IO history and Research Flashcards
Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni
'’What kills international oranisations? When and why international organisations terminate’’
IGO
intergovernmetnal organization
ways for IOs to die
5
- Expiration
- Dissolution
- Replacement
- Merger
- Disuse
Power volatility
- Gunitsky
- annual changes in relative power among major states
Causes for IO death
6
-Geopolitical/exogenous shocks: Major shifts in international power balances
- major political and economic changes/shocks (reduce collective utility to states of adhering to existing institutions)
- institutional features (adaptability/resilience)
- small membership
- narrow scope
- low centralisation
functionalist theories
states create IOs to reduce the transaction cost of cooperation, states are expected to abandon IOs if they no longer seem to present efficient solutions to joint cooperation problems
‘liability of youth’ / time and sequencing
younger IGOs have a higher mortality rate due to limited:
- learning
- adaptation
- coordination effects
!relative age matters: early developments become embedded in the IGos, which influences mortality rates
historical institutionalism
IOs are subject to strong lock-in effects from positive feedback mechanisms; the longer an IO exists, the more costly it is to cease to exist
- Institutions adjust their policy and routines in coordination with IOs
the influence of scope/function on mortality rates of IOs
IGOs with broader mandates are more adaptable on average
mortality rates high politics v. technological IGOs
IGOs that deal with high politics matters have high mortality rates.
technological IGOs have a low mortality rate (fulfil technological needs in times of crises + less subject to political shifts)
!!!!Eilstrup-Sangiovanni has no conclusive finding: in some cases this theory doesn’t work (e.g. high morality rates technical IGOs during the Great Depression)
survival of IOs founded prior to 1914
first-comer status may play a role in the survival of these IOs
European Commission for the Danube / CED
6
- typical death profile
- one of the Euroepan River Commissions (e.g. also the Central Commission for Navigation of the Rhine)
- 1856-1939
- founded to keep European waterways open to traffic and commerce
- dissolution in 1940 due to WW2; germany found the Treaty of Versaille unfair
- after the war: efforts to re-establish (USSR blocked them)
Julia Gray
2018
Life, Death or Zombie? The vitality of international organizations
- looks at economic IOs between 1995 and 2015
- finds that IO research is biased: only pays attention to actions of IOs, which doesn’t include the study of ‘zombie-IOs’ as they don’t act anymore
zombie IO (Julia Gray)
stage between living/functioning IO and terminated IO
Gray 2 influences on the survival of IOs
- the more bureaucratic autonomy, the higher the chances of survival
- the more attractive the locations of the IOs, the higher the chance of survival
internationalism of the 19th century
6
- active transnational civil society
- participation in IOs seen as sign of power
- global governance in the field of technical coordination
- assumption that internatinoal cooperation leads to peace
- difference between IOs, NGOs, etc. not yet distinguishable
- IOs were ambivalent (instruments of western imperialism + ‘‘back door’’ access to power for non-wetern states and marginalized political groups
internationalism
contemporary ideological basis of transnational movements
Congress of Vienna
- 1814-1815
- start of political internationalism
1860-1865
take-off period of IOs (agnecy status, stability, visibility, interconnectedness as a tool of power)
cause: industrialisation
foundations from IOs 1860s
- civil societies
- epistemic communities (experts)
- states
1930s
constant increase in IOs
Arnold Toynbee: thoroughgoing internationalism
post WW1
more labour related and proffesional organizations
- e.g. Bank for International Settlements 1931 (war debts)
IOs and inernatinoalism during the wars
- many parts shifted outside of Europe
- continued working during WW2
- new views/concerns on IOs with the development of IR theories
goal League of Nations
to prevent another war
to promote international co-operation
drivers behind the League of Nations
- civil society and individuals (intellectual plan)
- active role of the US (Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points plan)
- realisation by GB, Fr, Italy
Covenant of the League of Nations
- adopted 29 April 1919
- ratification 10 January 1920
- rather short: 26 articles
instruments to achieve the League of Nations’ goal
- disarmament
- peaceful resolution of disputes (art. 12-17)
- conflict prevention (16,17,18,20)
Disarmament problem League of Nations
no comprehensive prohibition on the use of force in international politics -> military actions if states disagreed on something
Structure of the League of Nations
6
- Assembly
