International Regimes and

Organizations
week.9
IGO AND INGO DEFINITIONS

• IGO requires: A basis of a formal instrument of agreement between

governments; three or more states; a permanent secretariat
(IGO: Intergovernmental Organization)
• INGO requires: At least three states with international aims; voting
rights and funding from at least three states; permanent HQ and
secretariat, evidence of activity (INGO: International Nongovernmental
Organization)
COOPERATION REQUIREMENTS
• Separate states bought into conformity
• Trust
• Transparency
• In politics, people come together to cooperate towards common and
collective goals – common goals being goals that all can share and
collective goals being those that can only be achieved if parties work
together.
• The Rhine River Commission (also known as the Central Commission
for Navigation on the Rhine or CCNR) is important because affected
states could come together to agre
THE COOPERATION DILEMMA

• International institutions occur when states wish to maximize

sovereignty but are willing to sacrifice in order to gain common and
collective goods, as they realize that these goods are beyond their
own individual capacities and that they need to pool resources
REALIST VERSUS LIBERAL
ASSUMPTIONS
• Realist: States are key actors; institutions represent interests; states
do not wish to cede power
• Liberal: Institutions can be important actors; states have rational and
strategic interests in long-term cooperation and interdependence;
institutions can affect state behaviour
RATIONALISM AND
CONSTRUCTIVISM
• Rationalism: States will benefit themselves; cooperation is beneficial;
cooperation reduces transaction costs and uncertainty
• Constructivism: Actors respond to shared values and norms
INSTITUTIONS OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND
THE UN

League of Nations
• Secretariat: Led by Secretary General
• Council: Initially four permanent seats (France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom)
• Assembly: Representatives of all member states (42 founding members)
United Nations
• Secretariat: Led by Secretary General
• Security Council: Five permanent seats (China, France, Russian Federation, UK,USA) and ten non-
permanent members
• General Assembly: Representatives of all member-states (192 member-states at time of writing)
• Economic and Social Council: 54 seats allocated by region and voted for by the General Assembly
• International Court of Justice: 15 judges voted for by the General Assembly and Security Council
• Trusteeship Council (suspended in 1994): Five permanent members of the Security Council
EXPANDED FUNCTIONS OF THE UN
• Avoidance of war
• Promotion of order and stability
• Maintaining international peace and security
• Functional cooperation
• Disarmament
• Socio-economic improvements
• Establishment of international law
• Encouraging human rights
• Encouraging development
PROMINENT REGIONAL
INSTITUTIONS
• Region Organization
• Africa African Union (formerly OAU) Southern African Development Community
• Asia Association of Southeast Asian Nations
• Europe Council of Europe
European Union
North Atlantic Treaty Organization*
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
(formerly CSCE)
Western European Union
• North America North American Free Trade Agreement
Organization of American States
• South America Andean Community
Mercosur
Union of South American Nations
Note: *Trans-Atlantic regional institutions
THE EUROPEAN
UNION
European Union

European Common Foreign and Justice and

Community Security Policy (CFSP) Home Affairs
+ +
Economic and European Security and
Monetary Union Defence Policy (ESDP)