Chapter 7:
Building Peace:
Structures and
Institutions of Cooperation
7-1: Identify the underlying challenges to
cooperation in pursuit of security.
7-2: Explain the nature and forms of diplomacy.
7-3: Describe the nature and functions of
international law.
7-4: Evaluate the nature and functions of
international organizations.
 Though the benefits of cooperation seem compelling,
achieving cooperation is often difficult even when it seems
that coordinated action could improve conditions for all
states.
 States find it difficult to agree to specific steps to enact
cooperation on a range of issues where it would be
beneficial.
 As noted in earlier, anarchy, the diversity of states and nonstate actors, and the complexity of world politics make
achieving world politics difficult.
 In spite of these difficulties, states do work together to
achieve cooperation through diplomacy, international law,
and international organization.
 Establishing the institutions, norms, and rules for
cooperation is incomplete and episodic
• The anarchic nature, diversity, and complexity of world
politics complicate cooperation.
Forces Confront Somali
Pirates in the Gulf of
Aden
How does the threat of
piracy encourage
countries to cooperate?
Confiscated Conventional Weapons in the Gaza Strip
Why is it so hard to control the possession of such weapons,
and how do they affect conflict and security?
 The Nature and Role of Diplomacy
 Diplomacy, the art and practice of conducting negotiations
between nations and is one of the oldest tools of
international cooperation.
 Diplomacy is extremely common and examples are easy to
find in recent events as states use communication and
negotiation in pursuit of cooperation and conflict
resolution.
 Diplomats are individuals who represent states or other
organizations in diplomatic interactions.
 Diplomats include high ranking officials such as heads of
state and foreign ministers, as well as ambassadors and
lower-ranking personnel.
 The Nature and Role of Diplomacy
 A key foundation of diplomacy is diplomatic immunity
codified in :
 The Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations (1961).
 The Consular Relations (1963).
 diplomatic immunity allows states to sustain communication
without fear for their diplomats’ safety.
 However, some state and non-state actors (such as terrorist
groups) have targeted embassies in recent years.
 The Nature and Role of Diplomacy
 Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting
negotiations between nations.
 The art of diplomacy involves bargaining and negotiation.
 Bargaining normally suggests more competitive and
conflictual diplomacy, whereas negotiation suggests more
collaborative problem-solving.
 Normally, diplomacy involves both common interests and
issues of conflict. Absent conflict, agreement would be
easy, and absent common interests, there would be no
source of agreement.
 The Nature and Role of Diplomacy
 In any set of negotiations, states have “resistance points;”
i.e., the minimum they will accept. Between the two
resistance points of states is the “settlement gap,” which is
the difference between the minimum demands of each state.
 Many factors can affect the negotiation process, including
both international and domestic factors.
 Diplomacy closes the gap in order to find an agreement.
States use a variety of tools, ranging from the use of
“carrots” and “sticks,” to linkage strategies, which tie
different sets of issues together.
 The goal of diplomats is to find a “yes-able” solution:
something to which both sides agree.
 The Nature and Role of Diplomacy




Modern diplomatic practice dates to the development of the
state system after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and more
especially to the early nineteenth-century European
Congress of Vienna.
The European system is the foundation for diplomatic
practice today, though non-western cultures also had their
own versions.
Although early diplomacy was often secretive and handled
by nobility and elites, by the early twentieth century
diplomacy became more professionalized.
Embassies and the diplomats who staffed them are central
to communication between states.
US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and Other US Diplomats
Meet with Pakistan’s Prime
Minister Yousef Raza Gilani in
October 2009
What issues might the United
States and Pakistan be discussing?
A US Marine and FBI investigator at
the US Embassy in Tanzania after the
Terrorist Bombing Attack in 1998
Why was the US embassy targeted here
in Africa rather than a more populated
country in Europe, and how might this
affect the conduct of diplomacy?
 The Forms of Diplomacy
• Improvements in communication and technology, however,
have allowed states to connect more directly and frequently
to bypass embassies. These advances have led to participate
in:
• Summit meetings- face-to-face meeting between
leaders and their closest advisors are the most
common and easier to arrange.