- Council of the League
- Permanent Court of Justice
- International Labour Organisation
- Secretariat
- Special Commissions
League of Nations General Assembly
4
- plenary organ
- pooling
- may deal with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting peace in the World
- Decision-making mostly by unanimity
The Council of the League of Nations
7
- executive body
- delegation: 6 imperial powers (some eventually lost their places during WW2) + 4 non-permanent members
- 6 permanent members: Japan, Germany, SU, France, GB, Italy
- not-represented states could sit in if it had to do with their interests
- mandate: matters of peace and security
- decision making by unanimity (exc. procedural matters + adoptions for reports on international disputes)
- more a forum than an actor: discussion and production of reports, conflict resolution done by individual member-states
Permanent Secretariat League of Nations
5
- Geneva
- Secretary General appointed by the Concil with the approval of the majority of the Assembly
- taks: support the Assembly and Council
- several departments
- senior leadership by directors with each leading a specific section (e.g. finance, mandates)
Secretary Generals of the League of Nations
First and most important: Sir Eric Drummond (helped design the secretariat + selected member-states roles based on qualities)
- Joseph Avenol (France)
- Se’an Lester (Ireland)
Permanent Court of Justice
- 1921
- 9 judges
- dealt with 30 cases until 1940
- member states brought their disputes to the court
The League of Nation’s work
- Technical work in health section
- developing economic and financial cooperation
- remained related to colonial concepts (former colonies of defeated states became mandates)
The failure of the League of Nations
7
- WW2 = failing to achieve international peace and security
- helpless to end anti-Semitism, forced migration and the rise of fascism
- disarmament wasn’t succesful and became contested (debate: maybe it was a good idea to supply weapons balanced)
- structure weakness in enforcement of the Convenant
- economic issues
- rising nationalism in member states
- no collective defence
Open structure League of Nations
informal/open structure with states, IOs, civil servants
membership was a question of interpretation
ambivalent quality of contacts between the League of Nations, IOs and international politics: informal contracts, governmental influences, private money (limited funds)
The League of Nations after WW2
plan to transfer its existing IOs under their own supervision -> only few went through
End of the League of Nations
1946
influence of the League of Nations on the world of IOs
- idea of far-reaching networks
- interest in the agenda of the Secretariat (first internatinoal civil service body + agenda highlights inclusion and exclusion)
- historiographic revolution (global context)
- League is crucial for understanding the UN system and development
Fascist Internationalism and International Organizations during WW2
- fascist IOs: international law, economics, totalitarian universe plans
- 3 axes: Italy, Germany, Japan
- German plan for a fascist League of Nations
Fascist internationalism Italy
1934 conference in Montreux
NSDAP didn’t send a delegation -> weak
German fasccist Internationalism
Deutsche Kongress-Zentrale controlled German participatino in internaitonal gatherings, lobbied for Germany as host country for gathering, collected IO archives from other countries (goal: own League)
Japanese fascist Internationalism
semi-official agency of cultural policy for autocratic regime Tokyo
IOs during WW2
3
- Trojan horses (concealing political intrusion or undermining, useful for espionage)
- Europian periphery countries replaced functions Paris, London and Berlin
- Reshaping international structures of governance and relief coordination at the end of the war
Process of shaping the UN
4 dates
January 1942 (Washington) = the 26 Allied Powers sign the Declaration by the United Nations
Oct. 1943 = Moscow Declaraton: US, USSR, UK and China show the intention to create a ‘general’ IO
Nov. 1943 (Tehran) = Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt mention ‘ world family of democratic nations’
April 1945 (San Francisco) = UN Conference on IO to talk about diagreements between member states
1945 Conference of San Francisco
- old IOs and institutions were gathered in the UN
- supervision duties of hosting states disappeared
- regional IOs became the centre of regional cooperation
UN as zero-hour for the analysis of global governance
- Modern categorization by the UN made a difference between NGOs and IGOs (eliminated informal, semi-official nature of the League of Nations)
- Many NGOs lost their archives during WW2 -> remained underrepresented in the network of ir during the cold war period
What was the first IO ever established?
1815
Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine
- Strasbourg
- 5 members
