ORGANIZACIONES

INTERNACIONALES
Curso 2014/2015

Grupo 2.1 Relaciones Internacionales

 RITTBERGER, Volker, International
Organizations

Organizaciones Internacionales: asociaciones voluntarias de Estados establecidas por

acuerdo internacional, dotados de órganos permanentes, propios e independientes,
encargados de gestionar unos intereses colectivos y capaces de expresar una voluntad
juridicamente distinta de la de sus miembros.

Chapter 1: Introduction
The first international organizations emerged during the 19th century and they became
since then more important. Today, international organizations are involved in
innumerable issue areas: some are specialized in specific issue areas and others in
multitude of them (e.g. European Union or United Nations). Some international
organizations have universal membership while others have a restrict membership on the
basis of criteria such as geography, economy, etc. All the kinds of international
organizations are part of contemporary global governance: they contribute to create and
implement norms and rules which guide the cooperative management of transnational and
cross-border problems.

The foundation of the United Nations triggered the mushrroming of international

organizations. This has led not only to the increase of international organizations but also
to their political significance, financial resources and their personnel.

Definining international organizations

The term “international organization” has been used extensively in recent years and for
many international organizations at the time this term was totally appropiate as long as
these unions, offices or commissions really were organizations with clearly delimited
technical and administrative competencies.

International organizations can play various roles vis-à-vis their member states, leading
to different scholarly conceptions of international organizations. Three separate
conceptions of IOs are particularly striking: their roles as instruments, as arenas and as
actors.

IOs are often seen as instruments with which states pursue their own interests as best as
they can and in which political processes primarily reflect the interests of the most
powerful member states. As an arena, IOs resemble a playinf field more than a tool of
state policy. In this sense, international organizations are permanent institutions of
conference diplomacy in which states may exchange information, condemn or justify
certain actions and coordinate their national political strategies.

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Whereas the image os IOs as an arena emphasizes that the members states are the
principal actors involved, the third image of IOs is based on the premise that states have
either pooled or delegaes their sovereignty so that IOs themselves embody the
characteristics of a corporate actor capable of independent action. Decisions are made in
or through IOs by a collectivity of states, and the crucial point here is that without the
relevant organization decisions would not have been made in the same way. Pooling
sovereignty occurs when decisions are taken by common voting procedures other tan
unanimity; sovereignty is delegated when supranational organs are permitted to take
certain decisions autonomously, without an interveining vote or a member state’s
unilateral veto.
IOs are a specific class os international institutions. There are two types of international
institutions: international regimes and IOs. Both types are international social institutions
characterized by behavioural patterns based on international norms and rules, which
prescribe behavioural roles in recurring situations that lead to a convergence of reciprocal
expectations. However, international regimes and IOs differ in two ways: whereas
international regimes always relate to specific issue areas, IOs can transcend the
boundaries of issue areas; and while IOs can operate like actors, international regimes
don’t posses actor-like qualities.

Finally, when IOs functioning as a corporate actor, they are real actors who are capable
of independent action internally as well as externally, thanks to pooled or delegated
sovereignty.
We must differentiate three relationships between international regimes and IOs which
are ultimately founded on different levels of abstraction:

1. The issue area-specific principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures

encompassed by the concept of an international regime can be embedded in an
international organization in which several regimes are anchored.
2. The issue area-specific principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures
of an international regime can be drawn from different IOs.
3. IOs can support international regimes. IOs can hace to tasks in conncetion with
international regimes: given their ability to generate norms, the can be the driving
force behind the creation of new regimes; and the can contribute to the
effectiveness of regimes by monitoring the implementation of norms and rules of
regimes.

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Distinctions between international organizations
We must distinguish between international
governmental organizations (IGOs), such as the UN or
the EU, which are founded either through an
intergovernmental agreement or a decision of an
existing IGO and have a membership mainly composed
of or dominated by states, usually represented by
governmental agents; and international non-
governmental organizations (INGOs) -be it not-for-
profit ones such as Amnesty International or for-profit
transnational organizations such as Microsoft- whose
membership is made up of non-governmental actors.
International governmental organizations can be classified based on their:

1. Main function
a. Programme organizations deal primarily with programme formulation and
they can play a priminent role in the stablishment of international regimes.
b. Operational organizations concentrate on implementation, specially the
monitoring of compliance with norms and rules and capacity-building for
implementation.

2. Decision-making authority
a. In strictly intergovernmental organizations such authority is neither
pooled or delegated. These organizations are limited to providing services
intended to facilitate the intergovernmental coordination of national
decision-making units.
b. Supranational organizations are based on a more hierarchical mode of
coordination through centralized decision-making procedures.

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 3. Inclusiveness
a. Inclusive, multipartite organizations include both public actors endowing
them with formal membership and varying, but substantial participatory
rights in the decision-making process.
b. Open executive-multilateral organizations allow for non-governmental
actors’ consultative status only.

Chapter 2: Theories of the International Relations and the explanation

of Foreign Aid (Gino Pauselli)
1. La teoría y la explicación de la cooperación al desarrollo
El estudio de las diversas teorías en el ámbito de las RRII tiene una gran importancia
debido a una serie de motivos clave:

 Es capaz de dar un orden y significado a una masa de fenómenos sin la cual

estarían desconectados entre sí.
 Sirve para hacer totalmente explícitos los supuestos implícitos dentro del diseño
de investigación y poner de manifiesto las dimensiones e implicaciones del
estudio.
 Es un instrumento para entender no solo las uniformidades y regularidades sino
también las contingencias y las irracionalidades.
 Permite identificar los mecanismos causales que explican un comportamiento
recurrente.
 Es esencial para la generación de hipótesis sistemáticas y su posterior correcta
contrastación.

Así, respecto al estudio de la cooperación al desarrollo existen tres modelos teóricos y

empíricos de estudio, que sin embargo no han llegado a profundizar claramente en el tema
y que, en cambio, derivan a explicaciones económicas con una gran frecuencia. Por ello,
es necesario realizar una revisión de aquellos estudios que han teorizado o explicado
empíricamente este fenómeno.

2. Los estudios de la explicación de la cooperación al desarrollo

Se han producido dos tipos de estudios o trabajos para lograr una explicación y
entendimiento de la cooperación al desarrollo.

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El primer tipo de trabajos, explican teóricamente la cooperación al desarrollo e
identifican un conjunto de propósitos implícitos o explícitos de la ayuda internacional.
Encontramos en este bloque de trabajos dos grandes categorías de las motivaciones:

 Egoístas
 Altruistas

Una gran cantidad de autores han estudiado la cooperación al desarrollo, autores como:
Morgenthau, McKinlay y Little, Ruttan, Lumsdaine, Montúfar, Ayllón, Lancaster, Van
der Veen, Kern y López Canellas (posturas teóricas con respecto al fenómeno de la
cooperación al desarrollo, identificando posturas realistas, liberales-institucionalistas,
constructivistas y marxistas-funcionalistas)

Encontramos así que las explicaciones conceptuales o teóricas de la cooperación al

desarrollo descansan en tres variables:

a) intereses egoístas de los donantes

b) altruismo de los donantes
c) socialización de ideas

Los factores explicativos identificados por estos autores serían los intereses nacionales de
inspiración realista, reglas e instituciones internacionales de inspiración liberal, y normas
internacionalmente compartidas de inspiración constructivista. También están presentes
en estas explicaciones factores de tipo material, institucional o ideal.

Dentro del segundo grupo de trabajos explicativos, el abordaje a los determinantes de

la cooperación internacional se realizó en su mayoría desde el campo de la economía.
Este segundo conjunto de trabajos analizó más de cerca las variables explicativas del
fenómeno por lo cual, a pesar de no ser un conjunto de trabajos centrados en las
explicaciones teóricas, permitirá, posteriormente, vincular los estudios explicativos de
cooperación al desarrollo con las escuelas teóricas de RRII.

Concluimos afirmando que existe un déficit de trabajos teóricos sobre el fenómeno desde
las RRII, una falta de trabajos empíricos desde las RRII que estudien las causas de por
qué Estados desarrollados o industrializados transfieren recursos a otros Estados en
grados inferiores de desarrollo y, por último, y como consecuencia de los dos puntos
mencionados anteriormente, no existen trabajos que vinculen datos empíricos con
conceptos teóricos de las RRII.

3. Las teorías de las RRII y la cooperación al desarrollo

o Realismo
Explica la realidad internacional a partir del interés primario de los Estados de maximizar
su supervivencia, seguridad o, poder tanto a partir del objetivo final de la dominación de
otras naciones o de las características de la estructura en la cual están insertos. En este
sentido, es necesario diferenciar entre los postulados de:

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  Realismo clásico: el cual identifica las causas del comportamiento de los Estados
en la naturaleza humana, o el primer nivel de análisis.
 Realismo estructural: explica las RRII a partir de fuerzas que se encuentran en
la tercera imagen, o nivel sistémico.
 Para ambas versiones del realismo, las relaciones con otros Estados, a través de
su política exterior, se basan en la utilización de diferentes herramientas para
alcanzar los objetivos de aumento de poder o maximización de seguridad.

