4. Reasons for growth

The twentieth century’s rapid growth of international organizations, both in number and in scope of activity, is the result of a 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 one 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 a century ago, has been joined in more modern times by the IMMARSAT and many others.

Increased global interdependence, particularly in the economic sphere, is a second factor that has fostered a 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 a 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 a 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 a 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 peace. 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 a fifth factor. The concentration of military and economic power in a 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, a now-132-mernber 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 a Western diplomat attending a NAM meeting commented "A lot of these tiny nations are praying the movement and organizations like it can survive and advocate on their behalf.... No one pays attention to them any more."

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

KEY POINTS

• An international organization is an institution with formal procedures and a membership comprising three or more states. These bodies can be thought of as instruments through which states pursue their own interests, as arenas that: facilitate debate, and as actors that can affect global outcomes.

• International organizations are created out of a composite of factors. These include the existence of Interde¬pendencies among states which encourage policy-makers to believe that international cooperation can serve common interests and the presence of a hegemonic power willing and able to bear the costs of creating, and sustaining, an international organization.

CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

International organization (sometimes called international governmental organizations or IGOs, as opposed to international non-governmental organizations, or INGOs) is an institution with formal procedures and a membership comprising three or more states. International organizations are characterized by rules that seek to regulate the relations amongst member states and by a formal structure that implements and enforces these rules. Nevertheless, international organizations may be viewed as instruments, arenas or actors. As instruments, they are mechanisms through which states pursue their own interest. As arenas, they facilitate debate and information exchange, serving as permanent institutions of conference diplomacy. As actors, they enable states to take concerted action, which requires some measure of ‘pooled’ sovereignty.

Supranationalism is the existence of an authority that is higher than that of the nation-state and capable of imposing its will on it. Supranationalism thus transfers sovereignty and decision-making authority from constituent states to an international or regional organization. This can occur through the establishment of an international federation, in which sovereignty is shared between central and peripheral bodies, a process often referred to as pooling sovereignty. The advance of supranationalism is seen as part of the general integrative trend within global politics. However, critics of supranationalism, especially realists, claim that it represents a threat not only to sovereignty but also to national identity and democracy, perhaps even containing the seeds of world government.

Intergovernmentalism refers to interaction among states which takes place on the basis of sovereign independence. Intergovernmentalism is therefore usually distinguished from supranationalism, in which there is an authority that is higher than the nation-state. The most common form of intergovernmentalism is treaties or alliances, the simplest of which involve bilateral agreements between states. The other main form of intergovernmentalism is leagues or confederations, such as the League of Nations, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In such bodies, state sovereignty is preserved through a process of unanimous decision-making in which each member state has a veto, at least over matters of vital national importance.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. How do international organizations differ from states?

2. What is the comparison between IGO and NGO?

3. How are international organization and global governance linked?

4. Are international organizations merely mechanisms for pursuing state interests by other means?

5. Name two main theories of IGO’s growth and discuss their views.

6. What are the reasons for IGO’s growth?

CHAPTER 10.REGIONAL IGOs: FOCUS ON THE EUROPEAN UNION

1. The origins and evolution of the European Union

2. The government of Europe: a prototype

3. The future of the European Union

The growth of regional IGOs has been striking. Prior to World War II there were no prominent regional IGOs. Now there are many. Most of these are relatively specialized, with regional economic IGOs, such as the Arab Cooperation Council, the most numerous. Other regional IGOs are general purpose and deal with a range of issues. These include, for example, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Organization of American States (OAS).

Another noteworthy development regarding regional IGOs is that some of them are transitioning from specialized to general purpose organizations. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967 to promote regional economic cooperation. More recently, though, ASEAN has begun to take on a greater political tinge, and, in particular, may serve as a political and defensive counterweight to China in the region. A more obvious change in role is evident for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It was established in 1975 to facilitate economic interchange, but in the 1990s ECOWAS took on a very different function when it intervened in the civil wars raging in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Beyond any of these examples of regional IGOs, the best example of what is possible is the regionalism in Europe. There, the European Union has moved toward full economic integration. It has also traveled in the direction of considerable political cooperation.