International organizations – course information
Course material:
• Readings and assigned mandatory material
• Lectures
• Items discussed on discussion board
Introduction to international organizations – lecture 1 – 05/09
IOs NGOs
• Established by states • Established by non-state actors
• (usually) based on inter-state treaty • ‘common purpose’
• Regional or international • Local, national or transnational
Examples: UN, IMF, World Food Programme, Examples: human rights watch, coalition fort he
NATO, EU international criminal cours bonobo
conservation initiative
IOs are a specific class of international institutions
Institution = ‘a body of norms, rules and practices that shape behaviour and expectations,
without necessarily having the physical character of an international organization.
International organizations
• Formal treaty base
• Bureaucracy/headquarters
• Formal rules and procedures
• Regular state meetings
• At least 3 member states
Categorisations of IOs
1)Membership
Universal: every state can become a member (UN)
Limited: only some states can become a member (EU)
2)competence
Comprehensive / general purpose: IO deals with many different issues and topics (UN)
Limited / issue-specific: IO focuses on a specific theme (WTO)
3)function
Rule-making oganisations: makes policy and sets rules (UN)
Operational organisation: executes policy (IAEA)
4)decision-making authority
Intergovernmental: decision taken by all member states based on horizontal authority
→pooled sovereignty
Supranational: decision taken by organizational body designated by member states based on
vertical authority
→delegated sovereignty
1
,Three forces of IOs in world politics
Obligation Compliance Enforcement
• Direct • Explicit • Direct
• Indirect • Implicit • Indirect
Three views on the role of IOs in the world politics
IOs as Actors
Legally: IGOs are independent entities with legal personality.
• ICK opinion 1949 on Reparations for Injuries
• ICC statute: ‘The cours shall have international legal personality’
Political : independent actorness through social recognition
• Collective actors that are able tot do what its constituent parts are unable to do on their
own.
• Empirically evident through practices of influencing world politics (ICC arrest warrants; UN
GA resolutions)
IOs as Fora
Physical forum / arena for debate and negotiation:
• Exchange of interest and information
• Policy-making
→states as relevant actors
Example: plenary organ
IOs as Tools
IGOs as tools in the hands of their member states pursue their own personal interests.
Examples:
• SC and US invasion in Iraq 2003
• IMF
• International Court of Justice
International regimes = ‘implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures
around which actors’ expectations converge in a given area of international relations’
Principles : beliefs of fact, causations and rectitude
Norms: standards of behavior defines in terms of rights and obligations
Rules: specific prescriptions or proscriptions for action
Decision-making procedures: prevailing practices for making and implementing collective
choices.
2
, Lecture 2 IOs and IR theory 08/09
International regime: implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures
around which actors’ expectations converge in a given area of international relations.
e.g. nuclear non-proliferation regime
Global governance : ‘…the sum of informal and formal ideas, values, norms, procedures, and
institutions that help all actors -states, NGOs, civil society, and TNCs- identify, understand, and
address trans-boundary problems’
➔ Conceptually vague
Three forces of IOs in world politics
Obligation Compliance Enforcement
• Direct • Explicit • Direct
• Indirect • Implicit • Indirect
Neorealism:
- States would refrain from giving IOs too much power.
o If there are IOs, they are tools in the hands of powerful states
Lecture 3 history of IOs and IO research 12/09
Current trends in IO research: IO vitality
- Longevity: 15 IOs established in 1865 existed for 100 years
- Most IOs survive first 5 years, but survival depends on environment
- IOs established prior to WWI exist ~ 30 years
- IOs established after WWII exist ~15-20 years
→new research are: rise and decline of IOs
Eilstrup-Sangiovanni 202: What kills IOs?
• Types of termination:
o Expiration → most common
o Not useful anymore → dissolution
o Replacement
o Merger
o Disuse → continues its existence but isn’t use anymore
• Causes for termination:
o Exogenous shocks
o Institutional adaptability
o Timing and sequencing (relative age)
o Mandate (technical vs. non-technical)
• Difficult to generalize: IOs with a specific profile might be immune to most shock but
vulnerable to….
Gray 2018: Life, death or zombie?
