Non-state Actors and

International Politics
PGDIR Course 101
21.11.2014

News Headlines
Close to 50 French jihadists killed in
Syria- the daily star 20.11.2014
UN calls for North Korea rights probeThe daily star 20.11.2014
US, Iraq draw up ground attack plan
against ISIS, The daily star 24.10.2014
Kurds sieze ISIS arms near Kobani,
Syria- the daily star, Lebanon
18.11.2014

News Headlines
UN to launch Syria chemical weapons probe--- the
Daily Star 22.3.2013.
PM trashes World Bank graft allegations-says govt
to build Padma bridge with own fund, minister
must quit if graft allegation is proved ---The Daily
Star 5.7.2012

Stop mass trial of BDR munity : Human Rights

Watch urges govt., calls for disbanding Rab
-The Daily Star 5.7.2012

Dhaka, Delhi plan hunt for JMB men: simultaneous

raids on borders soon. The daily star 20.11.2014

News Headlines
Fresh tensions cloud Indo-Pak peace talks- New Delhi
suspended a four-year peace process with Islamabad
after the attacks on Indias financial capital by 10
Islamist gunmen that left 166 people dead. (-The Daily
Star 5.7.2012 )
Turkey has supplied all logistic support to the terrorists
who have killed our people-Syrian President Assad (The Daily Star 5.7.2012 )
Iran has upped its fiery anti-west rhetoric in response to
the launch on Sunday of a total European Union embargo
on buying Iranian Crude oil (-The Daily Star 5.7.2012 )

Non-State Actors (NSA)in IR: A

guide to the Lecture
1. Rise of NSA: a brief history
2. Various Types of NSAs
3. Overview of different NSAs and their role
in IP
4. A theoretical /critical perspective

Introduction : State as the

principal actor in World politics
States emergence as a legitimate, abstract entity
during the 17th century
WWI and breakdown of Austro-Hungarian and
Ottoman empire
WWII, emergence of superpowers
Decolonization and emergence of LDCs

Post WWII development

New states to satisfy a rapidly growing
variety of social needs and
Economic demands
Less ability to perform
Emergence of intra- and extra-state actors

Evolution of Non-state
Actors (NSA)
Longer historical roots
Three developments during the 19th and
20th century:
The concert of Europe
The Hague System 1899, 1907
Public International Organizations

Non-state actors -as old as nation states

themselves.

Varieties of NSAs
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

Intl financial Institutions (IFIs)
Intl NGOs and civil society (INGOs and CSOs)
Multinational corporations (MNCs)
Value-based advocacy networks
Ethnic groups and National Liberation
Movements
g. Religious movement and
h. Epistemic communities
i. Individuals

NSAs since 1900

Year

IGOs

INGOs

1909

37

176

1960

154

1,255

2006

245 ( 34 like UN)

29,807

2013

6700

40,000

IGOs
Geographica Multipurpose
l Scope

Single Purpose

Global
(34%)
membership

United Nations
World Trade
Organization
Organizations
of Islamic
Conferences

WHO
ILO
IMF
Universal Postal Union

Regional/Su
b- regional

European
Union
SAARC
ASEAN

NATO
African Groundnut Council

NGOs
Global (7%)

BRAC (INGOs)

Transparency International
(INGOs)
Green Peace (ENGOs)
Amnesty International
International Chamber of
Commerce
International Red Cross
Save the Children

Intergovernmental
Organization
EvolutionWorld War I, League of Nations and UN
(Based on purposes and functions) three broad
categories:
Multipurpose The United Nations
Alliance type NATO
Regional functional IGOs- ASEAN, SAARC

Complex network of overlapping international

organizations
cooperate with with a wide range of global issues
(from trade, defense, disarmaments to relief,
science and refugee issues)

The UN System
Birth after the WWII
Membership
Goals-maintaining peace and security,
international cooperation, harmonizing
the actions of nations, developing
friendly relations with states
Organs
Achievements and Challenges

NATO: Alliance type

intergovernmental organization
Formed in 1949 to contain SU in the North
Atlantic areas.
Article 5 of the constitution.
Membership- from 16-28
Post cold war era: changes
Post cold war involvements
Prospects and challenges