• Multilateral diplomacy - (as opposed to bilateral
diplomacy) involves more than three states at a time;
typically many states are involved. Commonly used
in arms control talks, trade issues, human rights, and
the environment.
 The Forms of Diplomacy
• Third-party diplomacy- Invited diplomatic intervention
when the parties to a conflict seek a third party to resolve
their dispute. Composed of four main types:
 Good office is the simplest form and simply provides a place
for parties to meet.
 Mediation, the third party proposes possible solutions to the
parties, but does not force negotiations on the parties.
 Arbitration, the participants present their views and agree to
accept whatever settlement the third party determines to be in
the best interests of the parties.
 Adjudication resembles a court proceeding in which the third
party decides which of the two sides is “correct.”
 The Forms of Diplomacy
• Track II diplomacy - Non-state actors are involved in
diplomacy. Such diplomacy may include academics,
nongovernmental organizations, specialists, etc. Track II
diplomacy provides a way to explore solutions without
being part of a formal process.
• Conference diplomacy - Conferences bring together states,
international organizations, academia and epistemic
communities (networks of experts), NGOs, individuals, and
others to address major issues.
 Such conferences address issues like land mines, women’s issues,
population, human rights, and the environment.
 These conferences seek to create and sustain regimes to deal with
difficult multilateral problems; in doing so they provide a forum for
non-state actors to influence states.
Vladimir Putin Being Interviewed by
Larry King
World leaders can take their issue
stances directly to another country’s
public, as Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin did in 2010 through an
interview with CNN’s Larry King. What
effect might this have on US-Russian
relations?
Mediating Peace in the Middle
East
Why do parties to a dispute
sometimes need the help of a
third party?
U2 Lead Singer Bono with US President George W. Bush After They Attended a
Meeting of Inter-American Development Bank to Discuss Poverty Relief in 2002
How can celebrities such as Bono contribute to diplomatic efforts to solve
international problems?
 Settling Conflict: How Best to End a War
 Diplomacy is also used to end conflict. Usually ending in
one of three ways:
 Stalemate - when the sides choose to stop
fighting though neither has won
 Negotiated peace settlement - the two states
can agree to a peace settlement
 Victory (tends to lead to a long-lasting peace) one side may win and impose its preferences on
the other. “Peace Comes after Victory”
 The Nature of International Law
• International law is the body of rules that binds states
and other agents in world politics in their relations with
one another.
• When considering the nature of law, the first question to
ask is whether or not international law is really law.
• The anarchic nature of the world means that there are no
central institutions to create, enforce, or interpret laws
like those that exist in a domestic context.
• Despite the absence of a central authority, liberals stress
that international law contributes to order and note that
most states follow most international norms most of the
time.
 The Nature of International Law
• Liberals have embraced law as a way to enhance security,
while realists tend to doubt the effectiveness and
desirability of international law.
• Realists argue that rather than being law, this conformity
of practice is really one of convenience that can be
changed or ignored at will.
• International law also lacks the shared values and
principles often considered to be a part of law.
• The great diversity in the international system has led to
problems in enforcing any type of international law.
 The Sources of International Law
 In the absence of a formal international legislature that
has the authority to pass laws that are binding on all
nations, modern international law is based on:
 Article 38(1) of the International Court of Justice (the
World Court) recognizes the sources of international law
as international conventions (treaties), custom, general
principles of law, and the writings of eminent jurists.
 Since 1946, and the birth of the United Nations,
practices and decisions of international organizations are
also considered a source of law.
 The Sources of International Law
 Sources of international law:
Treaties – binding voluntary agreements between
two or more states.
• States cannot be forced to enter into treaties, or
obligated to uphold them is a principle
enshrined in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties.
• Thousands of treaties exist on a wide array of
issues.
 The Sources of International Law
 Sources of international law:
 Custom - Customary practices are general practices of
states that are accepted as law. This is the oldest form
of law.
• Though treaties are the most important contemporary
source of law, historically most law depended on
custom, “the general practice [of states] accepted as
law.”
