ETIT 102 - WEEK 3

1. ETIT 102 - WEEK 3 Defining International Relations and Basic Concepts

4. 1.International Organizations (IOs) “A body that promotes voluntary cooperation and coordination between or among its members.” There are many types of IOs, but one way of categorizing them is to distinguish between intergovernmental organizations (IGO) and supranational organizations.

5. 1.1. IGO Composed of nation-states and it promotes voluntary co-operation and coordination among its members. Decisions and agreements reached in this type of organization however are not enforceable, and the members remain independent. The crucial aspect of an IGO is that the members do not surrender any power (or sovereignty) to it. The United Nations (UN)is an IGO.

7. 1.2.Supranational Organizations Member states do surrender power in specific areas to the higher organization. Decisions taken by a supranational organization must be obeyed by the member states. Often there are courts to determine when violations have occurred, although frequently enforcement mechanisms are not as effective as they are within nation states. The European Union (EU) is partly an IGOand partly a supranational organization. Both of these elements exist in the EU.

9. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION (NGO) Increased interconnectedness, partly associated withimprovements in communications technology and transport, has given riseto literally thousands of specialisedorganisations, agencies, and groups. They are made up of private individuals, both paid and unpaid, and arecommitted to a vast range of issues, including protection of theenvironment, improving the level of basic needs in the Third World,stopping human rights abuses, delivering food and medicine to warzones,advancing religious beliefs, and promoting the cause of women. What stands out about these organisations isthat they establish networks and links between individuals acrossthe globe.

11. Multinational corporations (MNCs) A corporation that has its facilities and other assets in at least one country other than its home country. Such companies have offices and/or factories in different countries and usually have a centralized head office where they co-ordinate global management. Very large multinationals have budgets that exceed those of many small countries.

14. Globalization The acceleration and intensification of mechanisms,processes, and activities that are allegedly promoting globalinterdependence and perhaps, ultimately, global political and economicintegration. It is, therefore, a revolutionary concept, involving thedeterritorialisation of social, political, economic, and cultural life.

17. Interdepedence The condition of a relationship between two parties in which the costs ofbreaking their relations or of reducing their exchanges are roughly equalfor each of them. Ithas two dimensions: sensitivity and vulnerability. Sensitivityrefers to the degree to which states are sensitive to changes taking place inanother state. One way to measure this dimension is to examine whetherchanges in particular areas (for example, rates of inflation orunemployment) vary in similar fashion across territorial boundaries. Vulnerability refers to the distribution of costs incurred as states react tosuch changes. Thus two states may be equally sensitive to oil price rises butthey may not be equally vulnerable. One of them might find it easier thanthe other to switch to alternative supplies of energy, thereby reducing itsdependence on oil. (i.e. AmericandiversificationawayfromMiddleEasternresources)

19. Integration As a process it involves (a) amovement towards increased cooperation between states (orregionalism); (b) a gradualtransfer of authority to supranational institutions; (c) a gradualhomogenisation of values; and (d) the coming into being of a global civilsociety and with it, the construction of new forms of political community. The most advanced state of integration would be one where states wereeither federated on a global scale or allowed to atrophy altogether in favourof a global or world government.

20. Regionalism • Intensifyingpolitical and/or economic processes ofcooperation among states and other actors in particular geographic regions. • Resultsfrom theincreasing flow of goods, people, and ideas within a spatial entity whichthus becomes more integrated and cohesive. • Ensuring that regionalism andmultilateralism grow together is perhaps the most urgent issue facing trade policymakerstoday. • The stronger thecooperation among the 3 major traders of the world economy (Asia,Europe, and North America), the more likely it is for the world economyto be integrated globally, rather than be fragmented into several regionaltrade blocs.

22. Global CivilSociety - A public space where citizens and groups can engagein political activities independently of the state. - It consists of diverseNGOs that are strong enough tocounterbalance the state and, while not preventing the state from fulfillingits role as peacekeeper and arbitrator between major interests.

23. Thesignificance of NGOsfor Global Civil Society-2 1)Formpolitical communities and maintain a sense of solidarityamong their ranks. 2)Organisedon a global scale and they do not regardborders as an impediment to effective political action. 3)Do not regard the state as the only legitimate authority in the international arena. 4)Concernedwith political issues that transcendterritorial boundaries. 5)Promotea cosmopolitan ethical code that they would like to see all states accept and practise.

24. Global CivilSociety -3 Developing a strong civil society is often seen as a strategy for overcoming political tyranny and is crucial to the whole process of democratisation. Part of the architecture ofglobalisationand, as such, provides new ways for individuals to think andact politically. It provides a space for marginal groups to have a politicalvoice, it helps to create new collective identities, it increases the level ofawareness of global problems, and fosters opportunities for new forms ofglobal governance.

26. Cosmopolitanism • Ancientroots in Western civilisation, the idea of a‘cosmopolis’, or universal city, played a central role in Stoic philosophy. • A number of social and political theorists have recently resurrected the concept, most of whom as an alternative to ethnocentric nationalism. - A callfor some kind of cosmopolitanism in international relations emerged due to an increasing awareness of transnational realities onvarious levels (human rights, crime, and the environment) are beyond thecapacity of any one country to deal with effectively.

28. Global Governance-1 - The techniques, institutions, rules, norms, and legal arrangements used tomanage relations between states and to facilitate cooperative action acrossvarious issue-areas. • In the current international context, governance iscarried out in the name of the global polity by both governmental andnon-governmental organisations. • Liberalshave sought to fosterglobal governance by developing elaborate institutional arrangements topromote cooperation between states. • After early setbacks, such as thefailure of the League of Nations, the liberal approach has made aspectacular comebackafter 1945 with the formation of theUnited Nations and the development of regimes to manage the globaleconomy.

29. 3 Sources of recentsurge of interest in global governance • The end of the cold war. Thisincreased the expectation that international institutions (particularly the UN ) would play a more central role in the management of theinternational system. 2) The rise of globalisationand a newsense of ‘globality’ that pervades much contemporary thinking. 3) Theheightened awareness that our planet is confrontedby problems that requirea concerted and coordinated global approach.

30. Thanks