EXAM Flashcards
The State
The main decision tool in international relations from the 19th century. The state has the power to create regulations, thus international organizations.
Agreements between states through diplomatic consensus allowed to achieve stability in the world after World War II.
What is an international Organization?
It is considered a formal organization with structure established by agreements between its members, whether they are government representatives or not, in order to pursue common interests.
Characteristics of International Organization
- Multilateral forums. Every IO has a physical space where they can reach agreements, put policies into action, etc. All members participate in it. Members negotiate the implementation of agreements. Examples include the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and G20.
- Establish dispute settlement mechanisms between member states.
- Offer technical assistance. To the member states, government officials, staff in many fields to reach those goals.
- Elaborate norms and regulations.
Reasons that explain the creation of IOs
- The first is to help stabilize an international order and a set of political arrangements to achieve that objective. This stability benefits powerful states because that goal does not affect their privilege and power.
- The second is to enhance the cooperation between the states to overcome problems in the international field and increase collective well-being.
IOs through the lens of realism
Foundations: International Organizations are tools in states’ struggle for power.
Main Actor: The state is perceived as a rational actor.
Characteristics: The powerful states decide what order should prevail in the world.
Power plays a fundamental role in explaining the existence of IO’s.
The IO’s have little independent influence on member states.
OI’s have no power of enforcement.
Cooperation only appears when the powerful states feel threatened, and they try to create alliances.
IOs through the lens of Liberal Internationalism
Foundations: It represents an optimistic vision of interstate cooperation.
Main Actor: State is
perceived as something analogous to civil society in the internal sphere.
Characteristics: Cooperation and interaction between states are essential elements in the pursuit of a pacific and prosperous world.
The norms and standards established by IO’s play a fundamental role in regulating the behavior of states.
States cooperate to carry out collective actions.
IOs through the lens of Neoliberalism
Foundations: International organizations should resolve and manage transnational problems in a peaceful, human, and sometimes legal way.
Main Actor: The state is perceived as a rational actor but interacts with other actors.
Characteristics: In the international interconnectedness the mutual dependence between states is highly important to explain the creation of OI’s and their cooperation with it.
State carries out a cost-benefit calculation on how to adjust national policies to changing international situation to resolve transnational problems.
The world order is characterized for a transnational cooperation and less national separateness.
The mutual dependence (interdependence) between states allows IO’s will be relevant in international system.
IOs through the lens of Constructivism
Foundations: International organizations are independent social agents that regulate the behavior of states and modify the identity and interest of states.
Main Actor: The state is perceived as an adaptative actor.
Characteristics:
OI’s can contribute to make changes in the international system.
IO’s produce international norms to shape the behaviors of States. States adapt international norms of appropriate state behaviour to guide their policies and domestic structures.
OI’s can apply two mechanism to influence in the behaviors of State: i) incentives and sanctions, and ii) norms to persuade it.
The main functions of OI’s are the construction of values and norms.
What is the UNCTAD
UNCTAD, which is governed by its 195 member states, is the UN body responsible for dealing with economic and sustainable development issues with a focus on trade, finance, investment and technology.
It helps developing and least developed countries to participate equitably in the global economy.
UNCTAD works on its three pillars approach: research and analysis, consensus building and technical cooperation.
UNCTAD principles: established in the first conference in 1964
- every country has the sovereignty right to freely dispose of their natural resources to promote economic relations between countries
- there shall be not discrimination based on difference in socio-economic systems
Challenges for UNCTAD
They focus on resolving the problems that affected developing countries
social conflicts and tensions that generate economic crises.
- poverty must be eradicated completely
- difference in standard of livings between developing and developed countries aren’t reduced
- external debt has become the main limitation to resolve the financial problems and economic development of developing countries
Economic globalization
Refers to the growing interdependence of the world’s economies as a result of the increase in cross-border trade in goods and services, international capital flows and rapid, and wider dissemination of technologies.
The international economic relations have been configured by two features:
1. Technology
2. Economic liberalism
Objectives of GATT
It is a multilateral agreement of trade that includes duties and rights:
- elimination of barriers in international trade and promotion of free trade based on principles like non discrimination and reciprocity
tariffs, taxes…
- abolishing practices which distort competition in international trade
Three types of subsidies that can damage int. trade.
- one countries subsidies can hurt a domestic industry in an importing country
- subsidies can hurt rival exporters from another country when the two compete in the third market
- domestic subsidies in one country can hurt exporters trying to compete in the subsidizing country’s domestic market
The effects of technical barriers to trade
- cause a limited choice of goods and, therefore, would force customers to pay higher prices and accept low quality.
- trade barriers generally favor rich countries because these countries tend to set international trade policies and standards
Objectives of WTO
Main objective: free flow of goods and services.
improve people’s life
administering and applying multilateral trade agreements
assisting developing countries with technical assistance and training courses
overseeing WTO agreements
settling trade disputes
acting as a forum to hold multilateral trade negotiations.
The bodies of WTO:
WTO
ministerial conference
general council
councils and committees (most relevant)
WIPO → intellectual property rights
committee → development
environment (decision making is by consensus)
Dispute settlement mechanism → OBJECTIVES
- provide security and predictability to the multilateral trade system
favor solutions of mutual agreement - clarify provisions of WTO agreement through interpretation
- preserve the rights and duties of member countries
- 1 year without appeal, 1 year 3 months with appeal
DOHA development agreement: agenda
- agriculture (more market access)
- reduction of non-tariff barriers
- to improve the market of services
- to improve the free trade of environmental products
The Bretton Wood system
- after great depression, high inflaiton rates worldwide and the 2 WW, countries decided to design a framework of international cooperation
- 44 countries met to design it in 1944
- created IMF, World Bank, fixed exchange rate pegged to US dollar, established US dollar pegged to gold.
