Unit 7 Non-State Actors
Structured Anarchy
• Review State System – Sovereign States
in Anarchy
• States are not the only actors
• Difference between anarchy and chaos
– Can have stable, structured anarchy
– IGOS and NGOs can help order anarchy,
promote cooperation
• Increasing importance of IGOs, NGOs,
and MNCs.
Rise of non-state actors
• Globalization as key
– Declining cost of transportation
– Increase in speed and accuracy of information
exchange – transparent interactions
– Increase in capital fluidity, exchange
– Decrease in tariff and non-tariff barriers
• These forces combine to
– reduce transaction costs
– increase interaction and interdependence
– increase size and scale of operations
Intergovernmental Organizations
(IGO)
• States are members
• Why would states voluntarily give up
sovereignty to an IGO?
– Security - Force multiplier
– Cooperation - Achieve Collective goods
– Economic Rewards – Aid and reduced tariffs
– Political Influence – A seat at the table
• Examples: UN, NATO, WTO, NAFTA
United Nations
• History of the UN
– League of Nations
– Atlantic Charter
– San Francisco and Bretton Woods
• Purposes of the UN
– Forum
– Bureaucracy
– Promote global security
– Assist development
United Nations
• Structure
– Secretariat
– General Assembly
– ECOSOC, Committees, UNEP, ICJ
– Security Council
• Examples
– Security Council, the IAEA and Iran
– CSW and CEDAW
– WHO and Avian Flu
Non-Governmental Organizations
(NGO)
• Civil society – A different source of
legitimacy than states
• Differing motives
– Partners with states to provide services
– Competitors with states – own agendas
• Examples
– Red Cross
– Greenpeace
• Terrorists – Is Al Queda an NGO?
Multi-National Corporations
(MNC, TNC)
• Think of the MNCs as for-profit NGOs
• Extended penetration into global markets
– Decrease costs of goods
– Increase access to goods
– Harm local producers
– Threaten local culture
• MNCs as partners and competitors to
states, the issue of relative power