Se puede pensar en una serie de variables que explicarían la asignación geográfica de la

ayuda al desarrollo desde una teoría realista de las RRII:

 En primer lugar, se debe pensar en una variable geográfica de distancia entre el

donante y el receptor de ayuda.
 En segundo lugar, hay que considerar es el comercio bilateral entre el donante y
el receptor.
 Como tercera variable, se puede considerar el grado de cercanía como potencial
alianza que existe entre el donante y el receptor.
 La cuarta variable de inspiración realista propuesta hace referencia a la existencia
o no de un sistema bipolar.
 La quinta variable hace referencia a la lucha de poder entre los bloques capitalista
y comunista que surge con la Guerra Fría.
o Liberalismo
La escuela liberal resalta la posibilidad de la cooperación y la generación de un contexto
para el progreso general, los cuales son considerados realizables, y donde la cooperación
está presente, al menos en potencia. Así, permite explicar las RRII a partir de
características internas de los Estados. La política exterior de los Estados democráticos
no debería ser explicada únicamente en términos exclusivos de equilibrio de poder, sino
también a través de las relaciones de confianza que se generan entre democracias.

Algunos de los que autores han llevado cabo explicaciones a través de la visión liberal
son: Doyle, Rathbun, Goldstein y Keohane, Macmillan, Tingey, Thérien y Nöel etc.

o Marxismo
Para los autores de esta tradición, los Estados subdesarrollados están en una condición de
inferioridad y dependencia debido a las características intrínsecas al capitalismo que,
como consecuencia del proceso de acumulación, genera ganadores y perdedores.

La vida económica de las naciones más débiles está penetrada por los intereses de las
naciones poderosas, incluso en aquellas regiones donde la práctica imperialista ha
desaparecido todavía existen relaciones jerárquicas y de imposición de condiciones. Las
relaciones actuales entre el Norte desarrollado y el Sur subdesarrollado pueden ser
entendidas en clave de neo-imperialismo, como la explotación de los países
subdesarrollados por parte de los centrales. La soberanía legal internacional es uno de
los cuatro significados de soberanía.

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El marxismo en RRII acentúa el significado de soberanía westfaliana, el cual es un
acuerdo institucional basado en dos principios: territorialidad y exclusión de actores
externos de las estructuras de autoridad internas. Esta soberanía se viola cuando actores
externos influyen sobre, o determinan, las estructuras de autoridad internas a través de
acciones coercitivas, voluntarias, intervención o invitación.

Para la teoría del sistema-mundo, la ayuda al desarrollo se ubica dentro del nacimiento
de un nuevo sistema inter-estatal: el de la hegemonía de Estados Unidos, marcado por el
nacimiento de la Organización de Naciones Unidas, destinada a imponer restricciones
institucionales en favor del hegemón.

Por último, para la teoría de la dependencia, el poder del centro se manifiesta a través
de las desiguales condiciones de intercambio en el comercio internacional y en la
presencia de multinacionales, las cuales refuerzan la explotación y dependencia de los
países de la periferia

o Constructivismo
Para esta corriente teórica, existen múltiples formas de entender la anarquía del sistema
internacional por parte de los Estados. Así, los actores entienden a la política internacional
como más o menos anárquica de acuerdo con las diferentes áreas o dominios.

El constructivismo se ha concentrado en la influencia que las ideas y normas poseen en

el comportamiento de los Estados, en especial aquellas compartidas a las cuales ajustan
su comportamiento los diferentes actores del sistema internacional. Propone también la
idea de identidad colectiva en las relaciones entre Estados, en la cual el interés propio y
el interés colectivo son efectos de un proceso de identificación con el otro.

Chapter 3: History of International Organizations

History and theory are intertwined. To understand the history of international
organizations, we shall use:

- Neo-institutionalist approach, (the ‘problem condition’): International

organizations emerge when complex interdependencies persuade states into
international cooperation to further common interests.
- Constructivist theory, (the ‘cognitive condition’): IOs emerge due to the
realization that these interdependencies lead to problems, which can only be
overcome through cooperation within international organizations.
- Realist theory (the ‘hegemonic condition’): IOs emerge out of complex
interdependencies when a hegemonic state is willing to bear the costs of their
creation.
These three conditions largely explain the establishment of international organizations in
six of the most prominent issue areas of world politics:
1. War and power politics
2. Industrial expansion
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 3. World economic crises
4. Human rights violations
5. Developmental disparities
6. Environmental degradation

1. War and power politics

The modern system of sovereign states dates back at least to the Peace of Westphalia
(1648). The ‘security dilemma’ was inherent in the decentralized, anarchic self-help
system that had emerged at that time, which led to bloody wars.

- Eventually, a need was expressed for international organizations to mitigate the

problem of unrestrained power politics (the problem condition). However,
initially, there was little response. No hegemonic power existed that could have
helped to create such IOs to deal with war and power politics (NO hegemonic
condition).
- An initial response eventually came after the coalition wars against Napoleon;
The Concert of Europe (1815-1914). Although it did not fully satisfy the strict
definition of an IO, it did regulate the status and security of states.
- The Hague Conferences (1899/1907): the first codification of international
humanitarian law and a Permanent Court of Arbitration
- The League of Nations (1919-46): Problem condition (an anarchical
international system) + Cognitive condition (prevent major wars) + Hegemonic
condition (USA).
- After the WW2, a new solution for the prevention of interstate war seemed
imperative. The problem condition (structural problem of sovereign but
interdependent states) + the cognitive condition (terrible war) + hegemonic
condition (USA) -> United
Nations (1945)
- During the Cold War: USA
and USSR forged
organizations within their
respective blocs to strengthen
their relative power position.
(NATO, WPO…)
- The East-West confrontation
finally came to an end.
(CSCE)
- From 1990 to the present: New
wars and translational
terrorism

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 2. Industrial Expansion
The Industrial Revolution was a great stimulus to the creation of international
organizations in the nineteenth century. Interdependencies increased dramatically, thus
standards with respect to transport, communication, social regulation and intellectual
property had to be harmonized internationally to facilitate trade and commerce (the
problem condition). This was clearly recognized (the cognitive condition) and Britain,
the most industrialized state at the time, was willing to sustain common standards (the
hegemonic condition).

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 3. Global economic crises
With the expansion of the world market
facilitated by the activities of international
organizations, the demand for international
organizations that protect open markets in
times of economic crises emerged (the
problem condition). This demand had been
recognized as early as in the Great
Depression of the 1870s and the 1880s and
the world economic crisis of the late 1920s
and early 1930s (the cognitive condition).
However, with the declining hegemony of
Britain after the WW1 the structures of a
liberal economic order, characterized by
relatively free trade, collapsed. The world
economic crisis beginning in 1929 destroyed
any hope of the order’s resurrection.
However, only after the WW2 a liberal
economic order was re-established with the
help of US hegemonic leadership (the
hegemonic condition).

4. Human rights violations

By the second half of the nineteenth century the idea of a democratic constitutional state
began to assert itself in Western Europe and North America. This gave rise to the
consensus that sovereignty and internationally supervised human rights protection were
not mutually exclusive. However, only after the WW2, human rights issues were included
on international politics, especially due to the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime in
Germany. The enormities of the Nazi and Fascist regimes demonstrated the moral
interdependence between states and societies (problem condition). They also led to the
recognition that some international guarantees for the projection of human rights were
needed (the cognitive condition). The USA, as the most powerful state, was willing to
help (the hegemonic condition).
This meant the development of:

1. Protection of universal human rights, after WW2

2. Regional protection of human rights, after the end of the East-West conflict,
continuing human rights violations

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 5. Developmental disparities
After the previous decolonization of South America and parts of the Ottoman Empire in
the nineteenth century, a further wave began in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Despite their
newfound political independence, economic dependencies of decolonized states on their
former colonial powers persisted. The North – especially the West – had an interest in
reducing these disparities with the view to stabilizing the global economic order (the
problem condition). As soon as the west grasped that these disparities could endanger the
world economic order (the cognitive condition), under the leadership of the USA (the
hegemonic condition). It took the initiative in building IOs that could reconcile the South
with the existing economic order. Two types emerged:

1. Financing development
2. Development and trade

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 6. Environmental degradation
Most of the actual environmental problems (nuclear power plants, the diminishing ozone
layer and global warming) transcend national borders and can therefore not be resolved
by one state alone. In order to mitigate these cross-border problems, the international
community of states must act collectively (the problem condition). The resulting demand
for international organizations led to the creation mainly in issue areas in which public
awareness was bolstered by non-governmental environmental organizations (the
cognitive condition), with hegemonic leadership provided by the USA (the hegemonic
condition).

CONCLUSION
The general trend of an increasing role for IOs from 1815 to 1914 can easily be explained
by the three conditions – the problem, cognitive and hegemonic conditions.

The sustained growth of international organizations was only interrupted in the late
1980s. Since 1985, the number of intergovernmental organizations has declined. This
might have been due to the end of the East-West conflict and the decline in the hegemony
of the USA.

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Chapter 4: International Organizations as Political Systems
The composition and competencies of international organizations have a significant
influence on policy-making.

