International Organizations: Perspectives on Governance in the Twenty-First Century

by Pease, Kelly-Kate S.

• ISBN13: 9780130454270
• ISBN10: 0130454273
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

This book provides critical interpretations of international organizations from the perspectives of Marxism, Feminism, Realism, and Liberalism. Using case studies of current crises and events ranging the from Arab and Islamic organizations to the Palestinian uprising to the engineering of Genetically Modified Foods, it is a timely study of how organizations shape and influence world views. Using the perspectives from four approaches, Realism, Liberalism, Marxism, and Feminism, this book uses case studies to illustrate the importance of international organizations and their effect on the world. Topics are reflected by the case studies presented: International Security and the Persian Gulf Crisis and Srebrenica; Regional Security and NATO and the Arab League; Multinational Corporations and the US Clean Air Act and Genetically Modified Foods, Development and the Mexican Peso Crisis and the Indonesian Crisis; the Environment and Global Warming and Whaling; Human Rights and Yugoslavia and Rwanda. For workers in corporations with worldwide interests and for those employed by international organizations.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	1	(18)
Prior Studies of International Organizations: An Overview	2	(3)
Organization of the Text	5	(14)
International Organizations: Nuts and Bolts	19	(20)
Intergovernmental Organizations	19	(11)
The Organization of Islamic Conference	30	(3)
Nongovernmental Organizations	33	(3)
Multinational Corporations	36	(2)
Conclusion	38	(1)
Mainstream Approaches	39	(31)
Realism	39	(15)
Liberalism	54	(16)
Critical Approaches	70	(27)
Marxism	70	(15)
Feminism	85	(12)
International Security	97	(31)
The United Nations	98	(6)
Case Study 1: The Persian Gulf Crisis	104	(12)
The Security Council and Iraq after the Gulf War	116	(1)
Case Study 2: Srebrenica 1995	117	(9)
Security Council Reforms	126	(1)
Conclusion	127	(1)
Regional Security	128	(27)
Post-World War II Security Alliances	129	(1)
Nato: History, Membership, and Structure	129	(6)
Case Study 3: NATO Expansion	135	(8)
NATO after the Balkans	143	(2)
The Arab League	145	(1)
Case Study 4: Palestinian Uprising 2000	146	(7)
The Israeli-Palestinian Crisis after September 11	153	(2)
Trade	155	(22)
The History of International Trade	155	(4)
The World Trade Organization (WTO)	159	(3)
Multinational Corporations (MNCs)	162	(1)
Case Study 5: The U.S. Clean Air Act	163	(5)
Challenges for the WTO	168	(2)
Case Study 6: Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms	170	(6)
Conclusion	176	(1)
Development	177	(31)
What Is Development?	177	(3)
Debt	180	(1)
The World Bank Group	181	(3)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)	184	(2)
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)	186	(3)
The UN Development Program (UNDP)	189	(1)
Case Study 7: The Mexican Peso Crisis	190	(9)
Contagion?	199	(1)
Case Study 8: Indonesia	200	(7)
Conclusion	207	(1)
The Environment	208	(26)
The Tragedy of the Commons	208	(3)
Environmental Problems	211	(1)
The Stockholm Conference (1972)	212	(1)
The UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)	213	(1)
Efforts to Protect Biodiversity	214	(1)
The Vienna Convention of the Protection of the Ozone and the Montreal Protocol (1985)	215	(1)
The Rio Conference	216	(2)
Case Study 9: Global Warming	218	(9)
Global Warming: A Postscript	227	(1)
Case Study 10: Whaling	228	(5)
Conclusion	233	(1)
Social and Humanitarian Issues	234	(27)
Refugees	234	(3)
Major Human Rights Agreements	237	(2)
UN Agencies and Human Rights	239	(2)
Regional Human Rights Accords and Agencies	241	(1)
NGOs and Human Rights	242	(2)
Humanitarian Intervention	244	(3)
Case Study 11: Rwanda	247	(6)
Case Study 12: The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia	253	(7)
Conclusion	260	(1)
Global Governance in 2075	261	(46)
A Realist Cut	261	(5)
A Liberal Cut	266	(3)
A Marxist Cut	269	(3)
A Feminist Cut	272	(1)
Conclusion	273	(1)
Appendices
Appendix A: Covenant of the League of Nations	274	(9)
Appendix B: Charter of the United Nations	283	(19)
Appendix C: Universal Declaration of Human Rights	302	(4)
Appendix D: Purposes of the International Monetary Fund	306	(1)
Bibliography	307	(14)
Index	321

Excerpts

I WROTE THIS BOOK out of passion and frustration. International organizations are fascinating objects of stud: They are almost organic entities--evolving, changing, adapting, even dying. However, many texts on international organizations tend to view the lives of international organizations through liberal lenses. Liberal lenses are not exactly rose-colored, but they are colored by the implicit assumption that international organizations are inherently "good" and that their "good" efforts are often thwarted by organizational weaknesses, world politics, or self-interested governments. Liberalism has contributed much to our understanding of global politics, but it has its blind spots. Examining international organizations solely from a liberal vantage does a disservice to the study of international organizations and to its development as a discipline. It unnecessarily narrows analysis; worse, it suggests that just one view of the world exists. The September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the response of the "international community" highlight the need to understand the world from different perspectives in order to understand and manage complicated problems. This text brings other theoretical perspectives to bear on the study of international organizations. It integrates international organizations with international-relations theory by showing how international organizations matter in the worlds of the realist, the Marxist, and the feminist, as well as the liberal. Several people have contributed to the development of the second edition of this book. First, I thank the four reviewers who provided valuable insights and criticism: Timothy Nordstrom, University of Mississippi; Miriam Elman, Arizona State University; Lawrence LeBlanc, Marquette University; Ali R. Abootalebi, University of Wisconsin. I would also like to thank Bethany Keller, a graduate student in Webster University's International Relations Program, for her research on Indonesia. I thank my parents for their emotional support, and I would also like to acknowledge Webster University, which provided some financial assistance for research through its Faculty Research Grant Program. Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to Casey, Kelsey, and Ryley Peace. Kelly-Kate S. Peace