Abstract
The development of intergovernmental and non-governmental international organisations is one of the most striking features of international relations in the twentieth century. Increased cooperation, coordination and harmonisation of policy across state boundaries resulting in the creation of permanent international organisations suggests both the development of some kind of international consciousness and also the inability of elites to manage either domestic or international relations effectively in the absence of joint action. The growth of international organisations is a clear indicator of the internationalisation of social life in the twentieth century. The modern state is incapable of meeting the complex and diverse demands of its citizens without the resort to cooperative endeavours. International organisations should therefore be viewed from the perspective of global political and social change instead of being conceived as idealistic responses to the problem of security. From this perspective, states and international organisations are viewed as existing in a relationship which is both competitive and cooperative. The relationship between international organisations and nation-states is perceived not as one of inherent conflict (especially over attempts to erode the sovereignty of states) but as one which provides scope for both conflict and cooperation. The important point is that the dynamics of the relationship is not knowable in advance and cannot be abstracted from the general features of states and international organizations.
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Notes and References
The Nature of International Organisations Harold K. Jacobson
David Easton, The Political System: an Inquiry into the State of Political Science (New York: Knopf, 1964), p. 130.
Harold D. Lasswell and Abraham Kaplan, Power and Sociey: A Framework for Political Inquiry (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950), pp. 55–57 and passim.
These rough figures are adequate for present purposes. For more precise figures and a view of the complexities involved in ascertaining them, see Michael D. Wallace and J. David Singer, “Intergovernmental Organisation in the Global System, 1815–1964: A Quantative Description,” International Organisation, 24 (Spring 1970), 239–287. Lists of existing IGOs and INGOs that include a brief statement about each organisation are published by the Union of International Associations in the periodic editions of the Union’s Yearbook of International Organisations....
Again achieving a precise count is complicated. For careful efforts see G.P. Speeckaert, The 1,978 International Organisations Founded Since the Congress of Vienna. A Chronological List (Brussels: Union of International Associations, 1957),
and Kjell Skjelsbaek, “The Growth of International Non-governmental Organisation in the Twentieth Century”, International Organization 25 (Summer 1971), 420–422.
This definition is based on that contained in Samuel P. Huntington, “Transnational Organisations in World Politics”, World Politics, 25 (April 1973), 333–368. Unlike Huntington’s definition, this one, by introducing the adjective “nongovernmental”, would exclude departments of the governments of states.
Howard V. Perlmutter originally coined the term. See his article “The Tortuous Evolution of the Multinational Corporation”, Colombia Journal of World Business, 4 (January–February 1969), 9–18. The usage of the term here is drawn from the adaptation in Joseph S. Nye, Jr., and Robert O. Keohane, “Transnational relations and World Politics: An Introduction,” International Organisation, 25 (Summer 1971), 329–349, 336.
Karl W. Deutsch, Nationalism and Its Alternatives (New York: Knopf, 1969), p. 14.
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Further Reading
J.A. Ansari, The Political Economy of International Economic Organisation (Brighton: Wheatsheaf, 1986).
I.L. Claude, Swords into Plowshares (New York: Random House, 4th edn 1971).
R.W. Cox and H.K. Jacobson (eds), The Anatomy of Influence (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1974).
E.B. Haas, Beyond The Nation-State (Stanford University Press, 1964).
P. Taylor and A.J.R. Groom (eds), International Organisation: A Conceptual Approach (London: Frances Pinter, 1978).
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© 1989 Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Williams, M. (1989). International Organisation. In: Williams, M. (eds) International Relations in the Twentieth Century. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20081-8_7
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