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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > International relations > International institutions > General
The United Nations is in a time of major crisis in the history of the organization. The product of many leading scholars on both sides of the Atlantic, this work examines whether out of the crisis of mulitlateralism engulfing the organization in the late 1980s there could arise a renewed and strengthened global body. Pursuing the theme of the dynamics of international cooperation, thirteen authors look at three principal issue-areas: the principal UN organs, leading economic subjects, and leading social subjects. Two distinguished American scholars provide concluding commentaries. Running throughout the book is an emphasis on the economic dimension to international politics.
A review of the Commonwealth Secretariat's organization, resources and performance together with an exploration of the role of the Secretary-General and a discussion of the problems of financial stringency and political strain over South Africa. It is aimed at specialists and general readers.
A review of the full range of recent official and non-official schemes for improving NATO's conventional posture, from exploitation of emerging technologies to non-provocative defences, in the light of prevailing military, political, economic and demographic trends.
International Organizations (IOs) are vital institutions in world politics in which cross-border issues can be discussed and global problems managed. This path-breaking book shows the efforts that small states have made to participate more fully in IO activities. It draws attention to the challenges created by widened participation in IOs and develops an original model of the dilemmas that both IOs and small states face as the norms of sovereign equality and the right to develop coincide. Drawing on extensive qualitative data, including more than 80 interviews conducted for this book, the authors find that the strategies which both IOs and small states adopt to balance their respective dilemmas can explain both continuity and change in their interactions with institutions ranging from UN agencies to the World Trade Organization.
World Compendium of Healthcare Facilities and Nonprofit Organizations is the most comprehensive index of critical information on healthcare facilities and nonprofits in 72 low and lower-middle-income countries as classified by the World Bank. Presented in an easily accessible format and organized in 72 country chapters, the compendium allows stakeholders to better identify where healthcare services are available and where additional resources are needed.
The Ebb and Flow of Global Governance challenges the traditionally dichotomous distinction between international intergovernmental organizations and international nongovernmental organizations. Alexandru Grigorescu argues that international organizations are best understood as falling on an 'intergovernmental-nongovernmental continuum'. The placement of organizations on this continuum is determined by how much government involvement factors into their decision-making, financing, and deliberations. Using this fine-grained conceptualization, Grigorescu uncovers numerous changes in the intergovernmental versus nongovernmental nature of global governance over the past century and a half. These changes are due primarily to ideological and institutional domestic shifts in powerful states. The Ebb and Flow of Global Governance assesses the plausibility of these arguments through archival research on a dozen organizations from the global health, labor, and technical standards realms. Grigorescu concludes that there has been a continuous ebb and flow in world politics, rather than an inexorable movement towards greater roles for nongovernmental actors, as existing literature argues.
A new edition of a dictionary of international organisations, last published in 1992, which provides an unbiased review of over 200 organisations currently in existence, with membership charts for the UN, specialised agencies and regional institutions, and a table of foundation dates.
The interconnection between international organizations (IOs) membership and democratization has become a topic of intense debate. However, the main focus of the literature so far has been on IOs created by democratic states and comprised mostly of democracies, for examples the European Union. In contrast to existing studies, this book focuses on another group of regional IOs, referred to as 'non-democratic IOs' which are organizations founded by autocracies. How do these newly emerged organizations interrelate and interact with the outside world? How do they counteract and confront the danger of democratization in their own member states and neighboring states? This book aims to address these questions by developing a new theory of authoritarian regionalism, and by combining both quantitative and qualitative analysis to test it. The quantitative analysis uses a large dataset of all regional organizations worldwide for the post-World War II period, with the aim of defining historical trends in development and the modification of regionalism over the last seven decades (1945-2015). Qualitative analysis refines and develops the argument by looking at the case of post-Soviet Eurasia. The book uncovers a new type of regionalism - 'authoritarian regionalism' and traces its historical roots as well as its implications for modern politics. The book is the first attempt to systematically investigate the functioning and the impact of authoritarian regionalism as a new phenomenon as well as its implications for democratization world-wide. The book contributes to the theory of regionalism, international organizations, studies of autocracies, foreign policy, and democratization world-wide.
