International organization
ACTORS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
STATE
NON-STATE ACTORS e.g. Multi-National Corporations (MNCs),
Terrorist Groups
International Organizations (Both Inter-governmental Organizations
IGOs and International Non-Governmental Organizations INGOs)
Individuals
international organization, institution drawing membership from at least three
states, having activities in several states, and whose members are held together by a
formal agreement. The Union of International Associations, a coordinating
body, differentiates between the more than 250 international governmental
organizations (IGOs), which have been established by intergovernmental agreements
and whose members are states, and the approximately 6,000 nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), whose members are associations or individuals.
IGOs range in size from three members to more than 185 (e.g., the United
Nations [UN]), and their geographic representation varies from one world region (e.g.,
the Organization of American States) to all regions (e.g., the International Monetary
Fund).
REGIONAL BASED IOs
Like South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
ASEAN (Association for South East Asian Nations)
Arab League
Gulf Cooperation Council
Organization of African Unity (OAU)
PURPOSE BASED IGOs
IOs could be single-purpose or multipurpose
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security & Military
Whereas some IGOs are designed to achieve a single purpose (e.g., the World
Intellectual Property Organization), others have been developed for multiple tasks (e.g.,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Their organizational structures can be simple
or highly complex depending on their size and tasks.
It depends upon the purpose and scope of activities of organization which determine the
structure of an international organization.
nternational law: International organizations
Although nascent international organizations were formed by Greek city-states and
were envisioned by European writers such as Pierre Dubois (c. 1250–c. 1320)
and Émeric Crucé (c. 1590–1648), they did not appear in their contemporary form until
the 19th century. Following the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars of the late
18th and early 19th centuries, leaders of the major European powers met periodically, in
a system of consultation known as the Concert of Europe, to attempt to preserve the
status quo and to protect their governments from internal rebellion. Later in the 19th
century, various international organizations, such as the International Telegraph Union
(1865; now the International Telecommunication Union), were established to provide
specialized services and to perform specific tasks. In 1899 and 1907 European and non-
European states met to develop rules to regulate armaments and the conduct of war.
These conferences produced the Hague Conventions, which included agreements on the
peaceful settlement of war, the treatment of prisoners of war, and the rights
of neutral states. These various meetings and agreements served as precursors to the
international organizations of the 20th century, such as the League of Nations and
the United Nations (UN). Spurred by the political and economic interdependencies and
advances in communication and transportation that developed after World War II, the
UN became the centrepiece of a network of international organizations.
FUNCTIONS OF IOs
International organizations serve many diverse functions, including collecting
information and monitoring trends (e.g., the World Meteorological Organization),
delivering services and aid (e.g., the World Health Organization), and providing forums
for bargaining (e.g., the European Union) and settling disputes (e.g., the World Trade
Organization). By providing political institutions through which states can work
together to achieve common objectives, international organizations can help to foster
cooperative behaviour. IGOs also serve useful purposes for individual states, which
often use them as instruments of foreign policy to legitimate their actions and to
constrain the behaviour of other states.
European Union is a very important example of contemporary nature and structure of
international organiations. EU has to a some extent supplant the nation states and its
functions. For instance, it has issued a common currency known as Euro while it has a
single visa regime for its members states known as Schengen visa regime.
Although the daily operations of most international organizations are managed by
specialized international bureaucracies, ultimate authority rests with state members.
IGOs often work closely with other organizations, including NGOs
(e.g., Greenpeace and Amnesty International), which serve many of the same functions
as their IGO counterparts and are particularly useful for mobilizing public support,
monitoring the effectiveness of international aid, and providing information and
expertise. Although many of the thousands of NGOs direct their activities toward less
developed countries in Africa and Asia, some of which have authoritarian forms of
government, most of these groups are based in developed states with pluralist political
systems. Only a small fraction of NGOs are international in scope, though they have
played an increasingly important role in international relations.
RATIONALE OF International Organizations.
The basic rationale of IOs is that as due to ever-growing complexity and resulting responsibilities and
tasks due to increasing complexity and population growth and their needs the state is finding it
growingly difficult to fulfil needs of the people. This creates a governance vacuum which is filled by IOs.