SAARC- A regional multipurpose

organization
Formed in1985
Goals: to promote welfare of the people of
South Asia and to foster cooperation
among states at economic, social and
cultural level.
Initiatives: liberalizing trade among SAARC
countries, reducing the impact of climate
change, managing disaster etc.
Challenges

EU- A supranational
Authority?
EU from 3 communities: European Coal
and Steel Community (1951), European
Atomic Energy Community (1957)and
European Economic Community (1957).
1993 Maastricht treaty-European Union
Initially there were six members, 20 other
European countries joined gradually.
Organs: a council of ministers, a
parliament, a court of justice, and an
economic and social council
Issue of Supranationality

International Financial
Institutions
From IBRD to World bank- post war
reconstruction to poverty alleviation in
LDCs
IMF- to ensure financial stability through a
special drawing arrangement from a trust
fund.
WTO- a successor of GATT. 1995

Intl NGOs and Civil Society

Organizations
Green peace, Amnesty Intl, Human Rights
Watch, BRAC
The nature and scope of INGOs and civil
society organizations are increasing day by
day.
From micro credit to relief operation to
reconstruction to rights issues.
While INGOs supplement govt.s
programmes, civil society works more as
pressure groups

Role of INGOs in IP
Role in global policy making
Relatively weak in high politics
(geostrategic issues) because of state
control
but good at low politics (economic, social,
environmental demographic aspects)
Reciprocal relations between NGOs and
State govt.
Single issue groups have more influence
than larger issues.

MNCs/TNCs
Examples : Unilever, Toyota, HSBC, Sony, Apollo
hospital, Pan-Pacific, IBM (Overseas expansion of
goods and services),
Dramatic growth in scope and influence after
WWII.
Usually works in more than one countries

Evolution of MNCs
formation of European Economic Community in
1957.
US invested in Europe.
By 1980s US, Japan and EU made a triad.
Further expansion
Shifted abroad to get some comparative
advantage
direct role in determining the political economic
relations between developed and developing
countries.

Pros and Cons of MNC/TNCs Role in

World Politics
Positive
Increase in the volume of
world trade
Assist in aggregation of
investment capital that can
fund development
Finance loans and service intl
debt
Lobby for free trade and the
removal of barriers to trade
such as tariffs.
Underwrite research and
development that allows
technological innovation
Introduce and dispense
advanced tech to less
developed countries

Negative
Increased monopoly of few and
reduce competition and free
enterprise
Deprivation of local industries,
profit goes to home country
Make the poor dependent on
debt
Limit the availability of
commodities by monopoly
production and distribution in
the local market
Export techs which are not
suitable for LDCs
Inhibit the growth of infant
industries and indigenous and
local technological expertise in
LDCs

Pros and cons of MNCs Role

(Cond)
Reduce the costs of goods by
encouraging their production
according to the principle of
comparative advantage
General increase in employment
and help rise skill-level of workers
Produce new goods and expand
opportunities for their purchase
through the internationalization of
production
Disseminate marketing enterprise
and mass-advertising methods
worldwide.
Promote national revenue and
economic growth, facilitate
modernization of LDCs
Advocate peaceful relations
among states
Help flow the trade, goods and
culture.

May create bloc that contribute to

inflation
Contributed to the exploitation of
labour
Limit the supply of raw materials
available in the international market
Promote a homogenised world
commodity culture erodding
traditional culture and national
differences
Widen the gap between rich and
poor. Manifest social stratification
Support and rationalize repressive
regimes in the name of stability and
order
Challenge national sovereignty and
jeopardize the autonomy of the
nation-state.

Ethnic groups as Actors in

IP-1
Ethnicity: a constructed identity- when a group of
people share significant cultural elements and
reproduce themselves both socially and
biologically (Hall 2004).
Ethnic nationalism. : Peoples loyalty to and
identification with a particular ethnic nationality
groups that is often based on race, language,
common culture, tradition, origin, religion or a
combination of two or more.

