defining international organizations
TRANSCRIPT
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International Organizations
PLO 3513 Fall Term 2013
Thursday, 8:30-9:45 am
Week 2: Defining international organizations
Dr. Matthias Hofferberth [email protected]
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teaching philosophy of this class
We will not make you drink,
but we will help you!
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Session plan
1. International organizations, everyday knowledge & expectations
2. Defining organization
3. Defining international
4. Bringing it together: studying international organizations
5. Conclusion
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Once more:
any questions?
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1. IOs, everyday knowledge & expectations
International organizations in everyday knowledge
Constant mentioning of IOs in the media:
decisions covered/commented on extensively
United Nations, WTO, NAFTA, etc. at least
some level of familiarity; humanitarian IOS
sometimes enjoying a great presence
notion of disappointment as IOs are not living up to expectations
Open question: what really are your expectations towards IOs?
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1. IOs, everyday knowledge & expectations
Expectations towards international organizations:
complex governance challenges as reality of our modern world
realization that states alone cannot solve these challenges
international politics as much the domain of states as it is of IOs
IOs expected to be active AND
effective in almost all policy areas,
from A as in abortion law
to Z as in zoology
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1. IOs, everyday knowledge & expectations
First grounding some numbers & facts
UN budget appropriation for 2012-2013: $5,152.299.600
EU budget for 2007: $120,700.000.000
Texas budget appropriation for 2012-2013: $187,516.500.000
UN: app. 50,000 employees worldwide
EU: app. 25,000 employees
Ford Motor Company: app 246.000 employees
Walmart: app. 2,055.000 employees
IOs present in everyday lives / easy to forget how limited they are
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1. IOs, everyday knowledge & expectations
Discussing international organizations academically:
specification / demarcation of a field for analysis & inquiry
construction / development of vocabulary usable to describe field
classification of individual cases within this field
we need to define
international organization
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2. Defining organization
Wikipedia: An organization is a social entity that hasa collective goal and is linked to an external environment
Aspects of defining organization:
autonomous: a single & independent compartment
relational: related / linked to a broader context
functional: designed / institutionalized for a particular task
permanent: created to last rather than ad hoc physical: a real-world representation
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2. Defining organization
Differentiating organizations, institutions & regimes:
institutions as sets of routinized and shared practices & behavior,
not formally organized or necessarily recognized as such, which
influences the behavior of other actors (Keohane 1989)
institutions a much broader concept then organizations including
things like the institution of friendship, regular lunch meetings, etc
regimes as implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules and
decision-making procedures around which actors expectations
converge in a given area of international relations (Krasner 1983)
regimes focused on specific issue-area & without actor quality
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2. Defining organization
Defining organizations in legal terms:
established / created through the legal act of incorporation &
through the formal intergovernmental agreement such as a treaty
IOs as subject of domestic / international law institutionalization
of a legal personality / separate legal body
organizations based on and guided by
legal norms & rules
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2. Defining organization
Defining organizations in political terms:
organizations serve diverse functions & are thus attractive by
allowing for governance / centralization of collective activities
Influence & effect of organizations on the
environment: not a one way street / organizationmight affect its creators in unintended ways
organizations depend on rules & norms and
influence behavior to be rule-conforming
organizations have resources at their disposal
once again: emphasis on designated task
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3. Defining international
need to define & relate terms stating the obvious before that:national bias reaffirmed & reproduced in the very terminology
international
domestic /
nationalintergovernmental
supranationalnon-governmental
transnational
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3. Defining international
national / domestic: anything that not relates to cross-borderactivities & involves only the sovereign nation state
in a globalized world, less & less political decisions are domestic only
intergovernmental: anything that happens between two sovereign
states & is not intended to go beyond their sovereignty
in this sense, organizations are considered as toolsor arenas
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3. Defining international
supranational:anything that goes beyond the state / creates a newlevel of agency which is situated above constituting member states
EU law breaking national law
non-governmental / transnational: anything that is beyond the state:
consequence of increased internationalization of societies / new actors
everything which is not created by international law, treaty ordecision of intergovernmental organization yet acts across borders
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4. Bringing it together: studying international organizations
IOs & three different images:
organization as tools of nation states: based on
relative power & interests of member states,
organization are influenced & instrumentalized for national ends
organization as arenas for nation states:
ideas & interests competing in an open
playing field while states still act
organizations as actors independent from nation states:identity & action of organization beyond the influence
of its member states, sometimes acting against their will
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4. Bringing it together: studying international organizations
Structuring & organizing the world of IOs:
IO membership: from particular to global
IO purpose / responsibility: from problem-specific to universal
IO functions: from informational to operational
IO authority: from voluntary to binding
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4. Bringing it together: studying international organizationsuniversal
responsibility
problem-specific
responsibility
particular
membership
global
membership
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5. Conclusion
IOs as pieces AND actors of global governance: created & maintained by nation states & dependent on their interests
emergence of independent agency / IOs might go against the will of their creators
Final answer to that depends on theoretical preferences
Next session: IR theories I: (Neo-)Realism & IOs
Mandatory readings:Mearsheimer, John J. 1994/1995: The False Promise of International Institutions,in: International Security, 19: 3, 5-49.
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Thanks for class participation,
please get started on the wiki
& see you next week!