• In essence, this source of law depends on the
repeated actions of states that become treated as
binding actions.
 The Sources of International Law
 Sources of international law:
 General principles - General principles of law are elements
that appear almost universally in domestic legal systems.
• For example, most states have laws barring murder and
assault, principles respected internationally as well.
 Court decisions and writings of jurists - These may be
decisions reached by international or domestic courts as well as
writings by prominent scholars that define international law.
• An example is the increasingly broad recognition of the
principle of universal jurisdiction to try individuals who
have violated certain international laws, even if they are from
another country.
 The Sources of International Law
 Sources of international law:
 Decisions of international organizations - The charters of
international organizations as well as the resolutions and
decisions made by them may help to establish new norms as
well as to provide evidence of existing norms.
• Not officially recognized by the World Court
• These institutions affect law in three ways:
1. They interpret and shape customary international law.
2. They contribute to the development of norms and laws
through their decisions and recommendations.
3. They may enter into areas with poorly-defined legal
standards to assert legal principles.
France’s President Nicolas
Sarkozy (R) and
Afghanistan’s President
Hamid Karzai Sign a
Friendship and Cooperation
Treaty in Paris on January
27, 2012 Why do states such
as France and Afghanistan
commit themselves to the
obligations in treaties?
The World Court in The Hague
What are the possibilities and limitations for international law
as a means to solve international problems?
 Compliance and Enforcement
 Most international law is entered into voluntarily.
 Most states uphold their obligations to most international
laws most of the time.
 International law contributes to orderly and predictable
patterns that help to guide behavior. Ex. Air Traffic control.
 Reciprocity leads most states to follow laws and
conventions so others will be more likely to do so.
 Compliance and Enforcement
 Most states follow law most of the time, violations do
occur.
 When they do, international law is enforced differently than
domestic law.
 In the presence of anarchy, three main avenues for
enforcement exist:
 National enforcement - the enforcement of international
law through domestic legal systems that is quite
common. For example, the U.S. Constitution declares
that ratified treaties have the same status as any other
law.
 Compliance and Enforcement
 Horizontal enforcement- Involves states punishing
other states for the violation of international law
through actions such as diplomatic protests or the
imposition of sanctions, among other actions.
 Horizontal enforcement leads to uneven
enforcement of the law and are often ineffective
unless multilateral, coordinated actions are taken
to punish a state that has violated law.
 Compliance and Enforcement
 Vertical enforcement- the enforcement of international law by
international institutions.
 Most international institutions are limited to identifying and
condemning violations, or authorizing member states to punish
violators.
 International courts such as the World Court can also hear
disputes between states that have agreed to have their cases
heard (it lacks compulsory jurisdiction—states must agree to
submit their disputes before it), but it cannot enforce its
decisions on them.
 Most regional courts are similarly weak.

The European Court of Justice can make authoritative decisions for EU member
states. The World Trade Organization have judicial bodies to interpret and apply
international law.
South African Police Beat African Women with
Clubs in Durban in 1959
In the face of the violence of apartheid, why did the
United States wait until 1985 to apply sanctions?
The World Court Meets in 2004 to Hear a Dispute between
Palestinians and Israel
What kinds of issues are most likely to come before the World Court?
Why Do International Organizations Exist?
 The first question to address is why states in an
anarchic world would create institutions that can
limit their freedom of action.
 With well over 6,000 IOs in existence, numerous
arguments seek to explain their existence and can be
organized into power-based and problem-based
explanations.
Why Do International Organizations Exist?
 Power-based explanations- IOs are created by the most
powerful states to reflect their interests.
 Realists emphasize state interests as the driving force behind
IOs, while Marxist-based approaches stress the interests of
economic elites and powerful capitalist states.
 These approaches suggest powerful states create IOs to
control other states.
 Even liberals argue that powerful states may create IOs to
provide benefits to themselves (such as stability) that also
benefit other states.
 Less powerful states may embrace IOs as a way to constrain
the actions of more powerful states.
Why Do International Organizations Exist?
 Problem-based explanations - IO formation emphasizes the
desire of states to come together to address problems that are
better solved through collaborative actions rather than
working alone.
