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Intergovernmental Organizations and the United Nations
Chapter 4 — Intergovernmental Organizations
Learning objectives
By the end of the chapter, you should be able to:
4.1 Discuss intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) in context with other international actors.
4.2 Assess differences between IGOs and non-IGOs.
4.3 List five functions most IGOs have in common.
4.4 Describe the origins and functions of the United Nations (UN).
What is an intergovernmental organization?
An intergovernmental organization (IGO) is an organization created and managed by states. Only sovereign states can be members, and IGOs are legally recognized in international law.
There are approximately 400 IGOs, which represents more than a fivefold increase since World War II (WWII). IGOs are important global actors alongside:
States
Civil society organizations
Multinational corporations (MNCs)
IGOs contribute to global governance, international cooperation, and the management of international tensions.
Examples of IGOs
United Nations (UN)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Bank
World Trade Organization (WTO)
International Criminal Court (ICC)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
World Food Programme
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
European Union (EU)
African Union (AU)
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Universal Postal Union (UPU)
Types of IGO membership
IGOs can be classified by the kind of membership they have:
Global or universal organizations — open to states from around the world, such as the UN.
Regional organizations — composed primarily of states from a particular geographic region, such as the EU, AU, or SADC.
Club or like-minded organizations — smaller groups whose members share particular economic, political, or strategic interests, such as OPEC.
Important membership figures:
OPEC: 14 members
EU: 27 members
African Union: 54 members
UN: 193 members
The five common functions of IGOs
Most IGOs perform five broad functions.
Promote member-states’ interests
IGOs give states a forum for advancing shared political, economic, security, or social goals.
Find solutions to common problems
Some problems cross borders and cannot be solved effectively by one state acting alone. IGOs coordinate collective responses to issues such as disease, trade, climate change, nuclear activity, and conflict.
Increase efficiency through economies of scale
States can reduce duplication and cost by working through a shared organization. Pooling resources, personnel, information, and infrastructure allows states to accomplish more efficiently what they might struggle to do separately.
Provide expertise on special issues
IGOs often employ or connect governments with specialists whose technical knowledge exceeds that available within many individual governments.
Produce and disseminate knowledge
IGOs collect data, conduct research, publish reports, create standards, and circulate information that states use to make decisions.
Key concepts related to IGO expertise
Epistemic communities are informal communities of experts who share professional training, values, and ideas. They can influence how international problems are understood and what solutions are considered legitimate.
Functionalism emphasizes the importance of technical expertise and cooperation in specific functional areas. Expert communities may develop greater specialized knowledge than individual states, allowing IGOs to gain autonomous reputational power—influence based on their expertise and credibility rather than simply on the power of their member-states.
Examples of IGO expertise and coordination
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) regulates deep-sea mining under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The WHO relied on disease experts during the 2013 Ebola outbreak.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), created in 1950, monitors nuclear activity.
The WTO provides trade data and information.
The United Nations: origins and purpose
The United Nations is an IGO with 193 member-states. Its foundational document is the UN Charter, signed by 51 states in 1945.
Why was the UN created?
The UN was created by the Allied powers after WWII, especially the:
United States
United Kingdom
France
China
Soviet Union (USSR)
The organization was intended to:
Promote economic cooperation
Improve international security
Prevent another world war
Create a stronger system than the failed League of Nations
The founding process was not limited to the major powers: 65% of founding participants were from the Global South.
Major principles of the UN Charter
The Charter established or emphasized:
Sovereign equality — states are formally equal under international law.
Domestic sovereignty — states retain authority over their internal affairs.
Priority of UN obligations — members’ obligations under the Charter take priority over conflicting international obligations.
However, the UN’s ability to enforce its decisions generally depends on state consent. The UN is not a world government with unlimited independent power.
Human rights and human development
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in 1948. It was drafted through a multiregional process.
Important figures:
Eleanor Roosevelt — chair
Peng Chung Chang — vice-chair
Charles Malik — rapporteur
The UDHR helped establish a widely recognized international language of human rights.
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) was created in 1990 by Mahbubul Haq. It drew on the ideas of economist Amartya Sen and broadened the meaning of development beyond economic growth alone.
Principal organs of the United Nations
General Assembly (UNGA)
The General Assembly includes all UN member-states.
Key features:
Each state has one seat and one vote.
Most resolutions are nonbinding.
