International Organizations

International Organizations

Full text at https://www.e-ir.info/2016/12/30/international-organisations/

When you get off the plane in a foreign country and check messages on your cell phone...

... your actions are regulated by at least four different international organizations - IATA, ICAO, ITU, WCO.

States and Non-States

Today, it is increasingly difficult to imagine an international system in which the only voices that matter are those of states.

Some examples of non-state actors

• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

• multinational corporations

• hybrid organizations

International Governmental Organizations - IGOs

• Membership of only states.

• Founded upon a treaty, consist of more than two states.

• Member states determine the way in which the organization is run, vote within the organization and provide its funding.

The difference in ‘global governance’ and ‘global government’

“Global governance” – coordination between states within intergovernmental organizations - IGOs.

‘Global government’ – currently does not exist. IGOs do not rule over states. The power is with the states and not the IGO itself. States are free to leave to ignore.

UN - the biggest IGO

• Almost universal membership.

• Member states determine the course of action.

• The Secretariat, including the UN Secretary-General cannot take action on its own.

• UN is an international governmental organization (IGO) and not a level of authority above the states.

UN membership

• Only states can be members of the United Nations and membership is valued because it confers upon the member state international recognition of its sovereignty.

• As of 2017 there are 193 UN member states.

• A small number of states are not members. Example - Taiwan (request blocked by China).

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UN - 6 main organs

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• the General Assembly

• the Security Council

• the Trusteeship Council

• the Secretariat

• the International Court of Justice

• the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

The UN General Assembly

• Membership – automatic once a state is a member.

• Each state gets one vote, regardless of size of wealth.

• Meets

  every September. World leaders give their address to the international

  community.

The UN Security Council

• By far the most powerful UN organ.

• The only organ that can impose sanctions on states or deploy military forces on behalf of the international community.

• 15 members.

• 5 permanent member states – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

• The other 10 are voted in by the General Assembly for two-year tenures.

UN peacekeepers / military

The United Nations itself does not have its own military force, but it can muster military and police personnel through contributions by its members.

These UN peacekeepers are distinguished by their trademark blue helmets, giving rise to the nickname ‘Blue Berets’.

UN actions against states

Punitive measures are only possible when the members of the UN Security Council are in accord, agree with such proposals, and a coalition of states agrees to finance and partake in the operation.

Powerful states often reject a certain course of action because it was not in their national interest.

Civil society groups' participation in the UN work

Civil society organizations address a range of issues.

Civil society groups are invited to participate (NOTE: participation is not membership) in some UN meetings, but never in the Security Council sessions.

They may speak as observers to the General Assembly or as organizations with ‘consultative status’ with the ECOSOC.

Private individuals who are invited to speak at special United Nations meetings.

 

A ‘supranational’ IGO

• Has the ability to govern its members.

• Has a degree of independence from member states.

• The only clear example  - the EU. It is unique (sui generis)

EU

• A degree of sovereignty over its members.

• Law-making powers in certain areas that members agreed to relocate to the supranational level.

• Has its own currency.

• Opposition - Rising discontent among members and a desire in some political circles to weaken, or even dissolve, the organization so that more of the power returns to the states.

• The ‘Brexit’ 2016 British referendum to leave the EU challenged the idea of supranationalism.

Some IGOs

• International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)

• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

• African Union (AU)

• The Commonwealth of Nations

• BRICS

IAEA coordination with UN

IAEA reports go to UN.

Security Council may take action against any countries that fail to meet IAEA obligations.

International non-governmental organizations (INGOs)

• Non-governmental organizations that either work at the international level or have international members.

• Organizations that are not intergovernmental, business entities or terrorist organizations.

• Over 4,000 have consultative status with the UN. Actual number likely many times bigger.

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Visible INGO protests and less visible INGO work

• Greenpeace

• Anti-globalization

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• Mercy Corps

• Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)

• Oxfam

Hybrid organizations

• Membership comprises states, multinational corporations, civil society members.

• The states may be represented by government departments or agencies.

• Civil society can be anyone.

• Example - the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

• Can be highly effective because of the reach and available expertise and funding.

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International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

• The first guidelines for the care of wounded soldiers and civilians caught in places of conflict.

• In 1863 Swiss businessman Henry Dunant founded the International Committee of the Red Cross after witnessing the aftermath of the 1859 Battle of Solferino.

• Start of the Geneva Conventions, which all UN members have since ratified. Part of the international law that governs humanitarian concerns arising out of war and conflict.

• An NGO (the Red Cross) started a movement that later developed into international norms and standards.

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Limits to state sovereignty

• The days of unlimited power of the states are over.   

• State sovereignty meant that they could act with impunity as far as its citizens and lands were concerned.

• Nowadays, the pressure of outside interests and INGOs have eroded state impunity.

• Major leap forward in the development of norms involving international human rights.

ICC - The International Criminal Court

• State officials’ immunity from criminal prosecution while in power has changed.

• The ICC at the Hague has the jurisdiction to hold individuals responsible for a range of crimes.

• Two thirds of the world’s states are members.

• Dozens have been prosecuted for war crimes, genocide, and other crimes against humanity.

IGOs set the agenda for the international community

• Nearly every aspect of life is regulated in some way at the global level. IGOs complement and challenge the role of the state.

• UNDP - lifeline for many impoverished nations, helping to raise populations out of absolute poverty.

• The World Bank assistance programs’ results have been mixed. Sometimes left countries in significant debt or failed to improve their economies.

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Example - environmental preservation

• The UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (the Earth Summit).

• Collective responsibility of states towards the wellbeing of the earth.

• States signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention to Combat Desertification.

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