Lecture notes: International organizations

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Definitions

inter-governmental

  • states as the constituent members
  • United Nations
  • Nato
  • European Union

non-governmental

  • NGOs, interest groups etc as members
  • International Chess Federation

various issue areas

  • more or less encompassing
  • one set of issues — most issues
  • International Postal Union
  • IMF, etc

regional organization

  • the Arab world
  • Africa — African Union
  • SEAT — cooperation in Southeast Asia

Supranationality

the problem of anarchy — once again

  • how to get sovereign states to cooperate with one another?

Realists:

  • “states will never cooperate unless it is in their interest to do so”
  • “there will never be anything supranational about them”

reason to join:

  • they can help serve our interests
  • cf. UN after 1945
  • “if it doesn’t serve our interests, we simply leave”

always limited use:

  • their work is constrained by sovereign states
  • their usefulness will be limited

cf.

  • international law
  • the way the US and Turkey haven’t joined the ICC

or compare the Security Council of the UN

  • 5 permanent members with a veto
  • if you want the organization to be successful you have to acknowledge their national interests

international organizations with a veto

  • no one’s interests should be overridden
  • Nato — notorious case of Erdoğan vs. Sweden

or international organizations with weighted voting

  • IMF

Liberals

  • important forums for cooperation and the promotion of shared interests among states
  • promotes international norms, rules, and institutions

as you recall

  • we called it “comic” view of the world
  • eventually we will understand each other
  • we just need a forum where we can sort out our differences

Restricting sovereignty

  • there are international organizations that restrict sovereignty

most obviously

  • European Union
  • many decisions with majority vote
  • countries are regularly overridden

question of why they should accept that?

  • well, Britain didn’t …
  • overall the benefits outweigh the costs

but also World Trade Organization

  • can fine countries that don’t conform to their rules
  • also the US, China, etc

Institutions with agency

  • develop their own agenda
  • act in their own name

related to but not controlled by the members

  • has its own status in world politics
  • not reducible to members interests

their own experts, budgets

  • sets an international agenda — what is important and what is not
  • experts and staff in the field
  • research reports
  • technical vocabulary

examples

  • IMF
  • World Bank
  • UNHCR
  • OECD

Functionalism

that Mitrany article I gave you

  • often known as “functionalism”
  • but it exists in other versions — “neo-functionalism” etc

always a problem for states to agree on large issues

  • world peace
  • disarmament
  • climate change

better to start with small issues

  • easier to agree on technical issues, non-political
  • and then work the way up

bigger and bigger issues

  • “peace by pieces”

“spill-over”

  • build up a kind of momentum
  • good will and sense of common purpose
  • shared identity

one day the international organization is simply there

  • and no one really knows how it happened

critics:

  • difficult to make a distinction between non-political and political issues
  • no reason not to fight about small things
  • no reason to believe the process will not stop half-way
  • can be dismantled too — Brexit
  • people dislike each other more the better they know each other

Karl Deutsch

  • “The Nerves of Government: Models of Political Communication and Control“

the importance of communication and interaction in fostering cooperation

  • very much a liberal

lead to the formation of common values and shared expectations

  • increase the likelihood of cooperation
  • build all sorts of informal networks at a lower level

great maps

  • showing the telephone calls people make
  • or the letters they send
  • or the way they travel
  • and then redraw the map from there

“security communities”

a sense of shared security

  • no longer perceive each other as threats, they are more likely to cooperate and engage in peaceful relations
  • trust, empathy, and mutual understanding

Regime theory

  • discussed this briefly last week — often used in IPE
  • but applicable to international organizations in general

“hegemon”

  • international cooperation needs to be sponsored by somebody
  • since cooperation is unlikely

Internalizing costs

  • it’s like sponsoring a party
  • generosity
  • but you derive prestige
  • you set the rules
  • it is your world

cf. the Gilpin readings for today — our discussion last week

  • the international economic order set up after 1945
  • the “Bretton Woods” system
  • American rules and American terms

“exploitation”

  • others are benefiting from your generosity
  • free-riding

cf. nuclear weapons umbrella

  • Japan and European countries can under-invest in defense
  • they know that the US will come to the rescue

and the cost is high if no one does it!

  • cf. the lack of a hegemon in the 1930s

discussion in the 1970s

  • what if the US becomes “a normal country”?

similar discussion today:

  • the rise of China
  • will China play by the US rules?

History of international organizations

early modern

  • writers worrying about the dismemberment of Europe
  • early peace plans

19th attempts

Congress of Vienna, 1815

  • the Concert of Europe
  • after the Napoleonic Wars
  • the fraternity of kings against their own people
  • reactionary

new technologies — need for coordination

  • International Telegraph Union (1865)
  • Universal Postal Union (1874)

The League of Nations, 1919

Wilson’s 14 points

  • prevent future wars through collective security and diplomacy
  • but the US never joins

specialized agencies

  • International Labor Organization
  • a time when the first labor legislation is put in place

resolution of territorial disputes

  • Aland islands, 1921
  • Upper Silesia, Poland or Germany? — ultimately divided
  • Mosul — Turkey wants it, but it goes to the British mandate in Iraq

failures to adjudicate:

  • Italian invasion of Ethiopia, 1935
  • Japanese invasion of Manchuria, 1931

inability to prevent World War II

  • the US never joins
  • Germany and Japan leave

nothing like a Security Council

  • no veto for powerful countries
  • they prefer to just leave

The United Nations, 1945

promote international peace and security, human rights, and economic development

  • tool of US foreign policy
  • help Americans rule the world

cf. long history of US isolationism

  • once again after WW1

UN system

  • World Bank
  • International Monetary Fund
  • World Health Organization
  • Unesco
  • UNDP
  • UNHCR
  • and others

General assembly

  • all states have a vote
  • some 193 members

membership a sign of sovereign status

  • Taiwan is not a member
  • Palestine
  • North Cyprus

world democracy?