The establishment of the IBSA as one of the principal platforms of South-South cooperation is one of the most notable developments in international politics during the first decade of the twenty-first century. While the concept is now frequently referred to in discussions about the Global South, there has not yet been a comprehensive and scholarly analysis of the history of the IBSA grouping and its impact on global order. This book: Offers a definitive reference history of the IBSA grouping (India, Brazil and South Africa) - a comprehensive, fact-focused narrative and analytical account from its inception as an ad hoc meeting in 2003 to the political grouping it is today. Situates the IBSA grouping in the wider context of South-South cooperation and the global shift of power away from the United States and Europe towards powers such as Brazil, India and South Africa. Provides an outlook and critically assesses what the IBSA grouping means for global order in the twenty-first century. Offering the first full-length and detailed treatment of the IBSA, this work will be of great interest to students and scholars of International organizations, international relations and the global south.
Fully revised and updated, the second edition of The African Union continues to offer the most comprehensive overview of the work of the African Union (AU), with special emphasis on its capacity to meet the challenges of building and sustaining governance institutions and security mechanisms. This new edition: Re-examines the African Union at the historic moment of the golden jubilee of the OAU, its predecessor. It examines the AU's efforts in its first decade, points out some of the organization's weaknesses, and posits options for addressing more effectively the challenges of peace, security, and governance in coming years. Critically reviews several arrangements and initiatives, including the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Analyses performance of key institutions and programs of the AU, including the Commission, the Executive Council, the Assembly, and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) as well as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Discusses how far instability and insecurity on the continent are consequences of bad governance and the lack of strategic leadership. Considers how the absence of a clearly articulated ideology may undermine the implementation of the AU Agenda. In addition to offering revised and updated chapters throughout, this edition includes one new chapter, which critically discusses the AU's new international partnerships. With an emphasis on the current work of the AU and a view to the future of the organization, this book is essential reading for students and scholars researching African Politics and international organizations.
The book examines how the European Union, which in the past had tended to be seen by India as an undervalued partner, is now increasingly part of most conversations in fields like the economy, technology, standards, best practices, development, defence and security. The book shows that the renewed focus on Europe is the result of changing geopolitics, India's own priorities, Europe's growing relevance in the post-Brexit era, China's expanding footprint in the continent, and the search for alternatives to the loss of the UK as the gateway to Europe. The uncertainty inherent in the Brexit process and with the UK ceasing/having ceased to be the traditional gateway to Europe, India has been compelled to revisit, re-examine and rethink its own policies towards Europe and search for alternatives to Britain.
International Humanitarian NGOs and State Relations: Politics, Principles and Identity examines the often discordant relationship between states and international non-governmental organisations working in the humanitarian sector. INGOs aiming to provide assistance to populations suffering from the consequences of conflicts and other human-made disasters work in the midst of very politically sensitive local dynamics. The involvement of these non-political international actors can be seen as a threat to states that see civil war as a state of exception where it is the government's prerogative to act outside 'normal' legal or moral boundaries. Drawing on first-hand experience of humanitarian operations in contexts of civil war, this book explores how the relationship works in practice and how often clashing priorities can be mediated. Using case studies of civil conflicts in Sri Lanka, Darfur, Ethiopia and Chechnya, this practice-based book brings together key issues of politics, principles and identity to build a 'negotiation structure' for analysing and understanding the relationship. The book goes on to outline a research and policy development agenda for INGOs to better adapt politically to working with states. International Humanitarian NGOs and State Relations will be a key resource for professionals and policy makers working within international humanitarian and development operations, as well as for academics and students within humanitarian and development studies who want to understand the relationship between states and humanitarian and multi-mandate organisations.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has a reputation as one of the worst human rights situations in the world. This book utilizes a unique international law perspective to examine the actions and inactions of North Korea with regard to international security and human rights. Adopting political, military, historical and legal perspectives, the book explores how the two issues of nuclear weapons and the human rights abuses in North Korea are interconnected, and why the international community should apply the same international law framework to find a solution for both. Drawing on eyewitness accounts, such as refugee and defector testimony, Morse Tan offers a real-life story of North Korea that covers the pertinent law, and constructive approaches of its regime. Tan examines the specific objectives and actions of the North Korean government, and measures these according to international legal obligations such as applicable treaty law, jus cogens norms, and customary international law. The book concludes by offering solutions for dealing with international security surrounding the Korean Peninsula, and forwards a proposal for the creation of a tribunal to prosecute those at the top of the regime for international crimes and human rights abuses. As a project exploring the extremes of international law violation, this book will be of great interest and use to readers interested in the history, and political and legal implications of the strategies employed by the North Korea government.
