scholarly journals The Reassertion of National Sovereignty

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Gisela Hirschmann
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Member States

Abstract International organizations (io s) have repeatedly been challenged in their existence. In this essay, I review arguments about the causes of their decline and survival in existing research. While the majority of research has focused on structural pressures such as geopolitical crises, I argue that io s can also be threatened by member-states reasserting their sovereignty, for example through budget cuts, non-compliance with core norms, obstruction of staff appointments and membership withdrawal. More systematic research is required to investigate when these challenges are more likely to lead to the demise of io s and which factors make io s survive these challenges.

scholarly journals International organizations' responses to member state contestation: from inertia to resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 1963-1981
Author(s):  
Gisela Hirschmann
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Threat Perception ◽  
Institutional Changes ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
Member States ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
Relevant Factors

Abstract International organizations (IOs) play a key role in promoting multilateral cooperation on critical transnational issues. Yet, their authority has increasingly been contested by member states that cut financial contributions or even withdraw their membership. How do IOs respond to such contestation? While the existing literature has mostly focused on reactions by other member states, I argue in this article that our understanding of IOs' responses to contestation remains incomplete without an analysis of IO bureaucracies. I propose a conceptual framework to analyse three types of bureaucratic responses: inertia, i.e. no immediate response; adaptation, i.e. institutional changes to maintain the support of the challenging member state(s); and resilience-building, i.e. developing organizational capacities to limit contestation. I argue that each of these responses is shaped by specific bureaucratic mechanisms, namely hunkering, negotiation, framing, coalition-building, shaming and professionalization. Based on a comparative within-case study analysing the reactions of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to budget cuts by the Reagan, Bush and Trump administrations, I further theorize that the organization's threat perception, the position of other member states and bureaucratic leadership are relevant factors that need to be considered to explain the variation in IO responses to contestation.

Compensating for limitations in domestic output performance? Member state delegation of policy competencies to regional international organizations

2020 ◽  
pp. 004711782097032
Author(s):  
Diana Panke
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Policy Area ◽  
Member States ◽  
Domestic Output ◽  
Window Dressing ◽  
Output Performance ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Energy States

Cooperation in regional international organizations (RIOs) can help member states to work toward and perhaps achieve policy goals that would not be feasible unilaterally. Thus, RIOs might be used as a means of states to compensate for domestic shortcomings in output performance. Do states equip RIOs with policy competencies in order to compensate corresponding domestic performance shortcomings? The analysis of a novel database on policy competencies of 76 RIOs between 1945 and 2015 reveals that usually RIOs are not usually used as window-dressing devices by which states disguise limited domestic output performance. Instead, governments tend to equip RIOs with policy competencies in order to further strengthen their already good output performance in most policy areas. However, in the policy area, ‘energy’ states tend to confer more competencies to their respective RIOs, the worse they perform domestically, indicating that output-related compensation dynamics might be at play in this field.

scholarly journals The politics of crisis management by regional and international organizations in fighting against a global pandemic: the member states at a crossroads

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232098451
Author(s):  
Steven Van Hecke ◽  
Harald Fuhr ◽  
Wouter Wolfs
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Management ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Added Value ◽  
World Health ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Turbulent Times ◽  
Health Organization

Despite new challenges like climate change and digitalization, global and regional organizations recently went through turbulent times due to a lack of support from several of their member states. Next to this crisis of multilateralism, the COVID-19 pandemic now seems to question the added value of international organizations for addressing global governance issues more specifically. This article analyses this double challenge that several organizations are facing and compares their ways of managing the crisis by looking at their institutional and political context, their governance structure, and their behaviour during the pandemic until June 2020. More specifically, it will explain the different and fragmented responses of the World Health Organization, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund/World Bank. With the aim of understanding the old and new problems that these international organizations are trying to solve, this article argues that the level of autonomy vis-a-vis the member states is crucial for understanding the politics of crisis management. Points for practitioners As intergovernmental bodies, international organizations require authorization by their member states. Since they also need funding for their operations, different degrees of autonomy also matter for reacting to emerging challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The potential for international organizations is limited, though through proactive and bold initiatives, they can seize the opportunity of the crisis and partly overcome institutional and political constraints.

Piercing the Corporate Veil: The Responsibility of Member states of an International Organization

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Odette Murray
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Member State ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Member States ◽  
Draft Article ◽  
Legal Limit ◽  
Primary Rule

AbstractThis paper applies two manifestations of the principle of good faith – pacta sunt servanda and the doctrine of abuse of rights – to the complex relationship between member states and international organizations. The paper argues that these existing doctrines operate as a legal limit on the conduct of states when creating, controlling and functioning within international organizations. The paper begins by exploring an innovative provision in the International Law Commission's recently finalised Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organisations – Draft Article 61 – according to which a member state will bear international responsibility for the act of an international organization where the member state uses the organization to circumvent its own international obligations. Examining the development of Draft Article 61 and the jurisprudence upon which it is based, this paper argues that the principle which the Commission in fact seeks to articulate in Draft Article 61 is that of good faith in the performance of treaties. As such, being based on a primary rule of international law, this paper queries whether Draft Article 61 belongs in a set of secondary rules. The paper then considers the role of states in the decision-making organs of international organizations and argues that the widely held presumption against member state responsibility for participation in decision-making organs can and should be displaced in certain cases, in recognition of the various voting mechanisms in international organizations and the varied power which certain states may wield. The paper argues that the doctrine of abuse of rights operates as a fundamental legal limit on the exercise of a member state's voting discretion, and thereby forms a complementary primary obligation placed on states in the context of their participation in international organizations.

