GNS T1L3

Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) and Interventions

How Liberalists see the world of IGOs

Would emphasise the UN system

How Realists see the world of IGOs

Would emphasise military alliances (e.g. NATO)

How Post-Colonialists see the world of IGOs

Would emphasise imperial legacy organisations (e.g. Commonwealth)

How Marxists see the world of IGOs

Would emphasise regional trade pacts (e.g. NAFTA)

How Social Constructivists see the world of IGOs

Would emphasise organisations as a manifestation of norms and ideas (e.g. human rights)

How Post-Structuralists see the world of IGOs

Would emphasise that the “international order” is continuously re-defined and re-negotiated, base on relationships of power

When was the United Nations System founded?

The UN was founded in San Francisco in 1945 with 51 member states. Today, 193 countries have ratified the charter and become members.

Understanding the UN System - What are the 6 institutions?

1. UN General Assembly
2. UN Security Council
3. UN Secretariat
4. UN Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC)
5. International Court of Justice (ICJ)
6. UN Trusteeship Council

What does the UN General Assembly do?

Resolutions, budget, monitors programmes and funds

What does the UN Security Council do?

Peace operations, sanctions

What does the UN Secretariat do?

Administration, led by UN secretary general

What does the UN Economic and Social Council do?

Coordinates specialized agencies

What does the UN International Court of Justice do?

Solves legal disputes between states

What does the UN Trusteeship Council do?

Managed former League of Nation trust territories

Examples of UN Programmes & Funds

* United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
* United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF)
* United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

UN Programmes & Funds report to…

UNGA

Example of UN Specialised agencies

* International Labour Organisation (ILO)
* World Health Organisation (WHO)
* United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (IMO)
* International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
* International Monetary Fund (IMF)
* World Bank Group

Enforcing the international order - What does the UNSC Charter, Chapter VI: “Pacific Settlement of Disputes” entail?

* Send observers and peacekeeping forces into a conflict area
* Requires the consent of all parties to a conflict (no peace enforcement)

Enforcing the international order - What does Invoking Chapter VII: “ Actions with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression” entail?

* Offers a range of measures from economic sanctions to full scale military interventions of different types (Art. 42):
* A UN led peace enforcement mission (e.g. ONUC, Congo, 1960 64).
* A mandate for a separate multinational force under another nation’s leadership (e.g. Gulf War, 1990 91).
* A mandate for an intervention by a regional organization, such as the EU, AU, NATO, ECOWAS, etc. (e.g. EU NAVFOR, Somalia, 2008 16).

What are the 4 types of **peace operations**?

* Peacemaking
* Peacekeeping
* Peace Enforcement
* Peacebuilding

What does “**peacemaking”**entail?

* Diplomatic negotiations with conflict parties
* Establish a ceasefire
* Expand ceasefire to armistice
* Create comprehensive peace settlement

What does “**peacekeeping”**entail?

* “Blue helmet” missions
* Monitoring hostilities
* Establish buffer zones, physically separate opponents
* Create checkpoints, roadblocks
* Protect civilian population and refugee camps
* May exceed self defense with a Ch. VI “robust mandate” on tactical level

What does “**peace enforcement**” entail?

* Requires a Ch. VII mandate
* Entails active military pacification measures, use of force against peacebreakers
* Requires heavily armed intervention forces
* Mostly carried out under leadership of specific member states or regional organizations

What does “**peacebuilding**” entail?

* Creating the architecture for a lasting peace
* Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former fighters
* Monitoring elections
* Providing developmental assistance
* Aiding transitional justice

Humanitarian interventions during the Cold War (c. 1945-1990)

* UN interventions were mostly limited to traditional peacekeeping
* East West antagonism in the UNSC, veto power

Humanitarian interventions Post-Cold War (190s)

* Massive surge in peacekeeping operations after 1990.
* Later: disillusionment after the UN failures in Somalia, Rwanda, and Bosnia

Humanitarian interventions- Brahimi Report (2000)

Reform of UN peace operations, new emphasis on conflict prevention and peacebuilding as well as more robust mandates and achievable objectives.

Humanitarian interventions - Responsibility to Protect (R2P) (2005)

Every state has the responsibility to protect its citizens from atrocities and war crimes. If states fail to do this, the responsibility passes to the international community. This responsibility may override a nation state’s sovereignty.

Examples of geopolitically motivated interventions

* Suez Canal Crisis (1956): Britain secures lifeline to India and passage to empire East of Suez
* Angolan Bush War (1975 1989): South Africa creates buffer zone to black regimes in the North
* Gulf War (1991): US secures access to fourth largest global oil reserves in Kuwait
* Russo Georgian War (2008): South Ossetia becomes Russia’s stepping stone to Central Asia

A liberal view of interventions -

* **Collective security**:
* The UN and other IGOs should (and do) act as a provider of collective security . They need to be empowered
* **Harmony of interests**:
* Stability in international affairs illustrates the **natural harmony of interests**: Peace enables free trade , everybody gains from security collaboration.
* **Interdependence:**
* If civil wars and other conflicts continue unchecked, **interdependence** may lead to their proliferation and destabilize entire regions.
* **Globalization**
* Has increased the degree of interdependence. There is no such thing as an irrelevant conflict.

Realist view on interventions

Interventions are conducted because they serve the national interests of states. States intervene because they want to maximize their own security. Moreover, they may believe that peace is more advantageous to them or because they can benefit from influencing the outcome of a conflict.

Marxist view on interventions

States intervene because they want to secure access to the resources of the conflict area and extend their control over the periphery.

Post-Colonial view on interventions

Interventions as a form of neo colonial policy designed to maintain or establish informal empires.

Social Constructivist view on interventions

Take the power of human rights and international law seriously. They believe that ideas like R2P or broadening concepts of security (e.g. “ human security ”) influence what states perceive as their national interests.

What is “**human security”**?

While the traditional concept of international security focuses on the security of nation states, human security emphasizes the security of individuals. It is a “bottom up approach” that broadens the definition of security by including aspects like economic security, health security, food security or environmental security. Human security is conducive to international interventions.