The constitutional structure of international organizations

International politics is governed by principles, norms and rules which possess a legal
quality through the general recognition of the porcedures which give rise to them. Even
international anarchy itself is based on a legal principle, namely that of the sovereign
equality of states, which is part of general international law. This legal principle, together
with other general rules of international law such as pacta sunt servanda, form the nucleus
of the constitution of the international community of states. All institutions and
procedures which contribute to the continuing development of international law are based
on these constitutional principles.besides the general rules of international law, there are
two further primary sources of international law: customary international law and
international treaty law.
The international law of treaties is of great importance for the creation of international
organizations as subjects of international law. It represents the legally binding basis for
the validity of the founding treaties of international organizations. In general,
international organizations are set up by a treaty between three or more states. Such
treaties are frequently negotiated at diplomatic conferences before being signed and then
ratified upon approval by the competent organs of each signatory state.

Founding treaties normally outline the organization’s mission, establish its various organs
and determinate the allocation of competencies between them. They thus act as a sort of
“constitution”. As for their precision and ambition, they vary considerably. For example,
the EU treaties are very detailed and ambitious. Besides general statements about the
organization’s mission and structure they also contain both policy programmes and
clauses authorizing the formulation of further policy programmes.

Constitutions of international organizations are subject to formal and informal change.

Formal changes can occur either through a procedure prescribed in the constitution itself
or through a new treaty signed by the member states. Informal changes occur on the basis
of customary international law.

Since formal changes to constitutions of international organizations are difficult to

achieve, informal constitutional changes play an important role. The legal source of such
informal changes is not the international law of treaties but rather customary international
law. The most prominent example of such a constitutional change is the remarkable
transformation of the right to veto any substantive decision given to the permanent
members of the Security Council. According to the Articles of the UN Charter, a decision
of the Security Council originally required a positive vote of each its permanent members.
The continuing practice of considering abstentions by its permanent members as not
constituting a veto of a Security Council resolution led to a constitutional change in the
right of veto.

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The institutional structure of international organizations
The institutional structure of international organizations generally provides for the
creation of the following organs:
1. A plenary organ representing all state members.
2. An executive council or board to manage and supervise day-to-day business,
ususally consisting of elected state members.
3. An administrative staff led by a secretary-general, adirector.general or a
commission responsible for policy advice and implementation as well as
administrative tasks.
4. A court-like body or a court of binding arbitration in cases of disputes among
members, between the administrative body and another organ or member.
5. A parliamentary assembly of directly elected representatives of the member
states‘ electorate or of delegates from national parliaments that debates, reviews
and, in certain cases, approves of the organization’s policies.
6. An organ representing civil society organizations and/or other private actors
or sub-national, regional or local administrative bodies.

 Plenary organs
The plenary organs of intergovernmental organizations are based on the principle of
member states‘ sovereignty as well as being at the same time an institutionak expression
of their sovereignty. Thus all states have their own representatives, acting according to
their governments´ instructions. Despite the emergence of inclusive, multipartite
organizations in which state and non-state actors hold membership rights, in most plenary
organs it is still only governments that are represented. The plenary organs are frequently
at teh centre of international organizations‘ decision-making.

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The policy-making procedures in plenary organs vary considerably. This variation can
concern both the number of votes required for reaching a decision and the weighting given
to the votes of different members. The closer procedure in the plenary organ is to the
principle of unanimity, the more arduous time-consuming it is to reach decisions. Any
member failing to implement a unanimous decision would in effect act against its own
vote. Infringing a previously accepted decision can also lead to a loss of credibility and
reputation. Therefore compliance with these decisions tends to prevail even if short-term
interests may provide incentives for non.compliance.

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The effects of decision-making procedures within plenary organs based on the majority
principle are reversed: there is a better chance of reaching decisions, but it is less likely
that states will comply with these decisions. In order to improve the probability that
decisions can be made and implemented, many Ios adopt the practice of deciding by a
qualified majority.

Another procedure helping to strike the right balance between the probability of reaching
a decision and the likehood of compliance is a consensus procedure.
The weighting of votes is another way to reconcile smooth decision-making with a high
level of compliance. By giving powerful states more voting power than small states,
majority voting can be introduced while, at the same time, reducing the risk that powerful
states will simply disregard decisions made by a majority of smaller states or their
economic power. However, weighting of votes may raise serious issues of legitimacy
undermining weaker states‘ support to the organization and putting a strain on
intraorganizational relationships.

The plenary organ of the UN is the General Assembly and all member states are
represented there, with one vote each.

The plenary organ of the EU is the Council of the EU, consisting of member states‘
ministers.

When reviewing plenary organs we also need to mention the Broad of Governors of the
IMF and the World Bank. Their decisions are based upon weighted voting and are taken
with a qualified majority. This weighted voting right gives the countries with the largest
number of shares, that is, the Western industrialized nations, a decisive influence in the
decision-making organs of the two organizations.

 Executive councils
Executive councils of Ios meet more frequently than the plenary organs, indeed, some
meet in permanent session. Their main task is to supervise tha administrative body of the
organization and to take on the implementation of policy programmes decided by the
plenary organ. Executive councils are always smaller than plenatry organs. In executive-
multilateral organizations, executive councils are composed of member states‘
representatives, often elected by the plenary organ of the organization. In inclusive,
multipartite organizations, the executive council is formed by representatives of state and
non-state (civil society and business) constituencies. Moreover, some executive councils
have a mixture os permanent and non-permanent members.

The division of competencies between the plenary organ and the executive council is of
major importance for the decision-making process of IOs. While it is easier to reach
decisions in the executive council because the number of participants is limited, precisely
because of such limited numbers compliance with these decisions by all members of the
organization is more difficult to achieve. The effects of keeping the major decision-
making competencies within the plenary organ are the reverse: decisions may be easier
to implement, but reaching them is often much more arduous.

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The system of governing bodies and executive councils in the UN system is special
insofar as it follows a functional differentiation. Among the UN principal organs, the
Security Council is responsible for all questions pertaining to international peace and
security, while ECOSOC deals with economic, social and cultural problems of
international politics.

The UN Security Council, by contrast, has far-reaching, competencies. It can pass legally
binding resolutions, including resolutions about military and non-military sanctions.
Due to their limited membership, most regional organizations, in contrast to global
organizations, can do without executive councils. For example, the Council of Europe
does not have an executive council beside its plenary organ, the Committee of Ministes.
However, the EU is an exception.

 Administrative staff
An administration is a necessary part of the institutional structure of any international
organizations. Since the administrative staff gives expression to the supranational element
in Ios, it is frequently mistaken for the IOs as a whole. Unlike the members of
interngovernmental organ, the members of the administrative staff are not representatives
of member states‘ governments and are therefore independent of instructions from the
governments of their countries of origin. Initially, the administrative staff only provided
technical services in the preparation for meetings of the plenary organs or executive
councils. However, nowadays, with more and more organizations becoming more
supranational, it frequently exerts an independent influence on policy-making in IOs.

The UN Secretariat’s members are chosen on the basis of ability and suitability as well
as political-geographical distribution. UN personnel constitute an international civil
service and are not allowed to follow instructions from the governments of their countries
of origin or other member states.

The administrative staff of the EU, called the European Commission, has extraordinaryly
wide competencies. Within the EU, the European Commission is the only body that can
submit draft proposals for legislative acts to the Council. The Council is thus dependent
on proposals from the Commission for its law-making activities. Therefore, the
Commission is the engine of law-making in the EU and has, independetly of the Council,
far-reaching law-making competencies.

 Courts of justice
Some IOs have courts of justice or court-like bodies as part of their institutional structure.
Their task is to decide on disputes between the members of the organziation, between the
organization and its members, or, in special circumstances, between organs of the
organziation. In some IOs these bodies function as supranational courts in which
independent judges exercise compulsory jurisdiction. In some organziations these bodies
can hardly be regarded as being supranational; the cannot exercise compulsory
jurisdiction and the judges are politically dependent state representatives. Usually these

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bodies are meant to support intergovernmental efforts at dispute settlement through
political compromise rather than to adjudicate disputes supranationally.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hagueis the relevant body for the UN and
the European Court of Justice (ECJ) settles disputes for the EU. The ICJ’s capacity to
decide in cases of a legal dispute between states is rather limited, because the court does
not have compulsory jurisdiction. Thus, before the court can deal with a dispute the
disputant states must accept the court’s authority to decide. The ECJ, by contrast, can
exercise compulsory jurisdiction. The states submit to its jurisdiction as a result of their
membership of the EU.

 Parliamentary assemblies
Although most intergovernmental organizations like the UN do not have parliamentary
assemblies, some organizations, such as the EU, the Council of Europe and the OSCE,
do have them. Their task is to provide legitimacy for the intergovernmental organization’s
decision-making process. However, the competencies of, as well as the representation in,
these assemblies vary considerably. Since 1979 the members of the European Parliament
have been elected directly; the members of the parliamentary assemblies of the Council
of Europe and the OSCE are delegated by member states‘ national parliaments. The EP
has generally accrued major rights but the parliamentary assemblies of the Council of
Europe and the OSCE play only a minor role.

Only since the 1990s has the EP become a supranational institution. Until then its law-
making authority hardly went beyond a consultative role. The members of the EP could
submit their opinions but the Council was free to ignore them. With the cooperation
procedure introduced by the European Single Act of 1987, the Parliament’s opinions have
influenced the legislative process in the Council to the extent that in a second reading the
Council could only ignore them by rejecting them unanimously. However, the EP has
possessed veto power only since the introduction of the co-decision procedure.

