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Peter Willetts: “Transnational actors and international organizations in global

politics” (2008)

1. Introduction

-> international relations should no longer be regarded as ‘states’ interacting with each other:

= from realist to pluralist approach

= international relations and global politics as the interaction of:

- states or governments

- transnational companies (Nestlé, Shell, Ford, …)

- national NGOs

- IGOs (UN, NATO, EU, …)

- INGOs (Amnesty International, WWF, …)

2. Problems with the state-centric approach

-> 4 main problems:

1) ambiguity between different meanings of ‘state’

= legal person?

= political community?

= apparatus of government?

=> this article: government point of view (disentangle state and its citizens)

2) lack of similarity between countries

= legally equal but politically very different

e.g.: difference in size, population, economy, governmental system, …

= some transnational actors are bigger than countries in terms of members, GDP, …

3) state systems and international systems

= false assumption that states are located in anarchic international system

4) difference between state and nation

= nations cross state boundaries as do transnational actors

= country-based political systems are thus not necessarily more coherent than global

3. Transnational companies as political actors

-> transnational companies as companies with subsidiaries outside the home country

= increasingly more TNCs from developing countries

= important consequences:

- financial flows and loss of sovereignty

e.g.: currency no longer national in EU, national policies don’t affect intra

firm trade

- triangulation and loss of sovereignty

e.g.: indirect trade can’t be prevented

- regulatory arbitrage and loss of sovereignty

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e.g.: companies can threaten to close affiliates in a certain country and move

to another one when conditions are not good anymore (Ryanair)

- extraterritoriality and sovereignty

e.g.: TNCs with bases in different countries can cause clashes of sovereignty

between those countries

- from domestic deregulation to global re-regulation

= economic regulation is occurring at global level because of TNCs

= 3 factors which lead to more globalization of politics:

a) governments can only reassert control by acting collectively

b) consumer pressure leads to global codes of conduct which are

accepted by companies and implemented by NGOs

c) global companies pushed to submit to environmental auditing

=> Leads to cooperation of governments, NGOs and UN to recruit large TNCs

in order to help implement UN principles of human rights etc.

4. Non-legitimate groups and liberation movements as political actors

-> transnational crime must be distinguished between:

- activity that is considered criminal by the whole world

- activity of which actors claim it legitimate political motives (dictatorial regimes, terrorism,…)

-> transnational criminals and their political impact:

= same problems for sovereignty as with TNCs:

- criminal financial flows

- criminal trade too diversified via triangulation

- police action displaces crime to other countries rather than stopping it

- international drug trade involves extraterritorial jurisdiction

BUT: High levels of international police cooperation ( TNCs)

-> terrorists, guerrillas, and national liberation movements:

= all terms for movements or minorities that reject a governments’ legitimacy

- terrorists by those who disapprove

- guerrillas by those who are more neutral

- national liberation by those who are in favor

= only get international recognition when they don’t use violence

= threat of transnational terrorism since 9/11

= °International Criminal Court + UN’s resolution of ‘collective responsibility to protect’

-> significance of criminals, terrorists, and guerrillas:

= terrorism is not a single political force (though it shows transnational characteristics)

= governments can’t respond to it as independent sovereign actors

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5. NGOs as political actors

-> international diplomacy can’t be understood without considering NGO influence

-> consultative status at the UN for NGOs:

= ECOSOC recognizes 3 categories of groups:

1) small number of high-status NGOs concerned with most of Council’s work

2) specialist NGOs concerned with few specific fields of activity

3) NGOs that make occasional contributions to Council

-> UN definition of an acceptable NGO:

1) should support aims and work of the UN (but political purposes are rarely objected)

2) should be a representative body with HQ, officers, …

3) can’t be profit-making body

4) can’t use or advocate violence

5) should respect of norm of ‘non-interference in internal affairs of states’

6) an INGO is one that is not established by intergovernmental agreement

-> globalization and the expansion of NGOs:

= because of increased communication, NGOs are very easily formed transnationally

= governments have no control over their citizens’ transnational communication

-> NGO’s shift from local to global:

= easy for NGOs to operate transnationally through communication

= 4 possible structures:

- international NGOs with rigid (infra)structure

- advocacy networks via internet, mostly led by one overarching NGO

- caucuses

(temporary networks to lobby specific issues at particular meetings)

- governance networks

(cooperation between many NGOs to make sure they are being allowed at

intergovernmental meetings, without necessarily having same policy ideals)

6. International organizations as structures of global politics

-> international organizations as systems:

= accept existence of systems at all levels of world politics

= international organizations transcend country borders and have major influence on

countries’ governmental and transnational actors

= 3 types:

- intergovernmental organizations (< governments)

- INGOs (< transnational actors)

- hybrid INGOs (< governments + transnational actors, like International Red Cross)

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7. Conclusion: issues and policy systems in global politics

-> from state-centric to pluralist model:

= distinction high-low politics no longer valid

= transnational organizations can exert same functions as governments:

- have high status

- possess specialist information

- have access to communications

- can spread their views in support of their goals

- have good speakers

SO: If power is seen as combination of possessing status, information and

communication skills, then NGOs can influence governments as well

= influence is issue-specific

-> distinct actors per policy domain enhances status/information/communication

-> e.g.: Greenpeace for environment, Amnesty International for human rights, …

= ideas are born in civil society

-> civil society = NGOs

-> economics =TNCs

=> Major political changes in 20th century international relations have been effected by NGOs & TNCs