CHAPTER 4: ACTORS OF INTERNA-

TIONAL RELATIONS
Note: Credit to Nur Aida Kipli (UiTM Sarawak)
In diplomacy, international law, journal-
ism and academic analysis, it is widely
assumed that IR consist of the relations
between coherent unit called STATES.

A broader context by analyzing relations

between governments and many other
actors.
FIVE CATEGORIES OF POLITICAL
ACTORS
(Jackson & Sorenson, 2008)
(1)GOVERNMENT
< 200 countries including
192 UN members.

(2) INTERNATIONAL GOV-

ERNMENTAL ORGANIZA-
TIONS (IGOS):
246 IGOs e.g UN, NATO,
EU.
 (3) TRANSNATIONAL COMPA-
NIES/MULTI-NATIONAL COMPA-
NIES (TNCS):
> 77,200 e.g. Vodaphone, Ford,
Shell, Microsoft, with 773,000 for-
eign affiliates.

(4) NGOs & INGO:

>10,000 single-country NGOs e.g Popula-
tion Concern (UK), Mercy (Malaysia) have
significant transnational activities.
>7,300 INGOs. E.g. Amnesty International

(5) TERRORIST:
> 55 ethnic groups, 50 religious
groups, 20 left-wing groups, and 5
right-wing groups.
 WHAT IS NATIONS-STATES?

Ideally, a nation-state represents the joining of a nation & state.

All nation is united within its own state, and the people of that
state overwhelmingly identify with the nation.
 STATE
A state (country) is a tangible institution.
Principal actors on the world stage.
States continue to dominate the action & to act with independence in a
largely anarchical, horizontally structured international system.
Despite the pivotal role of sovereign states, they are not the only sys-
tem-level actors.
There are significant centralizing forces that are slowly transforming the
system into a somewhat more vertical authority structure.
Government and state’s leaders.
 NATION
People who:
1. Share demographic & cultural similarities.
2. Possess a feeling of community (mutually identify as a group dis-
tinct from other groups.
3. Want to control themselves politically.
A nation is intangible.
It exists because its members think it does.
• Nationalism is an ideology
that holds that the nation
should be the primary political
identity of individuals.

• Nationalist ideology maintains

that the paramount political
loyalty of individuals should be
patriotically extended to the na-
tion
•-state, the political vehicle of
the nation’s self-governance.
• An ideology, a complex of related ideas that establish values
about what is good & bad.

• Directs adherents on how to act (patriotism)

• Link together those who adhere to the ideology

• Distinguish them from those who do not.

• Connects individuals, their sense of community & their politi-

cal identity in contradistinction to other nations.
The LINKS ARE CONSTRUCTED when
individuals;

1. Become sentimentally attached to the

homeland.

2. Gain a sense of identity & self-esteem

through their national identification.

3. Motivated to help their country.

(2) INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGA-
NIZATIONS (IGOs)
IGOs consist of countries. Now, IGOs share the stage (space)
with states in IR.
An organization comprised primarily of sovereign states
(member states), or of other intergovernmental organization.
IGO is an important aspect of international law.
IGOs are established by treaty that acts as a charter creating
the group.
Treaties are formed when lawful representatives (gov-
ernments) of several states go through a ratification
process, providing the IGO with an international legal
personality.
Intergovernmental organizations in a legal sense should
be distinguished from simple groupings or coalition of
states.
IGO must also be distinguished from treaties.
• Many treaties (such as the NAFTA before the estab-
lishment of the WTO) do not establish an organization
& instead rely purely on the parties for their administra-
tion becoming legally recognized as an ad hoc com-
mission.

• IGO differ in function, membership & membership crite-

ria. They have various goals and scopes, often outlined
in the treaty or charter.

• Some IGOs developed to fulfill a need for a neutral fo-

rum for debate or negotiation to resolve disputes.

• Others developed to carry out mutual interests in a uni-

fied form.
 IGOs OBJECTIVES
01 To preserve peace through conflict resolution & better IR

02 To promote international cooperation on matters such as envi-

ronmental protection

03 To promote human rights

04 To promote social development

05 To render humanitarian aid

06 To economic development
 1.WORLDWIDE OR GLOBAL OR-
GANIZATIONS:
Generally open to nations worldwide as
long as certain criteria are met. UN and its
specialized agencies, the Universal
Postal Union, Interpol, WTO and the
IMF.

2. REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Open to members from a particular re-
gion or continent. European Union
(EU), African Union (AU), Organiza-
tion of American States
(OAS),Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN).
 3.CULTURAL, LINGUISTIC, ETHNIC,
RELIGIOUS, OR HISTORICAL OR-
GANIZATIONS
Open to members based on some cul-
tural, linguistic, ethnic, religious, or his-
torical link. Commonwealth of Na-
tions & Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC)

4. ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS
Based on economic organization. Some
are dedicated to free trade, the reduction of
trade barriers WTO and IMF. Others are
focused on international developments. In-
ternational cartels, such as the Organiza-
tion of Petroleum-Exporting Countries
(OPEC).
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANI-
ZATIONS (NGOs)
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term in general use but is not a legal definition. In many jurisdictions these types of
organization are defined as "CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS“.
Apart from "NGO", often alternative terms are used as for ex-
ample:

 independent sector
 volunteer sector
 civil society
 grassroots organizations
 transnational social movement organizations
 private voluntary organizations
 self-help organizations
 non-state actors (NSA's).
• The influence of NGOs on both national governments & interna-
tional diplomacy is growing.

• Their numbers increase & as technological advances allow

them to operate more effectively across political boundaries.

• NGOs also provide increased opportunities for individuals to

become involved in global affairs.
MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS
(MNCs)
• Also known as TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS (TNCS)

• Production facilities, sales outlets & other operations in more than

one countries

• Long existed, now rapidly grow- vast expansion pf international

trade, investment & other financial interactions.
• MONEY IS A SOURCE OF POWER IN IR.

• Therefore, these economic giants exercise considerable influ-

ence over the course of events.

• Some idea of the economic power of the MNCs can be gained

from comparing :
Gross Corporate Product (GCP: total revenue)
VS
Gross National Product (GNP: a measure of all goods & ser-
vices produced by a country’s citizens & businesses) of vari-
ous countries.
TERRORIST GROUPS
• Increasingly, terrorist groups are able to travel, move
funds and communicate globally with ease.

• Increasingly able to inflict massive damage. E.g. 9/11 at-

tack on the World Trade Center.

• Possibility of terrorists using biological, chemical, nuclear

or radiological.

• Acc. to International Atomic Energy Agency (2008), there

are 130 terrorists organizations with the potential to mount
an attack using such weapon.
 THANK YOU
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SESSION