 Representation of non-governmental actors

Representation of non-governmental actors in IOs has increased. Not only have inclusive,
multipartite organizations been created in which state and non-state actors are members
of the plenary organ and the executive council, endowed with varying, but substntial
participatory rights in teh decision-making process. Most IOs have tried to increase their
legitimacy by opening up for a more or less formalized participation of non-state actors.
For that purpose, they allow for non-governmental actors‘ consultative status and have
created organs and procedures for the representation of civil-society groups, business
opportunities that these organs and procedures offer to non-state actors in terms of
effective participation in decision-making vary considerably.

Conclusion
The policy-making of IOs is affected by their constitutional and institutional structures.
IOs are normally established by founding treaties, which are based on the international
law of treaties. These founding treaties or “constitutions” shape policy-making by
18
outlining the organization’s mission, establishing its organs and determining the
allocation of competencies between them. Furthermore, the constitutional structure of IOs
is not fixed but subject to formal and informal change.

Chapter 5: Actor’s Demands and Support: the Inputs Dimension

In IOs the policy-making process is chanelled through the constitutional and institutional
structures of their political system. Its impetus and contents are derived from tthe values,
interests and resources of the actors involved. The polity of IOs provides an institutional
framework which opens up and limits the options of actors in international politics and
consequently defines possible moves and exclude others. However, it does not
determinate political actor’s behavior.

We focus on who produces inputs, which actors can make specific demands, based on the
resources at their disposal. We also examine which actors provide the necessary support
for IOs. To do so we distinguish five groups of actors:

1. Member states’ governments

2. Administrative staff of IOs
3. Parliamentary assemblies of IOs
4. Interest groups
5. Communities of experts

Governments of member states

In executive-multilateral organizations, most of the inputs (demands and support) come
from the member states of each organization. Through their financial contributions and
their supply of information and personnel they provide the support which enables IOs to
carry out their tasks. The dependence of IOs on the financial contributions from member
states is especially obvious because hardly any IO has its own financial resources. In
inclusive, multipartite organizations, member states are less dominant in terms of
providing inputs; but nonetheless they are usually key actors formulating demands on,
and offering support to, the organization.

In most IOs the size of national contributions reflects the “ability to pay” based on the
wealth of each of the respective countries.

It goes without saying that states try to convert their financial contributions into a source
of influence. On the other hand, when major contributors turn their backs on IOs, these
organizations get into major financial trouble.

Although states adjust their support according to whether, in return, their demands are
met, withdrawing from an IO or holding back financial contributions is not how states
usually behave. Normally, states make their demands through their delegations or
permanent representatives to the organization. In most cases such demands are voiced in
the plenary organ, since that is where the member states’ representatives have the right to
vote. This holds especially for far-reaching demands.

19
The probability of success is, notwithstanding formal state equality, certainly not equal;
albeit not exclusively, on the power position of a state and its control over relevant
resources. This power can take two forms: control over specific resources in an issue areas
(issue-area power) or control over issue-transcending resources (overall power).

The power a state can exert in a given are often depends on its control over resources
specific to that issue area.

However, major states such as China or the USA control important resources in many
issue areas and thus can often use strengths acquired in some areas to exert influence in
those areas in which they lack the relevant power resources.

Despite the influence of powerful states it is a debatable question whether the decision-
making process in IOs exacerbates or reduces power-based differences in influence.
Generally, notwithstanding important exceptions, the differences are more often than not
lessened because IOs offer smaller or weaker states additional opportunities of
influencing decisions in their favour. Weaker states have voting rights in the
organization’s decision –making organs, often on a par with more powerful states.
However, this is only of relevance for them as long as the more powerful states maintain
an interest in collective decision-making within an IO. Smaller and weaker states can
bring their concerns into play when concluding package deals. They agree to certain
policies promoted by the powerful states dependent on recognition of their concerns in
adjoining issue areas.

Moreover, policy-making in IOs gives small states the opportunity of strengthening their
influence by forming coalitions or aligning themselves with an existing coalition led by
a powerful state.

Administrative staff
While most inputs into IOs derive from representatives of member states, the various
organs of IOs themselves, especially the administrative staff, can exert considerable
influence on the input side of policy-making as well.

The influence of IOs’s administrative staff stems mainly from their location at the centre
of the policy-making process. As a result, administrative staff have an information
advantage over member states. The information often comes from studies, reports and
proposals that the administrative staff are asked to prepare, or which they themselves
initiate, in order to forms the basis for policy-making within the organization. In addition,
their central position lends an administration’s leadership a remarkable influence as an
agenda-setter. Where member states’ interests are not clear, the administrative staff’s
influence on policy-making can grow very rapidly to the point where it is not only playing
the role of agenda-setter but also that of policy entrepreneur.

The initiatives, that is, the demands of the administrative staff of IOs, are for the most
part addressed to the member states of the organization or the plenary organ in which they
take decisions. Thus the agenda-setting phase of the policy-making process can be
described as the interplay of initiatives between the member states and the administrative

20
staff. While the administrative staff represents, apart from its bureaucratic self-interest,
the collective interest of the organization’s members, each member state mainly looks
after its individual interest. The initiatives of IOs‘ administrative staff will mostly be
directed towards strengthening the authority of the organization, while those of member
states are of various kinds. Some support the strengthening of the organization’s
authority, whereas other states, usually the more powerful ones, try to maintain their
sovereignty.

Parliamentary assemblies
Although generally less effective than representatives of member states’ governments and
the administrative staff, parliamentary assemblies can also formulate demands for or lend
some support to the policy-making processes within IOs. Their most important support is
to increase the legitimacy of the organizations’ policy-making. In fact, parliamentary
assemblies are created in order to reduce the so-called democratic deficit in policy-
making, which is seen as a consequence of policy-making being dominated by
government representatives. Sometimes governments use their privileged position in IOs
to insulate themselves from national parliaments. Not only are policy-making procedures
more complex and less transparent internationally, but often national parliaments are
unable to provide democratic legitimacy internationally to the same degree as in domestic
policy-making. To compensate for this, international parliamentary assemblies were
created to provide additional legitimacy.

While it is not always obvious that parliamentary assemblies are actually able to provide
additional legitimacy, the perception that they do so makes it hard for the member states
and administrative staff of IOs to ignore their demands.

Interest groups
Interest groups, such as civil-society actors and private businesses, are also a source of
inputs in the form of both demands and support. They can use either formal or informal
channels, depending on the institutional structure and the inclusiveness of the IO. There
is a mutual benefit because non-governmental actors frequently have an interest in getting
access to policy-making processes, but likewise IOs also need access to the information,
expertise and legitimacy of non-governmental actors. In inclusive, non-governmental
actors are allowed to participate in the decision-making process of the organization with
a vote. In the more frequent cases of open executive-multilateral organizations, non-
governmental actors do not have a right to vote but can, more or less effectively, take part
in policy deliberations. Two channels of input can be distinguished: non-governmental
actors can act through an institutionalized procedure, which gives them the opportunity
to raise their concerns; and NGOs can act through their own representative organs within
institutional structure of an IO.
Of course, the expression of mutual interest does not always take the form of formal input
channels. In many IOs informal input channels are at least as important as, or
complement, formal input channels. Interest groups settle where the decision-making
authority concerning them is the greatest.

21
Non-governmental actors’ influence on policy-making relies on the various material and
immaterial resources, such as providing information, expertise and legitimacy, which
they offer and which are essential for IOS’ goal-achievement. In addition, interest groups
can gain influence by mobilizing public opinion in favour of their own concerns.

Transnational advocacy networks and transnational social movements have proved to be

particularly successful in mobilizing public opinion. Such advocacy networks and social
movements do not represent particular material interests but claim to act in the global
interest in supporting IOs in their policy-making efforts. However, there are also
transnational advocacy networks and transnational social movements that criticize the
policies of major IOs.

Communities of experts
Some inputs into the political system of IOs come from experts giving advice on policy-
making. As the policies of IOs have to respond to increasingly complex problems, the
knowledge resources and advice of experts have a growing importance for their policy-
making. Therefore, the administrative staff often have an interest in bringing experts into
the policy-making processes, while the experts themselves have an interest in being
incorporated because this gives them influence on policy-making within the organization.

Experts’ influence depends, inter alia, on whether they agree or disagree on the advice
that should be given for policy-making within the organization. Moreover, member states
can point to the disagreement among experts in order to justify why their advice does not
have to be taken seriously. And member states with conflicting interests can justify their
positions by relying on those experts whose advice is most in line with their own interests,
which then can easily lead to an impasse in the policy-making process.

Conclusion
The polity provides the framework for the policy-making process, but the politics of IOs
remains the domain actors.

