International Organizations and International Relations
Christopher Saut
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Introduction
International Relations is known to begin with and focuses on States especially from a political perspective where it is seen that states have power, both military and economic and that other institutions or individuals do not have.In international law, states are recognized as actors whilst other institutions (or, for that matter, individuals) are not. And yet, international organizations (IOs) are attracting increasing attention, both positive and negative in the international community.
International organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), and the World Bank are important actors in the critical episodes of international politics, with power in mediation, dispute resolution, peace keeping, applying sanctions and others. Where in other words it means as; organizations that are created by agreement among states rather than by private individuals. however, were all created by treaties signed by states and are thus intergovernmental institutions.
An international organizations can be defined as 'an institutional agreement between members of an international system in order to achieve objectives according to systemic conditions, reflecting attributes, aspirations and concerns of its members'. And what gives the basic rule of them is the sovereignty of the nation-state. According to Abbot and Snidal, they also help in managing various key areas of international concern, from global health policy to the monetary policies around the world
States use international organizations as engines for cooperation. Due to the cause of that states can limit or extend their autonomy, interfering in their activity, restructure or dissolving them. One of the main reasons why states want to establish or participate as members of international organizations is related to the fact that they delegate authority in matters that require expertise, knowledge, information, time and resources that are not available at all times. Even centralization may alter the perceptions of the states in the context of complex interactions between them.
After the Second World War, International Organizations started to emerge as actors in the International Relations. It was the start of an era where the relations of international politics and formal organizational agreements became a part of international relations. Afterwards, during Cold War Era, where there were many international disputes such as the Vietnam War, International Financial Crisis, and interdependence problem, most of the people were suggesting IO as a solution.
The reason behind this is because the world was in desperate need of a collective action in solving problems rather than a single source of help from a powerful state. Therefore, multilateral treaty-based agreements, such as the ones from United Nations, has played significant role in settling disputes.
International Regimes can be defined as rules, norms, principles and procedures in shaping international behavior. The word regime is used to explain international governance in a deeper sense. International regime focuses on the aspect of how rules in the international world can shape government's actions.Here, the four elements of international regime, principles and norms become the normative underlying structure and rules and decision-making process as an authoritative order for each specific issues.
