The Law of International Organization

Inter-governmental organisations appear to be a central component of modern international society. The sheer number, variety and complexity of these institutions create an impression of chaotic activity, sometimes of immense importance, sometimes of profound impotence. Organisations can act in a governmental capacity;on other occasions they resemble the simple diplomatic conferences of the nineteenth century, with the result that some organisations, challenge the supremacy of the nation State, other simply facilitate the continued dominance of the established international actors. One way of trying to make sense of the legal and political evolution of international organisations is to assess the various approaches to international order. Although such a theoretical analysis can be seen as abstract, it has immense practical implications in that these approaches each have shaping effect on the development of the personality, powers and practice of international organisations, this is primarily because they reflect the various political philosophies of the States represented in these institutions. The current prevalence of one approach to the status and role of organisations is mainly explained by the ideology of the dominant group of States in the international order. However, it is unlikely that one single approach can explain the legal and political development of institutions due tot he fact that historically each organisation will have been directly influenced due tot he changing geopolitical shape of the world. In addition, there are often quite wide variation in approach within what are sometimes only temporary groupings or alliance of States, for instance between the revolutionary and Marxist approaches of the Non-Aligned and Socialist States united during the 1960s and 1970s: or between the functionalist, rationalist and realist approaches of Western States. Furthermore, account must be taken of approach. In some ways the critical arguments for a more just and equitable approach to world order accord with the agendas of non-governmental organisations, although a detailed account of the influence of these organisations is beyond the scope of this book. These different approaches are used throughout this book in an attempt not only to explain the political shape of international organisation.....