Chapter 6:
Chapter 7: What International Organizations Produce: the Output
Dimension

Policy programmes

Policy programmes are sets of norms and rules aimed at directing the behaviour of social
actors. While they usually set normative standards for the behaviour of their members,
they can also touch upon the interaction between the members and the IO itself.
Sometimes IOs also formulate norms and rules that directly address non-state actors that
are not members of the international organization.
Policy programmes are the result of programme decisions of IOs.
They can be differentiated according to:

22
  Effects (of the norms and rules)

- Regulatory programmes aim to direct the behaviour of social actors in order to

avoid undesirable interactions or to achieve desirable interactions. To this end,
norms and rules of behaviour are set that prescribe or proscribe certain behaviour
in specified circumstances. National examples: criminal law, environmental law,
human rights and consumer protection law.
International examples: UN Charter’s ban on the threat or use of force, Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to the Vienna Convention
on the Protection of the Ozone Layer…

- Distributive programmes aim at regulating behaviour that concerns the

distribution of goods and services among social actors. They are intended to
generate benefits for many without entailing costs for others. In other words,
goods/services are distributed without taking them away from anybody else.
National examples: distribution of state revenues of rentier states like Saudi
Arabia, from the oil business, to their respective societies.

International examples: not very common on IOs. One rare example is the
allocation of satellite space on the geostationary orbit of the Equator in the
framework of the ITU.

- Redistributive programmes are directed towards social actors’ behaviour in order

to change the distribution of goods and services among them. In contrast to
distributive programmes they are to the benefit of some actors while others are
burdened with additional costs (Lowi 1964).
National examples: welfare state policies of providing housing, education,
unemployment benefits or health care. Many are subsidized by the state.

International examples: World Bank (IBRD), the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) or the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Their principal concern is the transfer of resources from developed to developing
countries.

 Binding nature

The degree of legal obligation does not necessarily correlate with the level of member
states’ compliance. Nonetheless, it certainly remains an important characteristic of the
programmes, whether they contain legally binding obligations or are simply political
recommendations. It is not unusual to find within one and the same IO the coexistence of
both legally binding and non-binding programmes.

- The EU is one of the few IO that have the authority to make programmes directly
binding not only on member states but also on private actors within member states.
In particular, in matters pertaining to the internal market the EU has for long used
regulations as well as directives for its programme activities. However, most

23
 policy programmes on issues dealing with foreign and security policy of the EU
are still political recommendations.
- The UN has many programmes with no legally binding effect. With the exception
of decisions on budgetary questions or the UN’s internal organization, resolutions,
as well as declarations of the General Assembly, merely have the character of
recommendations.

 Programmes and decision-making

As we already know from Chapter 6, “policy determines politics”.

Based on the distinctions from above, we can further elaborate on which programmes are
generally made according to which decision-making model. Again, we should emphasize
that these propositions represent statements about probabilities rather than empirical laws.

- Legally binding programmes are mostly the result of intergovernmental

negotiations.
- Non-binding programmes can be passed by majority voting.
- Regulatory programmes are mostly made by intergovernmental negotiations.
- Redistributive programmes, unless they arise as part of a package deal made
through intergovernmental negotiations, are most likely to be the result of
majority voting.
- Distributive programmes can be made both by intergovernmental negotiations
and majority voting.

Operational activities

Apart from policy programmes, a large part of the output of the work of international
organizations takes an operational form. Operational activities of IO are the result of
operational decisions, which relate to the implementation of policy programmes. We can
differentiate five types:

1. Specifications

The norms and rules of policy programmes generally require further specification in order
to implement them. Member states’ authorities often make this specification. Member
states’ parliaments, governments or bureaucracies select the means and measures to fulfill
the commitments laid down in IOs’ policy programmes. Yet in numerous international
organizations such as the EU, IMF, World Bank and UN, the specification of programmes
has become the responsibility of the organizations themselves. (Pg 124 detailed
explanation on each particular IO)

2. Implementation

Through the specification of programmes IOs not only help states to implement norms
and rules, but sometimes implement them directly themselves. In general, however, this
possibility is limited and the implementation of internationally agreed programmes
24
remains the prerogative of member states’ authorities, their parliaments, governments and
bureaucracies. Thus, the standards for the quality of drinking water are set, for all member
states, by the EU, but the measures necessary for their implementations, (water-
purification plants), are taken by the relevant authorities within EU member states.

The implementation of policy programmes through IOs occurs whenever those

organizations, on the basis of their informational, financial and personnel resources can
provide support for the activities desired by member states.
IOs may also transfer the implementation of policy programmes to non-state actors who
then act on behalf of the IO.

3. Monitoring

Since implementation of norms and rules is still mostly undertaken by member states
rather than by the IOs itself or its agents, monitoring is required. Without monitoring,
member states might feel tempted to disregard the policy programmes of International
Organizations, because they would expect this would go unnoticed or that other states
could disregard these programmes without being caught. In order to mitigate this
temptation, many IOs were given the task of monitoring member states’ compliance with
agreed policy programmes.
A good example is the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors member
states’ compliance with the NPT of 1968. Its safeguard system is meant to ensure that
states abstain from diverting nuclear material from civilian to military uses. However,
their far-reaching monitoring activities are an exception; even the European
Commission’s abilities to monitor member states’ compliance with EU norms and rules
are limited.

Again, IOs cannot only pursue monitoring on their own. They also lend support to, and
draw on, the contributions of non-state actors to the monitoring of compliance with
international norms and rules. This is particularly salient in the issue area of human rights
protection.

4. Adjudication

Monitoring alone cannot reliably guarantee the compliance of member states. A serious
source of non-compliance is that, in doubtful cases, the member states concerned can
often claim that they are in compliance while other member states may accuse them of
violating the organization’s programmes. If no third party is allowed to adjudicate such
disputes and provide authoritative interpretations of the relevant policy programmes, the
door is wide open to violations of the organization’s policy prgramme. For this reason
many international organizations are given the task of adjudicating disputes about
member states’ compliance. They can thereby contribute to an unbiased interpretation of
their policy programmes.

25
In the UN, the International Court of Justice is generally responsible for the adjudication
of disputes about member states’ compliance. Its competencies are, however, very limited
since it can only become involved if the disputing states accept its jurisdiction. (pg 128
more examples)

5. Sanctions

Adjudication by IOs may help to bring about member states’ compliance with the norms
and rules of their policy programmes. If, however, a member state is not prepared to abide
by the ruling handed down by a court or a court-like body, sanctions may be needed. In
fact, IOs can sometimes help efforts to employ sanctions against states that continuously
disregard their international commitments. Nevertheless, IOs should in most cases not be
regarded as central authorities entrusted with the capacities to employ sanctions against
states violating their policy programmes. Rather, they serve as agents that help to
coordinate member states’ efforts to impose sanctions against cheats.

Some IOs can go beyond mere moral sanctions; they can exclude member states that
continuously violate their obligations, suspend certain rights enjoyed by the state
concerned through its membership of the organization, develop embargos or impose
military enforcement measures.
(Pg 130 shows the different types of sanctions in relation to each particular IO)

6. Operations and decision-making

Based on the distinction between various operational activities (the five above), we are
now in a better position to specify which operational decisions are typically taken
according to which decision-making model. Usually:

- Bureaucratic model: operational decisions to specify existing policy programmes

as well as the activities related to sanctions against member states
- Centralized-rational-choice/ standard-operating-procedure models: Operational
decisions relating to the direct implementation of programmes by the organization
itself or its agents, the monitoring of member states’ in cases of disputes

Information activities

An impressive part of the output of IOs takes the form of information activities. These
activities are specific insofar as they have an impact on both programme decisions and
operational decisions. Both types need information as a basis for decision-making.
Through their information activities, international organizations ensure that decisions, be
they programme or operational, are taken as correctly as possible and, if necessary, are
corrected as fast as possible. They can do so by:

- Collecting and publishing information

This way, they can provide an adequate informational basis for their decisions.
Generally, it is collected and published by the organization in yearbooks or annual

26
 reports, so that beyond the organization itself the wider public can gain access to the
information as well. These reports and surveys from IOs not only influence their own
decision markers, but also state and non-state actors as well as a wider public in most
member states.

- Generating information independently

IOs are frequently involved in the creation of information and knowledge. They
support their own research institutes, commission research projects or request
research from scientific institutes, and coordinate research activities of member states.
(pg 134 for a larger explanation)

- Exchanging information
IOs also act as a ‘market’ for the exchange of information and knowledge about the
subjects with which the organization is concerned. Hence in international
organizations member states get to know the perceptions and positions of other states.
Today this exchange is not restricted to state actors, but increasingly includes non-
state actors, especially NGO’s buy also business actors. Example: Friends of Nature,
World Wide Fund for Nature, provide important information and knowledge for IOs
dealing with environmental issues.

Conclusion
The output of IOs is potentially a crucial component of contemporary global governance.
IOs are involved in both the establishment of norms and rules and in their application.
They perform actions which might make it easier for states and non-state actors to
regulate their social relations in predictable manner.

Chapter 9:
Chapter 10: The Environment
Each state is ultimately interested in the environmental protection of its own territory at the
lowest economic cost. Thus, in international politics, each state is tempted to pass the economic
costs of environmental protection on to other states while benefiting from their efforts in
protecting the environment. However, if all followed this strategy of free-riding, not a single
state would benefit.

International organizations offer states the opportunity to overcome this environmental

dilemma and achieve international cooperation and governance: United Nations (UN), UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Org (WMO)

1. Protection of the ozone layer: UNEP and the WMO

- Policy programme of UNEP

- Operations of UNEP
- Information activities of UNEP and the WMO

27
Evaluation of the organizations’ effectiveness: The global ozone regime supported by UNEP,
Greenpeace the WMO, a transnational epistemic community of atmospheric scientists and
environmental INGOs is widely considered a success story and one of the most effective
international environmental regimes. They have managed to create and implement
international norms and rules to stop the depletion of the ozone layer.

