The “Organizational Development” of International Organizations

1971 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 917-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe C. Schmitter

Inquiry into the nature and role of international organizations has not been a noticeably cumulative enterprise. Descriptive lacunae have been filled, new and more reliable techniques of observation and measurement have been introduced, and more sophisticated and powerful instruments of analysis have been brought to bear on various problems—all signs of change, even of progress—but the field as a whole remains “notorious for its lack of systematic and testable theory.” This state of affairs has been lamented generally and has been contrasted specifically with the situation which prevails in international organization's “stepfield” of regional integration. Here, previous paradigms and conceptual frameworks have been scrutinized critically and constructively; alternative measures and additional hypotheses have been proposed; originally divergent “perspectives” have acquired convergent properties; and speculative reformalizations have been advanced which seek to build upon past criticisms.

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 7-11
Author(s):  
Malek Abdel-Shehid

Calypso is a popular Caribbean musical genre that originated in the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The genre was developed primarily by enslaved West Africans brought to the region via the transatlantic slave trade during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although West-African Kaiso music was a major influence, the genre has also been shaped by other African genres, and by Indian, British, French, and Spanish musical cultures. Emerging in the early twentieth century, Calypso became a tool of resistance by Afro-Caribbean working-class Trinbagonians. Calypso flourished in Trinidad due to a combination of factors—namely, the migration of Afro-Caribbean people from across the region in search of upward social mobility. These people sought to expose the injustices perpetrated by a foreign European and a domestic elite against labourers in industries such as petroleum extraction. The genre is heavily anti-colonial, anti-imperial, and anti-elitist, and it advocated for regional integration. Although this did not occur immediately, Calypsonians sought to establish unity across the region regardless of race, nationality, and class through their songwriting and performing. Today, Calypso remains a unifying force and an important part of Caribbean culture. Considering Calypso's history and purpose, as well as its ever-changing creators and audiences, this essay will demonstrate that the goal of regional integration is not possible without cultural sovereignty.


Author(s):  
Antoine Vandemoorteele

This article analyzes the role of the European Union (EU) and Canada in the promotion of Security Sector Reforms (SSR) activities in two regional organizations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The concept of SSR seeks to address the effective governance of security in post-conflict environment by transforming the security institutions within a country in order for them to have more efficient, legitimate and democratic role in implementing security. Recent debates within the EU have led to the adoption of an SSR concept from the Council and a new strategy from the European Commission on the SSR activities. Within the framework of the ESDP, the EU has positioned itself as a leading actor, in this domain, including in its crisis management operations. On the other hand, Canada, through its whole-of government and human security programs has also been an important actor in the promotion of SSR activities. Yet, even though several international organizations (including the United Nations, the OSCE and NATO) are effectively doing SSR activities on the ground, there does not exist a common framework within any of these organizations despite the role of the EU and Canada. As such, it is surprising to found no global common policy for SSR while this approach is precisely holistic in its foundations. Taking these elements into consideration, this paper analyzes two specific aspects : a) the absence of a common policy framework within international organizations and b) the major differences between the approaches of the OSCE and NATO in the domain of SSR and the implications for the EU and Canada’ roles.   Full extt available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v3i2.186


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
GULNARA A. KRASNOVA ◽  

The article is devoted to the development of educational export, which is one of the priorities of state policy. In 2018, the Federal project ‘Export of education’ of the national project ‘Education’ was launched, which set the task of doubling the number of international students in Russia by 2024. The tasks set are impossible without state support, which is to create favorable conditions for its development at the national (system of support and development of export of Russian education) and interstate (in the framework of cooperation with foreign countries, participation in regional integration associations, international organizations and forums) levels. Taking into account the analysis of international and Russian experience of export support, the author of the article developed and described a model of export support for Russian education, which has its own specific industry characteristics. The model for supporting the export of Russian education includes organizational, legal, informational, financial, and content blocks.


Author(s):  
Astrid Kjeldgaard-Pedersen

This book scrutinizes the relationship between the concept of international legal personality as a theoretical construct and the position of the individual as a matter of positive international law. By testing four main theoretical conceptions of international legal personality against historical and existing international legal norms that govern individuals, the book argues that the common narrative about the development of the role of the individual in international law is flawed. Contrary to conventional wisdom, international law did not apply to States alone until the Second World War, only to transform during the second half of the twentieth century to include individuals as its subjects. Rather, the answer to the question of individual rights and obligations under international law is—and always was—solely contingent upon the interpretation of international legal norms. It follows, of course, that the entities governed by a particular norm tell us nothing about the legal system to which that norm belongs. Instead, the distinction between international and national legal norms turns exclusively on the nature of their respective sources. Against the background of these insights, the book shows how present-day international lawyers continue to allow an idea, which was never more than a scholarly invention of the nineteenth century, to influence the interpretation and application of contemporary international law. This state of affairs has significant real-world ramifications as international legal rights and obligations of individuals (and other non-State entities) are frequently applied more restrictively than interpretation without presumptions regarding ‘personality’ would merit.


Author(s):  
Miriam Bak McKenna

Abstract Situating itself in current debates over the international legal archive, this article delves into the material and conceptual implications of architecture for international law. To do so I trace the architectural developments of international law’s organizational and administrative spaces during the early to mid twentieth century. These architectural endeavours unfolded in three main stages: the years 1922–1926, during which the International Labour Organization (ILO) building, the first building exclusively designed for an international organization was constructed; the years 1927–1937 which saw the great polemic between modernist and classical architects over the building of the Palace of Nations; and the years 1947–1952, with the triumph of modernism, represented by the UN Headquarters in New York. These events provide an illuminating allegorical insight into the physical manifestation, modes of self-expression, and transformation of international law during this era, particularly the relationship between international law and the function and role of international organizations.


1969 ◽  
Vol 8 (I1) ◽  
pp. xi-xii

The contents of ILM for the period from 1962 to 1969 reflect several significant developments: (1) the entry on the international scene of many new countries and their establishment of relations with the developed countries, particularly in the fields of commerce and trade and of investment; (2) the prevalence of armed conflict and the use of military force in the unsettled conditions resulting from the decolonization process and from continued antagonisms between the superpowers; (3) the pervasive role of international organizations, both global and regional, general and specialized; and (4) the continued predominance of national courts in the judicial consideration of questions of international law and the shift from general to specialized tribunals in the resolution of disputes by international arbitration and adjudication.


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