 Cooperation in one or two areas may branch out into
cooperation in other areas, establishing stronger international
linkages and institutional connections.
 Problem-based approaches may also focus on transnational
problems that cannot be addressed by the action of any one
state acting alone (such as the environment or global health).
 Once IOs are created to address such problems, they may
take on a life of their own.
The Roles and Functions of IOs
 Together, power-based and problem-based explanations
suggest a variety of roles for IOs:
1. They provide an instrument for states to advance their interests.
2. They serve as forums for communication and negotiation.
3. They provide a venue for the generation and dissemination of
information and technical expertise.
4. They facilitate the development of patterns of behavior on issues and
facilitate national and international linkages and networks.
5. They coordinate and pool resources to address common problems.
6. They contribute to the generation and institutionalization of norms
and rules. Relatedly, they reduce uncertainty by enhancing
communication and reducing incentives for cheating.
7. They serve to constrain state behavior and provide an avenue for
punishment.
The Roles and Functions of IOs
Serve as instruments for states to advance
their interests and influence other states to
play the game of world politics according to
the rules and interests of the powerful
Coordinate and pool resources to
address common problems
Serve as forums for states to communicate,
negotiate, and advance their interests, and
may even provide support for bargaining and
negotiation in third-party diplomacy
Contribute to the generation of
and institutionalization of norms
and rules
Generate and disseminate information and
technical expertise
Reduce uncertainty, enhance
communication and
interactions, and reduce the
incentives for cheating in world
politics
Regularize interactions and habits of
Constrain state behavior and
behavior on issues, and facilitate national
expand avenues for punishment
and transnational linkages and networks that
contribute even further to norms of procedure
and behavior
 Types of International Organizations
 IOs can be categorized according to several criteria.
 First is to examine the scope—the range of issues
addressed—and the membership—who is eligible to
join.
 On scope, organizations may address a wide
array of issues or may be more limited to a single
primary issue.
 In terms of membership, states may allow any
state to join (global) or restrict membership
regionally.
 Types of International Organizations
 Combining these criteria leads to four ideal-type categories of
IOs.
1. First are global, single-issue IOs, such as the International
Monetary Fund.
2. Next are regional, single-issue IOs, such as the Andean
Common Market. This type is quite common around the world.
3. The third type is the regional, multiple-issue organization,
such as the European Union.
4. The final type is the global, multiple-issue organization, the
best example of which is the United Nations.
 Types of International Organizations
 A second way to categorize IOs is the way in which
they reach their decisions:
 Majority Rule- decisions are based on votes of their
member states that are given equal weight. Some may
require super-majorities, while others operate on a bare
majority. Ex. The UN General Assembly operates on this principle.
 Weighted voting - factor (such as size, power, or wealth)
determines how much the vote of any one state counts.
 Unit veto - decision rule gives some or all members the
ability to block any decision. Ex. the UN Security Council that
gives a veto to each of the five permanent members (the United States,
Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom—the P-5). A no vote from
one of the P-5 blocks any UNSC action.
 Types of International Organizations
 Type I: Scope and Membership
 Global single-issue IOs
 Regional single-issue IOs
 Regional multiple-issue IOs
 Global multi-issue IOs
 Type II: Decision Process
 Majority Rule
 Weighted voting
 Unit veto
 The United Nations
 The UN is the most well-known general purpose, global
organization in the world.
 It was preceded by the Concert of Europe (1815-1854) and
the League of Nations.
 The UN was the successor to the League of Nations.
 Never succeeded in implementing collective security and
proved unable to deal with aggression by Germany and
Japan, leading to its collapse.
 Its foundations were laid during World War II. The UN
Charter in San Francisco in 1945 was signed by 51
countries, and the UN entered formal existence in October
1945.
 The United Nations
 Like its predecessors, the UN would deal with peace and
security. Unlike them, however, it also adopted broader
principles and recognized the sovereign equality of all states.
 The UN is a universal IO that has grown from the original 51
to 193 member states. The rise in membership is a result of
decolonization of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East as well as
the emergence of independent states from the former Soviet
Union and eastern/central Europe.