The global decrease in the production and consumption of CFCs has continued to a point where
production has virtually ceased and consumption has become marginal.

2. Climate change: UNEP and the WMO

For states, climate change poses a dilemma similar to the one encountered in combating ozone
depletion. However, international organizations have not been nearly as successful in climate
protection as they have been in dealing with the ozone problem.

- Policy programme of UNEP and the WMO

- Operations of UNEP, the WMO and the Climate Secretariat
- Information activities of UNEP and the WMO

Evaluation of the organizations’ effectiveness: UNEP, and the WMO, in conjunction with
environmental INGOs, promoted a relatively early scientific recognition of the climate-change
problem and contributed to the rapid formation of a consensus among scholars and experts on
which international climate policy could be based. They also furthered reaching an agreement
on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions in the Kyoto Protocol.

Nonetheless, the overall record is sobering. Global greenhouse-gas emissions continue to

increase. Emerging economies are not bound to any reduction commitments under Kyoto
Protocol, have significantly increased their CO2 emissions in the past few years, some even
doubling them up.

Resumption by the USA as well as acceptance by emerging economies such as China or India of
a constructive role in global climate policy-making seem a necessary prerequisite for
improvement + dejar de utilizar el método de compra de bonos ecológicos, que Bustos explicó
en clase.

Chapter 11: Human Rights

Despite a growing global concern for human rights and an almost universal acceptance of Basic
human rights, there remains for each individual state the temptation to keep the costs of its
human rights policy as low as possible, or even to pass them on to others. Should all states follow
this temptation then the individually and collectively desirable result of an active international
human rights policy is likely to fail. Thus international cooperation is needed in order to bring
about active human rights policies aimed at those states that violate such rights.

1. Global human rights protection: the UN

The necessity of securing human rights internationally became apparent in the light of the
crimes against humanity, particularly those committed by Germany during the Second World

28
War. Nevertheless, it was only with the support of powerful states that a policy of international
human rights protection became possible.

- Policy programme of the UN

- Operations of the UN (table 11.2 pg 249)
- Information activities of the UN
Evaluation of the organization’s effectiveness: The situation has improved since 1980. This
finding is underlined by an inter-temporal comparison of country ratings by the American NGO
Freedom House. This improvement in the global human rights situation correlates with UN
human rights activities being no longer limited to policy-programme activities but increasingly
including operational activities, as well.

However, although the practices of countries that have ratified human rights treaties are
generally better than those of countries that have not, non-compliance with treaty obligations
is still common.

Naming and shaming of human rights violations is still the most common instrument of
promoting international and transnational human rights enforcement. However, by no means it
guarantees sustained norm compliance in political practice; its impact on the actual day-to-day
human rights situation within countries is often limited quantitatively.

The hardest sanction available to the UN is military intervention. However, multilateral military
interventions to protect citizens from their government are thus far from being a reliable
bulwark against the worst human rights atrocities.

2. European human rights protection: the Council of Europe

In Western Europe during post- Second World War period there were three conditions that
made international cooperation in the field of human rights feasible: the common experience of
Fascist and Nazi terror, the rejection of the Communist system and a high degree of consensus
on fundamental values. In the early 1990s, after the end of the Cold War, Eastern European
societies were confronted with similar conditions. These conditions were conducive to the
adherence of the states from the former Eastern bloc to the human tights agreement of the
Western European states. We shall focus on how the Council of Europe contributed to sustaining
international human rights cooperation in Europe.

- Policy programme of the Council of Europe

- Operations of the Council of Europe
- Information activities of the Council of Europe

Evaluation of the organization’s effectiveness: The strong standing of the European Court of
Human Rights gives European human rights norms considerable impact.

However, the overall effectiveness of the Court is constrained by the fact that the
implementation of Court rulings within member states can be quite lengthy. Moreover, the
Court has, to an extent, become victim of its own success. Its caseload has virtually exploded,
receiving more than 50,000 petitions a year now, compared to a meagre 4000 in 1988.

Conclusion: in the end, the advanced system of human rights protection in Europe is only
effective because it reflects a high degree of consensus of values among European societies and

29
states. If this consensus is not present, as was the case during the Cold War, or if there are
normative differences about some aspects of the legitimate exercise of state authority,
(example: Russia) the Council of Europe and its organs quickly reach the limits of their
effectiveness. This also explains the even greater limits to the impact that international
organizations on the global level have on the human rights policies of their member states.
Nonetheless, both regional and global organisations play a key role in enhancing in coalitions
with national and transnational NGOs, the recognition and implementation of international
human rights. Without the relevant international organizations, international cooperation and
governance in the issue area of human rights would hardly be feasible.

Chapter 12: Between a World State and International Anarchy: Images

of World Order

DÍEZ DE VELASCO, Manuel, Las

Organizaciones Internacionales
Capítulo 1: La Organizaciones Internacionales: Generalidades
1. INTRODUCCIÓN
La Sociedad Internacional ha perdido homogeneidad como consecuencia de la expansión
y diversificación de los sujetos internacionales. El número de Estados se ha visto
multiplicado por cuatro a lo largo del siglo XX, al tiempo que se han unificado las
diferencias de poder, desarrollo económico y valores culturales entre los mismos. Por otro
lado, nuevos sujetos se han ido abriendo paso para tratar de satisfacer las exigencias de la
vida internacional, entre los que destacan las Organizaciones Internacionales.

Los Estados pronto fueron conscientes de que muchos de sus problemas no podían ser ya
resueltos en el marco estrictamente nacional, y que su solución pasaba necesariamente
por la cooperación entre ellos. Efectivamente, al trascender las fronteras, exigían una
acción concertada de los Estados, para lo que la técnica tradicional del acuerdo bilateral
resultaba insuficiente. A lo que se unía, además, el hecho de que en la vida internacional
se estaban afirmando progresivamente una serie de intereses colectivos frente a
problemas mundiales como la paz, el desarrollo o el medio ambiente.

A fin de realizar esta cooperación, utilizaron la celebración de conferencias

internacionales y la adopción de tratados multilaterales. Pero pronto fueron conscientes
de la insuficiencia de estas técnicas para coordinar y gestionar una cooperación que se
hacía cada vez más necesaria. Ello les llevó a la creación de unos mecanismos
institucionalizados de cooperación permanente y voluntaria, dando vida así a unos entes

30
independientes dotados de voluntad propia destinados a alcanzar unos objetivos
colectivos. Surgen así en la escena internacional las primeras OIs.

Las OIs se han ido afirmando durante el siglo XX. Su multiplicación y el incremento de
sus competencias ha propiciado la aparición de un Derecho institucional cuya lógica
postula un cierto grado de subordinación del Estado a los organismos creados. Conviene
advertir además que las OIs tienden, cualquiera que sea su grado de integración, a crear
estructuras de poder por encima o al lado de los Estados.
Las OIs poseen una competencia general comparable a la de un Estado. El Orden jurídico
internacional va dejando así de ser única y exclusivamente un derecho de coordinación,
para incorporar, merced en buena parte a la actividad de las OIs. Al tiempo que la
presencia de las Organizaciones en la vida internacional está favoreciendo la
humanización, socialización y democratización de la misma.
Esta incidencia se ha manifestado en una pluralidad de planos:

1) Las OIs han servido de foros donde han germinado nuevos valores, como el del
respecto de los derechos humanos, el de la descolonización, el de la protección
del medio ambiente…
2) Las OIs han favorecido la incorporación de nuevos actores en la escena
internacional, como los individuos, a los que reconoce ciertos derechos y la
posibilidad de hacerlos jurídicamente valer.
3) La actividad de las OIs al desarrollarse, frecuentemente a través de debates
públicos, han acercado la acción internacional a los particulares.
4) La creación de una densa red de relaciones en y en torno a las OIs, al favorecer la
permanencia y la institucionalización de las negociaciones internacionales y
posibilitar la adopción de decisiones por mayoría, ha influido considerablemente
en la formas de elaboración de las normas internacionales.
5) El establecimiento de OIs ha favorecido el desarrollo de procedimientos de
control de la aplicación de las normas internacionales, así como la definición de
regímenes de sanciones internacionales organizadas.

2. ORIGEN Y DESARROLLO HISTÓRICO DE LAS ORGANIZACIONES

INTERNACIONALES
El origen de las OIs se puede situar en un momento histórico bastante preciso, constituido
por ese largo periodo de paz (relativa) y de progreso científico y técnico que conoció la
humanidad desde que finalizan las guerras napoleónicas hasta que se inicia la Primera
Guerra Mundial.

Durante este periodo de tiempo (1815-1914), la Sociedad Internacional asiste al

desarrollo de dos fenómenos que al confluir van a posibilitar el nacimiento de las OIs
modernas: el de las Conferencias internacionales y el del establecimiento de estructuras
internacionales permanentes.