  • but why states?
  • how different it would be if humans were represented!

Security Council

  • matters of peace and war
  • you can only legally go to war if the UN permits it

Permanent members

  • US, Russia, China, Britain, France
  • allied powers in WW2
  • 10 other non-permanent members
  • rotates

Veto

  • take the interests of the big powers into account
  • make sure that the organization doesn’t break apart
  • cf. the League of Nations

Big discussion:

  • why these five states?
  • why Britain and France in particular
  • obvious replacement: the EU
  • what about Japan, India, Brazil, South Africa?

Activities

The Korea War

  • the Soviet Union misses the vote
  • they are boycotting the SC since the Taiwan is representing China

The Congo Crisis

  • UN troops are involved in the fighting

Peace keeping missions:

when the fighting is over

  • the peace-keepers are not a fighting force
  • debate: peace-keeping and peace-enforcing — perhaps peace-creating

examples

  • Suez
  • Kosovo
  • Cyprus
  • Sudan
  • Haiti

1990s — end of the Cold War

  • much more effective for a while
  • no more Soviet vetos

UNTAC, Cambodia, 1992-93

  • the UN basically takes over the country

UNPROFOR, Yugoslavia, 1992-95

  • fighting is still ongoing
  • supposed to protect civilians
  • 8,000 men and boys are killed in Srebrenica

UNAMIR, Rwanda, 1993-96

  • fail to prevent the genocide in 1994

China in the UN

  • traditionally very passive
  • has changed since Xi Jinping

Members over time

today: 193 members

  • latest, South Sudan, 2011

two observers

  • the Vatican
  • Palestine

at the founding

  • 51 members

two boosts in membership

  • 1950s and 60s — decolonization
  • after 1990 — end of the Cold War
  • the Soviet Union falls apart, etc

The voice of the “Third World”

Bandung conference, 1955

  • meeting away from the West
  • solidarity
  • together we are strong

Non-Aligned Movement

  • Belgrade, 1961

use the UN

  • or at least the General Assemly

New Economic World Order

  • price stability of natural resources
  • cf. nationalizations at this time

“Zionism is racism”

  • annual resolutions

little comes of it

  • the US simply moves on to other organizations
  • leaves ILO and Unesco
  • very slow to pay its debts

today:

  • too much difference between the countries
  • return of Realpolitik

European Union

  1. The European Coal and Steel Community (1951) – the precursor to the European Union
  2. The Treaty of Rome (1957) – established the European Economic Community
  3. The Maastricht Treaty (1992) – transformed the EEC into the European Union, introducing political and monetary integration

institutions of the European Union

  • The European Commission, European Parliament, European Council, and the Court of Justice of the European Union
  • The Eurozone and the European Central Bank

theoretical debates

  • Supranationalism vs. intergovernmentalism
  • The democratic deficit and the role of the European Parliament

EU development

good example of functionalism

Coal and steel

build from practical issues to more political

Customs union

vs free trade area

The four freedoms

The Schengen agreement

Swedish EU membership

applies

the power of the EU

my old argument about “power to” rather than “power over”

  • eg. the euro

Turkish EU membership

a very complicated story

  • the first application
  • the early Erdoğan years

what is the current status of the negotiations?

what is the current relationship?

  • customs union or what?

Brexit

Ukrainian EU membership

  • is likely to take a very long time

Nato

  • military defense organization
  • united Western countries during the Cold War

Turkish membership

  • member in 1952
  • shares a long border with the Soviet Union
  • serious fighting after World War I

Turkish participation in the Korean War

  • as a way to suck up to the US
  • although this was a war in the name of the United Nations

Nato bases in Turkey

  • Incirlik Air Base: Located near Adana in southern Turkey, Incirlik Air Base is a major NATO installation and serves as a key hub for both Turkish and American military operations.
  • Izmir Air Station: Situated near the city of Izmir on the Aegean coast, this base is an important NATO facility primarily operated by the Turkish Air Force, hosting various allied aircraft and units.
  • Konya Air Base: Located in central Turkey near the city of Konya, this base serves as a key NATO training and exercise center, particularly for aerial operations.

but there seem to the US bases too — a bit unclear if there is an overlap with Nato …

  • Kürecik Radar Station: The Kurecik Radar Station is an important U.S. military installation in southeastern Turkey. It houses a powerful radar system that is part of the NATO missile defense network.

Swedish Nato membership

  • Did you follow this story?
Fınland and Sweden were applyıng for Nato membership together
  • fear of Putin and Russia

blocked by Turkish veto

  • but eventually Finland is admitted

a lot of protests

  • Kurds in Sweden
  • anti-Islamists
  • flag-burning outside of the Swedish consulate here in Istanbul

Climate change

the “tragedy of the commons”

  • “refers to a situation where a shared resource, such as a common grazing pasture or a shared fishing area, is depleted or degraded due to individuals acting in their self-interest, resulting in the detriment of the collective or common good”

history of “the commons”

  • a way for poor people to feed themselves
  • risk of overgrazing
  • fenced in — the enclosure movement

a classical case of a collective action problem

  • everyone wants to stop climate change
  • they will lose out if they do it alone — puts limits on economic growth
  • if everyone cooperates, there is an incentive to free-ride — opt out
  • the contribution of each one is quite small

Institutions for dealing with climate change

UN conferences

 

International organizations playlist

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