GS101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Moral Authority, International Criminal Court, International Labour Organization
Document Summary
Gs101 (orend) chapter 5: international law and organization. Nation states at core of global affairs and are generally most powerful actors in international system. Realists view international system as ungoverned anarchy where nation-states struggle among themselves for hard and soft power. Idealists urge nation-states to pour energies instead into a cooperative commitment to improving everyone"s lot. Goal of international law: order relations between nation-states through rational, predictable, and mutually beneficial rules of conduct (rather than through dominance of hegemon, chaos of conflict, or lawlessness of anarchy) Goal of international law is international organization; specific international institutions get created by countries to help bring this abstract goal into concrete reality. International organizations/ios: institutions created to uphold international law. Inter-governmental organizations/igos: creations of national gov. designed to help coordinate behaviour and solve common problems facing modern gov. from trade disputes to cross-border organized crime (e. g. united nations)