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 1. Las Conferencias internacionales traen consigo el desarrollo de una diplomacia
parlamentaria y la utilización de un nuevo instrumento jurídico: el tratado
multilateral (cuyo primer ejemplo es el Acta final del Congreso de Viena en 1815).
Las grandes potencias comenzaron a reunirse con cierta periodicidad en el seno
de Conferencias internacionales, adoptando acciones concertadas destinadas a
diseñar primeramente un nuevo orden europeo y más tarde solucionar los
problemas referentes a los territorios no europeos surgidos de la expansión
colonial. A finales del siglo XIX las Conferencias internacionales empiezan a
desbordar el continente europeo, lo que se inicia en las Conferencias
internacionales de Paz de La Haya de 1899 y sobre todo de 1907, que se van a
constituir en un importante punto de referencia en la evolución de las OIs, pues
marcan una clara tendencia hacia la periodicidad y hacia la universalización, al
tiempo que diseñan las primeras instituciones jurisdiccionales internacionales (Ej.
El Tribunal Permanente de Arbitraje).
Estas conferencias internacionales prefiguran las OIs, pero aun no constituyen
Organizaciones dado que carecen de órganos propios permanentes dotados de
competencias particulares. De lo que se deduce que el segundo elemento que ha
posibilitado el nacimiento de las OIs es el establecimiento de estructuras
institucionales permanentes.
2. Las Uniones administrativas internacionales están destinadas a canalizar de
manera permanente e institucionalizada la acción concertada de sus Estados
miembros en sectores técnicos específicos, tales como las telecomunicaciones o
la industria.

Estos son ejemplos de una primera generación de OIs, caracterizada como “coordinación
económica y técnica”. Estas OIs introducen un elemento de institucionalidad y
permanencia representado por una oficina o secretaría, que constituyen las primeras
manifestaciones de la función pública internacional.

La conjunción de los dos procesos a los que nos venimos refiriendo (cooperación
multilateral y creación de estructuras orgánicas) que posibilita la transición de la técnica
de la conferencia internacional a la de OI, va a verse consolidada por la creación,
auspiciada por las potencias aliadas vencedoras de la Primera Guerra Mundial, de la
Sociedad de Naciones (SdN), ya que constituye el primer ejemplo de una OI de vocación
universal y competencia general. La SdN, desde l perspectiva de la institucionalización
de la cooperación internacional, representa un importante paso adelante puesto que va a
proporcionar un modelo institucional que más tarde inspiraría a otras OIs, y va a
establecer un cuerpo de funcionarios internacionales independientes de sus gobiernos a
partir del cual la función pública internacional va a desarrollarse de manera decisiva; con
ella se inicia la segunda generación de OIs, caracterizada como de “cooperación
económica y política”.

La Organización Internacional del Trabajo constituye igualmente un punto de referencia

obligado en la historia de las OIs ya que va a dotarse de una estructura original dado que

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junto a los delegados de los gobiernos van a participar también representantes de los
trabajadores y de los empresarios.

Por otra parte, la propia SdN va a impulsar la creación de nuevas OIs técnicas y
económicas al tiempo que se crea el Tribunal Permanente de Justicia Internacional que
empieza a funcionar a partir de 1922 en La Haya.

El fracaso de la SdN provocó el convencimiento en la necesidad de crear una nueva

Organización mundial mejor estructurada y más eficaz. De ahí, el que ay en plena
conflagración se empezase a diseñar por las potencias aliadas un nuevo tipo de OI, que
se concretaría al finalizar la guerra en la Carta de las Naciones Unidas, firmada en San
Francisco en 1945, por la que se establece la Organización de las Naciones Unidas.

A partir de la Segunda Guerra Mundial las OIs van a conocer una espectacular
proliferación, propulsada por dos fenómenos: el de la revitalización de los Organismos
técnicos a escala universal, y el de la institucionalización del regionalismo internacional
a través de la creación de OIs regionales.

Una serie de factores explican la eclosión del segundo de los fenómenos mencionados:
las Organizaciones internacionales regionales. El primero obedece al fracaso del sistema
de seguridad colectiva establecida en la Carta de las Naciones Unidas, provocando la
aparición de muchas organizaciones. El segundo fue de orden político tendiendo a
organizar la cooperación a escala de un continente. Un tercero fue de naturaleza
económica y comercial, favorecido por los ensayos de integración regional y por la ola
de descolonización que conoció el planeta a partir de los años 60’.

3. CONCEPTO Y CARACTERES DE LAS ORGANIZACIONES

INTERNACIOANLES

Podemos definir las OIs como unas asociaciones voluntarias de Estados establecidas por
acuerdo internacional, dotadas de órganos permanentes, propios e independientes,
encargados de gestionar unos intereses colectivos y capaces de expresar una voluntad
jurídicamente distinta de la de sus miembros.

A) Composición esencialmente interestatal

Las OIs están constituidas casi exclusivamente por Estados soberanos, lo que permite
distinguirlas de otras entidades internacionales, como las Confederaciones de Estado o
los Estados federales. Pero también nos encontramos con supuestos de Organizaciones
que permiten la participación en las mismas a otras OIs, incluso como miembros de pleno
derecho.

B) Base jurídica convencional

Las OIs son sujetos de derecho derivados o secundarios, es decir, deben su existencia a
un acto jurídico previo y exterior a la Organización. Lo usual es que este acto jurídico

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creador adopte la forma de un tratado multilateral negociado en el marco de una
conferencia intergubernamental, por lo que estará sujeto a las normas propias del Derecho
por los tratados; aunque posee una naturaleza particular que lo diferencia de los tratados
multilaterales ordinarios. Se trata, en fin, de un acto jurídico que posee un carácter, a la
vez, convencional e institucional.

El acuerdo creador de la Organización frecuentemente adoptará una forma solemne, e

incluso se le dará una denominación especial para marcar su transcendencia. Pero puede
ocurrir que el acto creador tenga otra forma, por ejemplo, la de una resolución de una
conferencia internacional, o la de una solemne declaración. En estos casos estaremos ante
acuerdos internacionales en forma simplificada. Cabe, también, mencionar el supuesto
excepcional de que la Organización sea creada por órganos estatales que no comprometen
a los Estados en el plano internacional, pero que luego dará lugar a una práctica
concordante de los gobiernos revelando una voluntad convencional.

El establecimiento de OIs a través de tratados internacionales es un rasgo que permite

distinguirlas de otras estructuras institucionales. En primer lugar, de ciertos organismos
subsidiarios autónomos frito de resoluciones de órganos de OIs preexistentes.

En segundo lugar, el criterio diferenciador esencial entre las OIs- cuya base jurídica es un
acuerdo internacional –y las Organizaciones internacionales no gubernamentales (ONG)
en las que la base jurídica está constituida por un acto de derecho interno. Las ONG están
constituidas por asociaciones, fundaciones e instituciones privadas, fruto de la iniciativa
privada o mixta con exclusión de todo acuerdo intergubernamental, constituidas de
manera duradera, espontánea y libre por personas privadas o públicas, físicas o jurídicas
de diferentes nacionalidades que, expresando una solidaridad transnacional, persiguen sin
espíritu de lucro un objetivo de interés internacional y han sido creadas de conformidad
con el derecho interno de un Estado.

Por otra parte, al desplegarse la actividad de las ONG en la vida internacional provoca el
que sus intereses puedan verse afectados por la acción de las OIs, y viceversa.

C) Estructura orgánica permanente e independiente

Toda OI posee una estructura institucional conformada por diversos órganos

permanentes. Esta permanencia no tiene por qué darse en todos y cada uno de ellos, basta
con que se dé en los órganos administrativos que permiten el funcionamiento continuo de
la Organización, mientras que los restantes pueden simplemente reunirse periódicamente.
Esta permanencia puede aparecer destacada expresa o tácitamente en el propio tratado
constitutivo de la Organización. La permanencia de la estructura institucional permite
distinguir las OIs de las Conferencias internacionales.

Estos órganos que son distintos e independientes de los que poseen los Estados miembros,
están encargados de gestionar los intereses colectivos, para los que se les dotará de los
medios necesarios. Se puede observar la existencia de estructuras de base similares

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apoyadas en un esquema tripartito: una asamblea plenaria en la que participen todos los
Estados miembros, una institución de composición restringida que asegura el gobierno de
la Organización y un secretariado encargado de la administración. Los dos primeros
órganos suelen estar formados por representantes de los gobiernos mientras que el tercero
está integrado por funcionarios internacionales.

D) Autonomía jurídica

Las OIs se caracterizan por poseer una personalidad jurídica distinta de la de sus Estados
miembros necesaria para el cumplimiento de los fines para las que fueron creadas. Las
OIs, aunque su acción se ve influida por la presencia en su seno de sus Estados miembros,
son capaces de elaborar y manifestar una voluntad autónoma en los ámbitos en los que
gozan de competencias; de manera que, cualquiera que sea el órgano que adopte la
decisión, ésta se imputará a la Organización y no a sus Estados miembros individual o
colectivamente considerados.

Se reconoce, pues, a las OIs la capacidad de ser titulares de derecho y obligaciones, tanto
en la relaciones con otros sujetos internacionales, como con ocasión del ejercicio de sus
funciones en el territorio de algún Estado.

4. CLASIFICACIÓN DE LAS ORGANIZACONES INTERNACIONALES

El mundo de las OIs es extremadamente fragmentado y heterogéneo. Hay que ser

consciente de la naturaleza hibrida de algunas Organizaciones y de las transformaciones
que a lo largo de su vida pueden conocer y que las llevan a transitar por diversas
categorías.

