POLI 2057 Chapter : Chapter 12 Notes
Chapter 12 notes- International Organizations and Transnational Actors
Types of International Organizations
- IGO- international governmental organization; consists of 3 or more nation-states
o UN, OPEC
- TNC- transnational corporations; corporations that have operations in more than one
country
o MNC- multinational corporations; includes large churches
o NGO- nongovernmental organizations; advocacy groups
▪ Red Cross
The Tale of 2 IGOs
- The United Nations system (UN)
o Formed at the end of WWII in order to promote peace and development
o Purposes and principles
▪ Based on the principle of sovereign equality of all members
▪ Goals have been competing with each other
▪ Great powers- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US; given
permanent seats in the Security Council
▪ One state, one vote- a voting system in which each state has one vote,
regardless of size and population
o Organization of the UN
▪ The General Assembly
• 192 members; all have equal rights and one vote
• Provide a forum for debate on global issues and to express
international consensus
• Resolutions are not considered law and no states are compelled to
comply
• Doesn’t have a budget authority
▪ The Secretariat
• Supports UN agencies (departments)
• Target of accusations of corruption; employees took bribes toward
certain firms
• Headed by the secretariat general- Ban Ki-moon (South Korea)
▪ UN Security Council
• 15-member council within the UN in charge of dealing with threats
to international security
• Most important component in war and peace; maintain
international peace and security
• Avoid conflict in the international arena by performing deterrent,
peacekeeping, and negotiating functions
• Deterring and Countering Aggression
o No members can attack others
o US attacked Iraq because of pre-emptive self-defense
• Peacekeeping
o 2nd generation peacekeeping
o Almost always underfunded
▪ Specialized agencies
• World Bank group
• WHO- world health organization
▪ International Court of Justice
• A.k.a. world court the body that adjudicates disputes that arise over
treaty obligations
o Reform of the UN
▪ Wasteful and corrupt bureaucracy
o 4 views of the UN
▪ UN as World Government; single, democratic, global sovereign or
opposite (totalitarian)
▪ UN as Irrelevant
• Little legal or military power
▪ UN as a Tool for States
• When states seek to collaborate, the UN is useful; disagreements
can be voiced in the UN
▪ UN as Source of Norms
• Serves as a forum to set the global agenda and consensus
o Problems and Prospects for the UN
▪ Engenders great hopes and fears
▪ States must converge in order to be an important tool
▪ The UN shapes state interests; what they should focus on and how to solve
them
- The European Union (EU)
o Speaks for the community of states
o Historical Evolution of the EU
▪ The ECSC and the Treaty of Rome
• Established the European Economic Community (before the EU)
▪ From Customs Union to Single Market
• 27 members today
▪ Deepening of European Integration
• More nation-states were added; had different currencies