 UN headquarters are in New York, but it has major offices in
Geneva (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), and Nairobi (Kenya)
as well as regional commissions and specialized agencies
throughout the world.
 The United Nations
 Historical foundation
 Established in 1945
 Concert of Europe
 The League of Nations
 Enter the United Nations
 Main purposes are peace and security, the development
of friendly relations and harmony among nations, and
cooperation on international problems
The League of Nations Meets to Consider German Rearmament in 1935
Why did the League of Nations fail to check aggression before World War II?
Could a different organization have stopped it?
Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning
48
Members of the Concert of Europe Argue over a Map of Europe
How do you think the exclusion of minor powers affected the Concert
of Europe?
 The United Nations
 The Structure of the United Nations
 The UN is composed of six principal organs as well as a
number of funds, programs, specialized agencies, and
commissions.
 The six principle organs are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The UN General Assembly (UNGA)
The United Nations Security Council
The Secretariat
The Economic and Social Council
The Trusteeship Council
The International Court of Justice
 The United Nations
 The Structure of the United Nations
 The UN General Assembly (UNGA) - operates on the one
nation, one vote principle and may discuss any issue under
the charter. Operates year round / formal session each September.
 The United Nations Security Council - Deals with threats
to international peace and security and can authorize the use
of force. Five permanent members and ten members elected
to two-year terms. Can meet any time
 The Secretariat - The bureaucratic arm of the UN led by the
Secretary General. The Secretary General is elected to a fiveyear term and has some budgetary discussion. Can call
special sessions and is supposed to be impartial. Staffed by
45000 individuals around the world
 The United Nations
 The Structure of the United Nations
 The Economic and Social Council - The ECOSOC is made up of
54 members elected to three-year terms and deals with social,
economic and cultural issues. This is the largest part of the UN in
terms of budget (70%) and staffing, as it has many subsidiary
commissions and specialized agencies, including groups such as
the World Health Organization.
 The Trusteeship Council - Designed to aid colonies in the
transition to statehood. No longer functions.
 The International Court of Justice - The World Court is made
up of 15 jurists elected to 9-year terms by the UNGA and UNSC.
No two members can be from the same country. It can only hear
cases when all parties agree to bring a dispute before it.
The UN
General
Assembly
Meets in 2011
The UNGA is
the most
representative
body in the
world, but it is
also very limited
in its authority.
Why do you
think that is the
case?
Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning
53
The UN Security Council Votes to
Support the Newly Established
Libyan Government in 2012
How do you think the possession of
the veto by the United States,
France, Russia, United Kingdom,
and China affects the UN Security
Council?
The United Nations in New York
What do you think are the UN’s
primary contributions in world
politics?
UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon Speaking at the UN
Climate Summit in Copenhagen,
2009
How can the leader of an
international organization affect the
decisions of the leaders of states?
The US and Soviet Ambassadors
to the UN Face Off in the UN
Security Council over the Soviet
Placement of Missiles in Cuba in
1962
How might major-power agreement
and disagreement affect the role and
impact of the UN Security Council?
 The United Nations
 It is important to note the range and extent of specialized
agencies that are part of the UN system that pool
resources and expertise across an incredible array of
issue areas.
 Also, through ECOSOC and the Secretariat, thousands
of nongovernmental organizations concerned with
virtually every issue imaginable are connected to the UN
and its various components.
 The United Nations
 The UN’s effectiveness is often hampered by the same three
challenges that affect other aspects of world politics.
1. Due to anarchy, it depends on the willingness of its members
to support its actions.
2. Diversity means that it deals with an array of issues for
member states who often have divergent perspectives on what
the UN should be doing.
3. Finally, the issues with which the UN deals are incredibly
complex and complicated.
 The United Nations
 The UN has made contributions to peace and security,
but it has largely struggled to contain and resolve
conflicts both during the Cold War and after.
 The UN’s biggest impact has come in areas that were
originally deemed secondary, such as fighting diseases,
protecting the environment, caring for refugees, and
promoting human rights.