Ethnic groups
Nearly of the worlds larger countries
(116 of 161) have politically significant
minorities.
275 minority groups (1/6 of the world
population)
6,800 separate indigenous nations
comprising 650 m people (1/10th of the
total population) living in 70 countries

Ethnic and non-state

groups-3
May demand for greater independence.
May wage a war.
May seek a greater level of regional autonomy
and greater voice in the domestic and foreign
policy.
Divide state internally and interrupt states to
function as unitary actors.
Example: Kurds, Chechens etc

Religious Movements
Religion: A system of thought shared by a
group that provides its members an object
of devotion and a code of behaviour by
which they can ethically judge their action.
R/movement: A set of beliefs, practices
and ideas administered politically by a
religious group to promote its conception
or its principles for conduct.
High ideals of doctrines vs the activities of
the heads of the religious movements

R/M 2
The relationship between state and
transnational R/M. state control vs
secularism
militant religious movements- some
characteristics: extremist,
universalists, exclusionists, militant.
Intl activities: irredentism, secession,
migration, diaspora, international
terrorism

CASES

ISIS- Seizing power in Iraq and Syria

Want to create a pan-Islamic Caliphate
Challenging traditional state authority
Innovative in methods of recruitment,
strategy etc
International politics on ISIS: state
rivalry, state interest
Others: Boko haram in Nigeria, TTP in
Pakistan, Al-Qaeda in Yemen

Epistemic communities
Specific communities of experts
sharing a belief in a common set of
cause and effect relaitonships as well
as common values to which policies
should be governed
Offer technical knowledge to increase
intl cooperation
State may use them for their own
interest

Individual Actors
Refugees, Migrants who cross intl
boundaries.
International Drug Dealers
International Terrorist/ Freedom
Fighters
UN secretary General

Issues of debate
State-centered view vs
transnationalism
Globalization Vs State
Control/protectionism
Transnational Issues- i.e.
environment, health, migration etc.
Human rights vs states responsibility
The trio of State, Market and Society

A Critical Perspective 1
The number, types and roles of NSAs
have increased to a significant level.
Even to such extent that many
scholars argue, whether they are
taking the place of nation-state,
while other see it from functionalist
perspective.

Huntington on NSAs
No reason exists why-in addition to
states-nationalities, diasporas, religious
communities and other groups should not
be treated as legitimate actorsIn the
emerging global politics, however state
sovereignty and authority are withering
and no alternative, such as some -system
of world government, is about to fill the
vacuum.
-Samuel P. Huntington, 2001

Slaughter on NSAs
Away from the state up, down and
sideways- to supra-state, sub-state,
and, above all non-state actors- new
players that have multiple
allegiances and global reach A
gain to power by non-state actors
does not necessarily translate into a
loss of power for the state.
--Anne-Marie Slaughter 1997

Falk on Sovereignty and

NSAs
Interdependence and the interpenetration
of domestic and international politics, the
mobility and globalization of capital and
information and the rising influence of
transnational social movements and
organizations are among the factors that
make it anarchronistic to analyze politics as
if territorial supremacy continues to be a
generalized condition or a useful friction.
- Richard Falk 2001

Other theorists who believe

that
NSA created many channels of access
to the international system
TANs blur the boundaries between
states and citizens by transforming
the state of sovereignty.
There is no reasons to see the
challenges from INGOs and NGOs as a
compound threat to states continuing
domination of world politics.

A realist perspective
State retain a monopoly on the use
of coercive force and continue to
mold the activities of non-state
actors more than state behaviour is
molded by them.
-- Howard Lentner 2004

Towards a liberal
perspective
Whereas it would be premature to
abandon the focus on the state in the world
politics, it would be equally mistaken to
exaggerate the states power as a
determinant of the globes fate and dismiss
the expanding role of that non-state actors
are playing within the tightening web of
interdependent globalization that is eroding
the power of states.
------ Charles W.Kegley 2007

Conclusions
NSAs significantly influence states foreign
policy behaviour
Lobby in domestic and international setting
Mobilize national and global opinion
Exploit states against each others
NGOs has become notable determinants of
states foreign policy
States are no longer a unitary actor in intl
politics

References (Available at
Departments Library)
Kegley, C.W, 2007, World Politics : trends and
transformation, UK: Thomson, (Chapter 6)
Frankel, J, 1987, International Relations in a
changing World, New Delhi: Oxford Uni. Press
Chapter 3
Bennett, L. 1995, International organization :
Principles and Issues, USA: Prentice Hall Intl
Official websites of relevant organizations