested state action. Neofunctionalists also worry that the functionalists' evolutionary approach will not move quickly enough to head off many of the world's looming problems. Therefore, nео­functionalists argue for immediately establishing IGOs and giving them enough independence and resources so that they can address political issues with an eye to fostering even greater cooperation.

Reasons for Growth

The twentieth century's rapid growth of international organizations, both in number and in scope of activity is the result of а number of both functionalist and neofunc­tionalist forces. Those forces were summarized by two scholars who examined why states act through international organizations (IOs). Their conclusion was that "by taking advantage... of IOs, states are able to achieve goals that they cannot accomplish [alone]". In other words, the growth of interna­tional organizations has occurred because countries have found that they need them and that they work. We can note six specific causes for this expansion:

Increased international contact is оnе cause. The revolutions in communications and transportation technologies have brought the states of the world into much closer contact. These interchanges need organizational structures in order to become routine and regulated. The International Telegraphic Union, founded over а century ago, has been joined in more modern times by the IMMARSAТ and many others.

Increased global interdependence, particularly in the economic sphere, is а second factor that has fostered а variety of IGOs designed to deal with this phenomenon. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are just two examples. Regional trade and monetary organizations, cartels, and, to а degree, multinational corporations are other examples.

The expansion of transnational problems that affect many states and require solu­tions that are beyond the resources of any single state is а third cause of the growth of international organizations. One such issue (and its associated IGO) is nuclear proliferation (International Atomic Energy Agency).

The failure of the current state-centered system to provide security is а fourth incentive for the expansion of IGOs. The agony of two world wars, for instance, convinced many that peace was not safe in the hands of nation-states. The United Nations is the latest attempt to organize for the preservation of реасе. The continuing problems in health, food, human rights, and other areas have also spurred the organization of IGOs.

The effort of small states to gain strength through joint action is а fifth factor. The concentration of military and economic power in а handful of countries has led less powerful actors to join coalitions in an attempt to influence events. Vulnerability has thus motivated countries to come together in such organizations as the 113-member Nonaligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77, а now-132-member organi­zation of less developed countries (LDCs) interested in promoting economic cooper­ation and development. In some ways the end of the cold war has increased this vulnerability. As а Western diplomat attending а NAM meeting commented, "А lot of these tiny nations are praying the movement and organizations like it саn survive and advocate on their behalf….No оnе pays attention to them any more."

The successes of international organizations is а sixth reason for their expansion. People and countries have learned that they саn sometimes work together interna­tionally, and this has created even more IGOs and NGOs to help address an ever greater range of transnational issues.

Table 1

Types and Examples of IGOs

	Purpose
Georgaphy	General	Specialized
Global	United Nations	World Trade Organizsation
Regional	European Union	Arab Monetary Fund

Comprehension