Mapping Non State Actors In International Relations

This edited volume addresses the role of non-state actors (NSAs) in international relations. From their emergence in the early 20th century, entities of non-state status have played a role of increasing prominence in international politics. Scholarly work has been slow to catch up, approaching NSAs mainly through the scope of legitimacy and international law or limiting focus to NGOs, international organizations, and economic corporations. This volume remedies that, creating a typology of NSAs based on systematic and coherent analysis. Presenting a series of cases of NSAs across the continuum of international relations, the chapters firmly ground NSAs in the ontology of international relations theory. Filling a gap in the current literature, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of international relations theory, international politics, international security, diplomatic history, and European and Middle East politics, as well as policy-makers and practitioners.

Assessing the influence of non-governmental organizations on international and transnational politics, as well as examining the importance of non-state actors in a world of nation-states, this theoretically rich text also discusses approaches that deal with the interplay between domestic and international politics. Thorough and insightful, this text draws on perspectives and theories from political science, policy studies and international law.Using topical and original case studies which cover the fields of security, trade, social clauses, environment, development aid, civil rights and crime, this volume constitutes one of the first vigorous theoretical analyses of this important contemporary phenomenon.

The involvement of non-state actors in world politics can hardly be characterised as novel, but intensifying economic and social exchange and the emergence of new modes of international governance have given them much greater visibility and, many would argue, a more central role. Non-state Actors in World Politics offers analyses of a diverse range of economic, social, legal (and illegal), old and new actors, such as the Catholic Church, trade unions, diasporas, religious movements, transnational corporations and organised crime.

Non-State Actors in Conflicts: Conspiracies, Myths, and Practices explores some of the most pressing topics in political science and media studies. The contributions gathered here provide alternative perspectives on various non-state actors and their functions in global politics, in addition to providing case studies and theoretical approaches towards non-state actors, such as armed non-state actors and international non-governmental organizations. The volume also covers the topic of conspiracy theories and conspiracies formed in relation to the functions and existence of these actors.

The involvement of non-state actors in world politics can hardly be characterized as novel, but intensifying economic and social exchange and the emergence of new modes of international governance have given them much greater visibility and, many would argue, a more central role. "Non-State Actors in World Politics" analyzes a diverse range of economic, social, legal (and illegal), old and new actors, such as the Catholic Church, trade unions, diasporas, religious movements, transnational corporations and organized crime.

One of the most notable trends in the study of international relations is the resurgence of interest in international organizations, particularly those outside the United Nations. Regional international governmental organizations, multinational corporations, international labor unions, and transnational ethnic groups have become increasingly salient actors in world politics. OPEC, NATO, EEC, and PLO, for example, are all widely understood acronyms, and even a casual review of the crises in Iran and Afghanistan reveals the pervasive involvement of NATO, the European Community, the Islamic Conference, the International Olympic Committee, and more than one hundred other international governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Although international organizations are not likely to replace nation-states as the primary actors in world politics, their growing involvement in global political and economic issues challenges the assumptions of the traditionalists' state-centric model, as well as those whose interests begin and end with the United Nations. This book goes beyond the traditional UN-focused studies of nonstate actors to provide students with a comprehensive analytical survey of the many other organizations that help shape today's events. A common framework is used to examine what each nonstate actor does, how it organizes to achieve its ends, and how it makes multilateral/international decisions. The degree of integration in each nonstate actor is evaluated.

"This title was first published in 2001. The first in a series on non-state actors in international law, politics and governance. The seeks to deepen the knowledge and understanding about non-state actors of academics, practitioners and students in the fields on international law, politics and governance. It explores the capabilities and impact of non-state actors, as well as their relations with others, and their positions within international regimes. This volume is the result of three workshops on NGOs and non-state actors in international relations. The first at the University of Amsterdam, February 1999, the second at the University of Nijmegen, September 1999, and the third was a workshop of the Dutch Political Science Association held in May 2000."--Provided by publisher.