• Population of international economic organization 1955 – 2015
• Only half of the population is active
• Bureaucratic autonomy influence vitality
o The more autonomy, the more likely an IO remains alive
• IOs located in attractive cities are more likely to remain alive
3
Course material:
• Readings and assigned mandatory material
• Lectures
• Items discussed on discussion board
Introduction to international organizations – lecture 1 – 05/09
IOs NGOs
• Established by states • Established by non-state actors
• (usually) based on inter-state treaty • ‘common purpose’
• Regional or international • Local, national or transnational
Examples: UN, IMF, World Food Programme, Examples: human rights watch, coalition fort he
NATO, EU international criminal cours bonobo
conservation initiative
IOs are a specific class of international institutions
Institution = ‘a body of norms, rules and practices that shape behaviour and expectations,
without necessarily having the physical character of an international organization.
International organizations
• Formal treaty base
• Bureaucracy/headquarters
• Formal rules and procedures
• Regular state meetings
• At least 3 member states
Categorisations of IOs
1)Membership
Universal: every state can become a member (UN)
Limited: only some states can become a member (EU)
2)competence
Comprehensive / general purpose: IO deals with many different issues and topics (UN)
Limited / issue-specific: IO focuses on a specific theme (WTO)
3)function
Rule-making oganisations: makes policy and sets rules (UN)
Operational organisation: executes policy (IAEA)
4)decision-making authority
Intergovernmental: decision taken by all member states based on horizontal authority
→pooled sovereignty
Supranational: decision taken by organizational body designated by member states based on
vertical authority
→delegated sovereignty
1
,Three forces of IOs in world politics
Obligation Compliance Enforcement
• Direct • Explicit • Direct
• Indirect • Implicit • Indirect
Three views on the role of IOs in the world politics
IOs as Actors
Legally: IGOs are independent entities with legal personality.
• ICK opinion 1949 on Reparations for Injuries
• ICC statute: ‘The cours shall have international legal personality’
Political : independent actorness through social recognition
• Collective actors that are able tot do what its constituent parts are unable to do on their
own.
• Empirically evident through practices of influencing world politics (ICC arrest warrants; UN
GA resolutions)
IOs as Fora
Physical forum / arena for debate and negotiation:
• Exchange of interest and information
• Policy-making
→states as relevant actors
Example: plenary organ
IOs as Tools
IGOs as tools in the hands of their member states pursue their own personal interests.
Examples:
• SC and US invasion in Iraq 2003
• IMF
• International Court of Justice
International regimes = ‘implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures
around which actors’ expectations converge in a given area of international relations’
Principles : beliefs of fact, causations and rectitude
Norms: standards of behavior defines in terms of rights and obligations
Rules: specific prescriptions or proscriptions for action
Decision-making procedures: prevailing practices for making and implementing collective
choices.
2
, Lecture 2 IOs and IR theory 08/09
International regime: implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures
around which actors’ expectations converge in a given area of international relations.
e.g. nuclear non-proliferation regime
Global governance : ‘…the sum of informal and formal ideas, values, norms, procedures, and
institutions that help all actors -states, NGOs, civil society, and TNCs- identify, understand, and
address trans-boundary problems’
➔ Conceptually vague
Three forces of IOs in world politics
Obligation Compliance Enforcement
• Direct • Explicit • Direct
• Indirect • Implicit • Indirect
Neorealism:
- States would refrain from giving IOs too much power.
o If there are IOs, they are tools in the hands of powerful states
Lecture 3 history of IOs and IO research 12/09
Current trends in IO research: IO vitality
- Longevity: 15 IOs established in 1865 existed for 100 years
- Most IOs survive first 5 years, but survival depends on environment
- IOs established prior to WWI exist ~ 30 years
- IOs established after WWII exist ~15-20 years
→new research are: rise and decline of IOs
Eilstrup-Sangiovanni 202: What kills IOs?
• Types of termination:
o Expiration → most common
o Not useful anymore → dissolution
o Replacement
o Merger
o Disuse → continues its existence but isn’t use anymore
• Causes for termination:
o Exogenous shocks
o Institutional adaptability
o Timing and sequencing (relative age)
o Mandate (technical vs. non-technical)
• Difficult to generalize: IOs with a specific profile might be immune to most shock but
vulnerable to….
Gray 2018: Life, death or zombie?
• Population of international economic organization 1955 – 2015
• Only half of the population is active
• Bureaucratic autonomy influence vitality
o The more autonomy, the more likely an IO remains alive
• IOs located in attractive cities are more likely to remain alive
3