This book presents a challenge to the discipline of international relations (IR) to rethink itself, in the light of both its own modern origins, and the two centuries of world history that have shaped it. By tracking the development of thinking about IR, and the practice of world politics, this book shows how they relate to each other across five time periods from nineteenth-century colonialism, through two world wars, the Cold War and decolonization, to twenty-first-century globalization. It gives equal weight to both the neglected voices and histories of the Global South, and the traditionally dominant perspectives of the West, showing how they have moved from nearly complete separation to the beginnings of significant integration. The authors argue that IR needs to continue this globalizing movement if it is to cope with the rapidly emerging post-Western world order, with its more diffuse distribution of wealth, power and cultural authority.
This book critically examines the possible dilution of the neutrality principle of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in internal armed conflicts. It begins with the proposition that the intervention of ICRC in internal armed conflicts led to compromises in neutrality, and questioned the autonomy and independence of the organization. The book also argues that the field operations of the international humanitarian organizations during internal armed conflicts are dependent on the authority exercised by the state in whose territory the conflict persists. The ICRC's involvement in Sri Lanka and Sudan provides empirical support to validate these propositions and arguments. The cases also show that for the ICRC, it is hard to be neutral and impartial in situations of internal armed conflicts and such conflicts present formidable challenges to maintain its organization autonomy as well. The larger purpose of the book is to contribute to the policy re/formulation of the international humanitarian organizations in internal armed conflict, the most significant challenge in the field at present.
The field of peacemaking is in turbulent change. There are more peacemaking actors than before but fewer success stories, and an increasing number of violent conflicts tend to resist negotiated agreements. Tools and practices created for traditional inter- and intra-state conflicts have become ineffective and revision of old mediation practices is called for. This book examines how the private peacemaking organisations have faced this challenge. In the 21st century, private peacemakers have become a central part of peace diplomacy and have appeared as flexible actors whose innovative thinking paves the way for reconsidering and reinventing old practices of mediation. Instead of emphasizing the act of resolution, a new emphasis is given to the transformation of violence into a peace system, the complexity of conflict and the inadequateness of rational management. Furthermore, this shift has brought civic society actors from the field of reconciliation to the field of peace mediation. This new pragmatic approach under development can be called dialogic mediation.
International organisations (IOs) are considered fundamental in addressing global problems, but how effective are they? Conflict (war), human rights, global health, financial governance, international trade, regionalisation, development and the environment are all issues that international organisations have been created to address. This book looks at these eight key issue areas and guides the reader through an analysis of the successes and failures of international organisations in solving issues in global politics. With an introduction to international relations theory, it incorporates the best and most up-to-date scholarly research, and applies it to examples from around the world to show how to answer the question, 'Are IOs a help or a hindrance?' This textbook is an essential resource for courses on global governance, international organisations and international relations. Including an expanded further reading list for each global issue, as well as a thorough bibliography of the most up-to-date research, this is a resource that will be useful during study and on into the future.
This volume is a key text for understanding the major regional international organizations of the Middle East. Analysing the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Arab-Maghreb Union in a concise and accessible format, it explores their successes and failures across their full range of activities (economic, social, and political), while contextualising the reasons why many consider that these organizations have stalled. The book: - assesses the reasons why IOs in the Middle East are under-developed relative to neighbouring regional organizations; - explores their history, evolution, and structure, while considering the successes and failures of each IO; - analyses the reasons for the specific difficulties faced by each organization through the context of intra-regional relations; - develops a new framework for analysing the forces that have shaped these bodies and challenges the existing narrative that largely ignores the achievements and prospects of the organizations; - considers the likely impact of the Arab Spring upon the future development of these frequently overlooked regional international organizations. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Middle East studies, international organizations, and global governance, as well as diplomats and policymakers
Regional associations have become major players in international politics and economics. The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), composed of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, is considered as a player which will strengthen the international influence and international trade of the post-socialist countries. It is intended to become a parallel association to the European Union. This comprehensive volume considers the potential global role of the EEU. A major problem outlined is the balancing of relations between the EU and the West on the one hand, and China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on the other. The book explores the impact of the global crisis as well as a consideration of the EEU in the world system of states. It also examines the EEU's relationship with other regional developments, in relation to the EU and to the outer circle of post-socialist states that joined neither the EU nor the EEU. It concludes by considering Eurasia in the Asian context, looking at the two central Asian countries (Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), relations with China and the relationship between the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the EEU. This book was originally published as a special issue of European Politics and Society.