 The UN’s economic agencies have also helped to build
and facilitate economic interdependence and
cooperation.
 compulsory jurisdiction in international law, the condition in which parties to a






dispute must submit the case to a court.
Concert of Europe (1815–1854) a multilateral organization composed of Great
Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France to promote stability, cooperation, and
multilateral diplomacy.
conference diplomacy large diplomatic meetings of many officials from states,
international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and other
non-state actors.
custom the general practice of states accepted as law; a source of international law.
diplomacy the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations.
diplomats individuals occupying positions in the foreign policy establishments of
states or the management of other organizations who represent and negotiate on
behalf of their country or employer.
epistemic communities networks of experts who bring their knowledge and
expertise to the political arena to help policymakers understand problems, generate
possible solutions, and evaluate policy success or failure.
 horizontal enforcement those measures that states themselves can take when





a state violates an international law and other states can attempt to punish the
violator themselves
International Court of Justice also known as the World Court, this
international institution was created in 1946 as part of the United Nations
systems to apply international law to resolve conflicts brought voluntarily to it
by states.
international law a body of rules that binds states and other agents in world
politics in their relations with one another
Law of the Sea Convention a treaty that first went into force in 1982 and then
was revised in 1994; 161 states are parties to this treaty that sets rules for the
use and protection of the high seas and its resources.
League of Nations an international institution created after World War I for
collective security and the resolution of disputes between states.
linkage strategy in diplomacy, the strategy of connecting solutions on one
issue to proposals on another to facilitate agreement.
 majority rule in international organizations, a decision process that relies on






voting with one vote per member, in which gaining a majority of the votes
prevails.
multilateral diplomacy diplomacy involving more than three states at a time;
typically many states are involved.
National Enforcement states enforce some international law through their own
national legal systems
P-5 the five permanent members of the UN Security Council— the United
States, Britain, France, China, and Russia—each of which holds veto power.
reciprocity in international law, the principle that a state follows international
law so that others will do so in return.
settlement gap the difference between the minimal preferences of two parties
to a negotiation.
summit meetings diplomatic meetings involving the top officials of their
respective states (hence “the summit”).
 third–party diplomacy the engagement of an outside party in the negotiations





between the actual parties to a dispute to facilitate a resolution of the
disagreement.
track II diplomacy the activities and involvement of private individuals,
nongovernmental organizations such as civil society organizations, and
religious and business leaders in dialogue and negotiation to facilitate conflict
resolution.
Treaty formal, written agreements among states.
United Nations an international institution established after World War II to
promote peace and security, the development of friendly relations and harmony
among nations, and cooperation on international problems.
United Nations General Assembly the plenary body of the UN in which all
UN members have a seat. Functioning on a majority rule decision process, it is
the central forum for discussion of global issues.
United Nations Secretariat the bureaucracy and administrative arm of the
UN.
 United Nations Secretary-General the head of the UN Secretariat, the UN’s






administrative leader elected by the UNGA at the recommendation of the UNSC.
United Nations Security Council a fifteen-member council that carries the
primary UN responsibilities for peace, security, and collective security operations.
unit veto in international organizations a decision rule in which some or all
members can block decisions with their votes: in a pure unit veto decision rule
every member exercises a veto; in a modified unit veto, only some members have
the veto power.
universal jurisdiction emerging principle of international law asserting that states
themselves can prosecute violators of certain international laws even if the alleged
violator is from another country.
vertical enforcement the enforcement of international law by international
institutions.
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties a 1969 agreement among states
defining the nature and obligations regarding treaties under international law.
weighted voting in international organizations, a decision rule in which member
votes are weighted according to some factor related to size, power, or wealth.
 International Court of Justice: (http://www.icj-
cij.org/).Homepage of the International Court of Justice.
 United Nations:
(http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/index.shtml). Basic
information about the United Nations.
 United Nations: (http://www.undispatch.com/). Blog that
follows activity at the United Nations, including news
updates and analysis.
 U.S. State Dept.:
(http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/tif/index.htm). List of all
treaties to which the United States is a party.