ASEAN and Its Problematic Treaty-Making Practice: Can International Organizations Conclude Treaties “on Behalf of” Their Member States?

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhida CHEN
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
The Other ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Real ◽  
Asean Member ◽  
Real Issue ◽  
The Status

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has, on various occasions, concluded treaties on behalf of its Member States. This raises some interesting questions: is ASEAN entitled to enter into treaties on behalf of its Member States; and if so, what should be the status of ASEAN and its Member States vis-à-vis the other party to the treaty? The issue is not one of whether the ASEAN Member States have consented to such a practice—it must be assumed that they have. Instead, the real issue is whether such treaty-making practice can and should be valid under international law, even if the Member States have consented for ASEAN to conclude these treaties on their behalf. This paper will argue that, under international law, ASEAN is entitled to conclude treaties on behalf of its Member States.

scholarly journals How Many and Why? Size Variation of National Delegations to Plenary Meetings of International Organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-33
Author(s):  
Václav Vlček
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
National Sovereignty ◽  
Geographical Patterns ◽  
Financial Benefits

This article provides new insights into size variation of national delegations to plenary meetings of international organizations. Plenary meetings represent a symbol of national sovereignty and equality which is, however, often sidelined by structural opportunities and internal incentives which states have in practice. This article addresses the puzzle of whether the size of national delegations varies and what factors can explain possible geographical patterns. Drawing upon opportunity structure-incentive approach and using a newly created dataset covering 14 major agencies of the United Nations family, I suggest that it is mainly the structural factors what affects the size of national delegations, especially the power distribution. The findings also indicate that complex negotiations in large IOs motivate states to increase their delegation size, while regional cooperation allows them to delegate less representatives and rely on regional partners. Domestic incentives, on the contrary, seem to play little role, except for anticipated financial benefits from membership in the particular IOs.

scholarly journals The relationship between the sovereignty of member states and the supernationality of international organizations

2020 ◽  
pp. 349-353
Author(s):  
Olga Shpakovych ◽  
Sofia Penkovska
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
The State ◽  
International Organization ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Theoretical Results ◽  
The Eu

The article presents the result of theoretical and practical study of the relationship between state sovereignty and supranationalityof international organizations. In particular, it is determined that the phenomenon of supranationality of international organizations isderived from state sovereignty and acts as its external law. It has been shown that, in view of this, supranationality is limited becauseit arises through the exercise of sovereignty by states, and, accordingly, is limited by the amount of state sovereignty exercised by states.The relevant mechanism has also been studied on the example of the functioning of the European Union.Regarding the theoretical results, the following should be noted. First, it was proved that despite the different approaches of scho -lars to the understanding of supranationality, definitions of this concept and the separation of its features (properties), in each case,supranationality is a direct realization of state sovereignty. At the same time, the realization of state sovereignty in relation to such pro -perties of international organizations as supranational is primary, and supranationality in this case is derivative. In addition, the phenomenonof supranationality of international organizations due to the fact that it is derived is limited, because supranationality arisesthrough the exercise of sovereignty by states, and, accordingly, is limited by the amount of state sovereignty exercised by states. Thatis why when analyzing the relationship between the supranationality of international organizations and state sovereignty, one cannotconsider the priority of one of the two, because supranationality is in essence a manifestation of state sovereignty.Regarding the practical results, the author considers it appropriate to emphasize that both the regional international organization –the EU was studied, and, at the same time, it was proved that all theoretical provisions were reflected in practice, in particular, envisagedfunctions, goals and the tasks of the studied international organizations are limited in scope by the manifestation of sovereignty shownby states, similar to the regulations issued by organizations. Another indication that the state can exercise its sovereignty in any case isthat there is an effective and transparent procedure for leaving these organizations

Religion and the European External Action Service

2021 ◽  
pp. 337-353
Author(s):  
François Foret
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
External Action ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Institutional Logic ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Member States

This contribution analyses the diplomacy of religion carried out by the European External Action Service (EEAS), and questions its autonomy and distinctiveness vis-à-vis other diplomacies. Several dimensions are studied: how foreign policy is dealing with the ‘return’ of religion in international affairs; the practices of the EEAS regarding religion against the general background of what Member States, third countries, and international organizations do in this respect; how the EEAS balances the interests of Member States, the requirements of the geopolitical contexts and field realities; the EEAS’s advocacy for specific causes such as the freedom of religion and belief (FoRB) and the establishment of religion as a standard diplomatic issue. The conclusion characterizes the EU’s external strategy on religion as the outcome of both its political and institutional logic and Europe’s societal secularization in a world that is still highly religious.

Member States’ Due Diligence Obligations to Supervise International Organisations

2020 ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Kristina Daugirdas
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Member States ◽  
Distinct Category ◽  
Private Actors ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

There are two reasons to consider member states’ obligations to supervise international organisations as a distinct category of due diligence obligations. First, due diligence obligations typically require states to regulate third parties in some way. But it is harder for states to regulate international organisations than other private actors because international law protects the autonomy of international organisations. Second, such due diligence obligations merit attention because they may compensate for the dearth of mechanisms to hold international organisations accountable when they cause harm. This chapter canvasses member states’ existing obligations vis-à-vis international organisations, and argues in particular that the International Law Commission (ILC) missed an opportunity to frame broader obligations when drafting the Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations (the ARIO). The chapter closes by making the normative case for establishing a due diligence obligation on member states to ensure that international organisations do not abuse their immunities.

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