This book provides rigorous analysis of the wide range of questions surrounding the role of international institutions in governing global business, especially multinational enterprises (MNEs). The analysis, both theoretical and empirical, focuses on the corporate governance of MNEs and to what extent their management takes into account the negative effects of their activities. Also discussed are: how nation states and international institutions control the activities of MNEs, and how the role and strategies of international institutions can be changed to minimise any negative effects without hampering the positive aspects and effects of MNEs.Besides the general questions of corporate governance, the fundamental differences between shareholder and stakeholder concepts are also carefully examined. A number of moral aspects in corporate governance are touched upon including the effect of international entrepreneurial activities on wages, labour markets and environmental issues. International Institutions and Multinational Enterprises is a fascinating book that will appeal to scholars of international and development economics, international business management and institutional economics. NGOs and policymakers involved in international trade, monetary and development policy formulation and associated institutions will also find much to interest them.
Despite the large number of regional and global summits there is very little known about the functioning and impact of this particular type of diplomatic practice. While recognizing that the growing importance of summits is a universal phenomenon, this volume takes advantage of the richness of the Americas experiment to offer a theoretically grounded comparative analysis of contemporary summitry. The book addresses questions such as: How effective have summits been ? How have civil society and other non-state actors been involved in summits? How have summits impacted on the management of regional affairs? Filling a significant void in the literature, this volume offers an original contribution helping to understand how summitry has become a central feature of world politics. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of diplomacy, international organizations, and global/regional governance.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is one of the most important international organizations in existence today. It contains a set of disciplines that affect the ability of governments to impose trade restrictions, and has helped to support the steady expansion of international trade since the 1950s. The WTO has been the focus of vociferous protests by anti-globalization activists and has experienced great difficulties in agreeing to new trade rules since its establishment. At the same time it has become the premier global forum for the settlement of trade disputes and has proven to provide a robust framework for international cooperation in the trade area. This book separates the facts from the propaganda and provides an accessible overview of the WTO's history, structure and policies as well as a discussion of the future of the organization. It also confronts the criticisms of the WTO and assesses their validity. New to the second edition: discussion of legislative amendments to the WTO Agreement, in particular Aid for Trade, the Agreement on Trade Facilitation and the Bali Package evaluation of case law developments and major disputes since 2007, including analysis of the WTO and the financial crisis - in particular the trade policy responses of WTO Members and institutional response reflection on recent shifts to mega-regional agreements (TPP, TISA, TTIP) and their implications what next post Bali? Fully updated throughout, this book continues to be essential reading for students of international trade, international political economy, commercial law and international organizations as well as activists and others interested in a balanced account of a key global institution.
If the growing demand for global governance breathed new life into the established G7/8 and the more recent G20, it raised questions about the evolving and optimal relationship between them. One answer arose from the G20's third summit, when it proclaimed the G20 would govern global finance and economics, while the old G8 would focus on development and security. Yet this rough division of labour did not address which issues lay within each category and how interconnections would be addressed to create comprehensive, coherent global governance for a complex world. This volume considers these questions. It explores the summits' performance, the division of labour during their coexistence, their comparative strengths and limitations, and how the future partnership could be improved to benefit the global community. The authors explain the recent evolution and performance of the G8 and G20 summits and their evolving empirical relationship. They consider the G8/G20 relationship with other actors engaged in global governance, notably the major multilateral organizations and civil society. They assess G7/8 and G20 effectiveness and accountability. And they identify, based on this empirical and analytical foundation, how the relationship can be improved for today's tightly wired world. |
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