Los criterios para clasificar las OIs son: sus fines, su composición y sus competencias.

A) Por sus fines: Organizaciones de fines generales y de fines específicos

Las OIs son creadas bajo la presión de unas necesidades y para la consecución de unos
fines. Estos fines, que aparecen descritos en sus instrumentos constitutivos, permiten
distinguir entre aquellas Organizaciones que persiguen unos fines generales, y aquellas
otras que se proponen unos fines específicos.

a) Las Organizaciones de fines generales son aquellas cuyas actividades no están

circunscritas a un ámbito concreto de cooperación, sino que pueden abarcar todas
aquellas materias que estimen útiles.
b) La mayor parte de las OIs han sido creadas para el cumplimiento de unos fines
específicos, por lo que en principio van a desarrollar sus actividades dentro de
unos ámbitos bien definidos. Ahora bien, durante la existencia de una
Organización su actividad puede abarcar más de una finalidad, por lo que a la hora
de clasificarlas habrá que acudir a aquel de sus fines que aparezca como
primordial. Y en atención a ello cabe distinguir entre:

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 o Organizaciones de cooperación preferentemente militar o de seguridad:
este tipo de Organizaciones que proliferaron al acabar la Segunda Guerra
Mundial y durante la Guerra Fría, se proponen unos fines de defensa y
ayuda mutua en caso de agresión (Ej. OTAN).
o Organizaciones de cooperación preferentemente económica: se trata de la
categoría de Organizaciones más numerosas en el momento presente (Ej.
FMI).
o Organizaciones de cooperación social, cultural y humanitaria: su
finalidad es la protección del individuo o de las colectividades en diversos
aspectos (Ej. OIT).
o Organizaciones de cooperación técnica y científica: el progreso de la
ciencia y la tecnología, los avances en las comunicaciones internacionales
han motivado la creación de numerosas Organizaciones destinadas a
canalizar la cooperación de los Estados.

B) Por su composición: Organizaciones de ámbito universal y regional

La forma en que está compuesta una OI es un criterio diferenciador que permite distinguir
entre Organizaciones que tienen una vocación universal puesto que están abiertas a la
participación potencial de todos los Estados, y las Organizaciones que tienen un carácter
restringido al estar la participación en las mismas reservado a un número limitado de
Estados que reúnan determinadas condiciones preestablecidas de naturaleza geográfica,
económica, política, etc.

De este modo, frente a unas OIs de vocación universal constituidas para satisfacer unos
fines susceptibles de interesar a la totalidad de los Estados, surgen otras Organizaciones
a las que tradicionalmente se las califica de regionales, que van a responder a unas
solidaridades restringidas sentidas en el interior de un grupo limitado de Estados, que
definen sus intereses comunes no solamente por la convergencia de sus aspiraciones y
objetivos, sino también por oposición a las aspiraciones y objetivos de todos los Estados
exteriores al grupo.

a) Organizaciones de vocación universal.

b) Organizaciones de carácter regional. Dentro de esta categoría se agrupan
aquellas Organizaciones que están restringidas a un número limitado de Estados,
entre los que existen unas determinadas afinidades objetivas (contigüidad
geográfica) y7o subjetivas (similitudes económicas, religiosas…). En estos
supuestos, el criterio geográfico es uno de los criterios que explican el nacimiento
de dichas Organizaciones, pero en todo caso y por oposición al universalismo, en
todas y cada una de ellas se produce un fenómeno de regionalización sustentado
en unas escalas geográficas variables.
Hay que destacar, igualmente, que ha sido en el marco de esta categoría de
Organizaciones donde se ha producido esencialmente el fenómeno de la
multiplicación de OIs, y que también dentro de la misma es donde se desarrollan

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 los procesos de institucionalización de la cooperación más avanzados que conoce
la Sociedad internacional. Ambos datos reflejan la vitalidad y dinamismo del
regionalismo en la vida internacional contemporánea.
Las Organizaciones regionales a pesar de su diversidad ofrecen ciertos rasgos
comunes:
o En comparación con las Organizaciones universales, e
independientemente de la vecindad geográfica de sus Estados miembros,
van a ocupar siempre un área geográficamente limitada.
o Constituyen comunidades de interés restringidos a un número
determinado de Estados, caracterizados por afinidades comunes de diversa
índole. Ello permite la formación de un Derecho particular homogéneo
que en ciertos casos alcanza una alta cota de especificidad, como sucede
con el Derecho comunitario en el ámbito de la UE.
o Sus tratados constitutivos establecen la coordinación o subordinación. No
obstante, y a pesar de estas disposiciones, la coordinación entre ambas
categorías de Organizaciones no siempre es satisfactoria, surgiendo
frecuentes situaciones de competencia y conflicto entre ellas.
o A pesar de la difícil existencia que conocen algunas de estas
Organizaciones, estamos ante un fenómeno que dista mucho de estar
agotado, puesto que las diversidades ideológicas y económicas en el
mundo le sirven de fortalecimiento, así como la necesidad de gestionar
intereses comunes de los Estados en la fase intermedia hasta la superación
del Estado sobre base nacional y hasta que se dé paso a la formación de
organizaciones políticas superadoras de esta forma de Estado.

C) Por sus competencias: Organizaciones de cooperación y Organizaciones de

integración o de unificación

El reparto de competencias entre la Organización y sus miembros es un criterio que nos

permite distinguir entre aquellas OIs a las que sus Estados miembros no han cedido
competencias soberanas y que se proponen simplemente instituir una cooperación entre
los mismos y coordinar sus actividades con vistas a la satisfacción de unos intereses
comunes; y aquellas otras Organizaciones en las que se produce una transferencia real de
competencias soberanas, aceptando sus Estados miembros limitar- aunque sea solo en
materias restringidas –sus competencias, sometiéndose de este modo a una autoridad
exterior a los mismos que se concentra en las instituciones de la Organización, creándose
de este modo unas OIs que tienden hacia la integración o la unificación de sus Estados
miembros en aquellos ámbitos en los que se les haya transferido competencias.

a) Organizaciones de cooperación o de coordinación: la mayor parte de las OIs

desarrollan funciones de cooperación, mediante la realización de unas acciones
coordinadas entre sus miembros con el fin de alcanzar unos objetivos colectivos.
Constituyen la vía clásica, respetuosa de la soberanía de sus Estados miembros, y
en ellas se trasvasa la técnica de la negociación y de la adopción de decisiones por

37
 unanimidad a unos órganos comunes y permanentes. La cooperación es
estrictamente interestatal, en el sentido de que las decisiones de la Organización-
adoptadas por unanimidad – se dirigen a sus Estados miembros.
b) Organizaciones de integración o de unificación: han surgido recientemente en la
escena internacional unas OIs que pretenden la integración de sus Estados
miembros. En ellas se opera una cesión de competencias de los Estados miembros
a los órganos comunes, que se caracteriza por suponer la atribución de poderes
del mismo tipo que los que resultan de las funciones superiores de un Estado a
unos órganos independientes de los Estados, y por la posibilidad que tienen dichos
órganos de pronunciarse por mayoría en caso de estar formados por representantes
gubernamentales, al tiempo que las decisiones que adopten podrán tener, en
determinadas ocasiones, autoridad directa e inmediata en los órdenes jurídicos
nacionales.
Nos encontramos, pues, ante unas Organizaciones que se sitúan entre las OIs
clásicas y las estructuras federales. Se produce en ellas una verdadera
transferencia de competencias soberanas en favor de sus instituciones, lo que se
plasma:
o En su ámbito de atribución, que, aunque limitado por el principio de la
especialidad, afecta a materias tradicionalmente reservadas al Estado,
teniendo además estas atribuciones un carácter evolutivo pudiendo
ampliarse por el juego de las disposiciones del tratado constitutivo o por
el de la teoría de las competencias implícitas.
o En las funciones que va a ejercer, que cubren la gama de las funciones
estatales (ejecutiva, legislativa y judicial).
o En la posibilidad de adoptar decisiones de carácter general, obligatorias y
directamente aplicables en cada Estado miembro.
o En la existencia de una real independencia orgánica respecto de los
gobiernos nacionales, pues la mayoría de las instituciones están
compuestas por personalidades independientes como ejemplifican las
Comisión y el Tribuna de Justicia de las Comunidades Europeas, o reúnen
representantes de los pueblos elegidos directamente por sufragio universal
(Ej. Parlamento Europeo), o bien, si se trata de un órgano formado por
representantes gubernamentales, cabe la posibilidad de que sus
disposiciones se adopten por mayoría.
o En la existencia de una gran autonomía, tanto por lo que respecta a su
orden jurídico, como por lo que se refiere a su independencia financiera,
merced a la existencia de recursos propios.

Capítulo 2: El Estatuto Jurídico de las Organizaciones Internacionales

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Capítulo 3: Principales Manifestaciones de la Personalidad Jurídica
Internacional de las Organizaciones Internacionales

Capítulo 6-7

KARNS, Margaret y MINGST, Karen,

International Organizations. The Politics and
Processes of Global Governance
United Nations (reprografía)
Chapter 4:
Chapter 12: Innovations

Apuntes de clase
- Obligatoriedad de las decisiones
- Caso Bernadotte y redes públicas

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