It controls the UN budget.
It admits new members.
It appoints judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
It elects the nonpermanent members of the Security Council.
The UNGA gives smaller states a formal voice, but its resolutions usually carry political rather than legally compulsory force.
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
ECOSOC coordinates much of the UN’s economic, social, and development work. It also helps coordinate the activities of specialized agencies within the wider UN system.
Security Council (UNSC)
The Security Council has primary responsibility for international peace and security.
Its membership consists of:
Five permanent members (P5): United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China
Ten rotating nonpermanent members
Each P5 member has the power to veto substantive decisions.
Security Council decisions can be binding on all UN members. The UNSC may:
Authorize the use of force
Impose sanctions
Establish or authorize peacekeeping operations
Respond to threats to international peace and security
The Security Council expanded from 11 to 15 members in 1965.
Secretariat
The Secretariat is the UN bureaucracy. It is led by the Secretary-General.
The Secretary-General is:
Nominated by the Security Council
Approved by the General Assembly
The Secretariat conducts much of the UN’s day-to-day administrative, diplomatic, and operational work.
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), also called the World Court:
Is based in The Hague.
Settles legal disputes between states.
Is not a criminal court.
Issues decisions that bind states only when those states have accepted the Court’s jurisdiction.
The ICJ should not be confused with the International Criminal Court, which deals with individual criminal responsibility for certain international crimes.
Trusteeship Council
The Trusteeship Council was suspended on 1 November 1994.
The UN in practice: scale, resources, and challenges
The UN system has a very large operational reach. It:
Feeds 80+ million people in 80 countries.
Vaccinates 58% of children.
Deploys approximately 100,000 peacekeepers.
UN finances
Approximate figures in the chapter include:
Regular UN budget: about $3 billion
Peacekeeping: approximately $7 billion in fiscal year 2019–2020
Total UN system expenditure: $53 billion
Approximate contribution shares:
United States: 22%
China: 15.3%
Japan: 8%
These figures illustrate the tension between the UN’s global responsibilities and its dependence on member-state funding.
Major challenges facing the UN
Bureaucracy — large organizations can be slow, complicated, and difficult to coordinate.
Underfunding — responsibilities may exceed available resources.
Veto politics — disagreement among the P5 can prevent action.
Failure to prevent or stop atrocities — examples include Rwanda, Syria, Sudan, and Myanmar.
Shifting global power — the distribution of power has changed since 1945, but the main structure of the Security Council has changed very little.
Competition from MNCs and NGOs — nonstate actors can possess expertise, money, networks, and influence that challenge traditional UN authority.
Unresolved global problems — the UN has struggled to create effective solutions for issues such as migration and global finance.
Security Council reform
Frequently discussed potential permanent or expanded-role candidates include:
Brazil
India
South Africa
Japan
Nigeria
Germany
The G4 is a coalition of:
Germany
India
Brazil
Japan
The reform debate reflects concerns that the Council does not fully represent the current global distribution of population, economic power, or regional influence.
Three theories of IGOs
The chapter uses three major international-relations theories to explain what IGOs do and how much influence they have.
A. Realism
Core view: States seek security and power in an international system characterized by anarchy, meaning there is no single world authority above states.
Realist claims about IGOs:
Cooperation is difficult and often temporary.
IGOs generally reflect the interests of powerful states.
IGOs lack truly independent influence.
States use institutions when doing so serves their interests.
Security competition limits the ability of IGOs to transform international politics.
Key thinkers:
Thucydides
Machiavelli
Hobbes
Morgenthau
Kissinger
Waltz
Important realist idea: “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”
How a realist might interpret the UN: The UN can act effectively when powerful states agree, but the veto system shows that great-power interests ultimately limit the organization.
B. Liberalism
Core view: States pursue wealth, security, and common interests, and cooperation is possible when institutions help states achieve mutual gains.
Liberal claims about IGOs:
IGOs enable cooperation.
Institutions can reduce uncertainty and transaction costs.
Trade and economic interdependence can support peace.
Domestic politics influences foreign-policy choices.
International rules can make cooperation more efficient and predictable.
Key thinkers:
Locke
Kant
Smith
Ricardo
Keohane
Nye
Complex interdependence
Complex interdependence, associated with Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye, describes a world in which:
States have multiple goals, not only military security.
Many channels connect societies and governments.
International bureaucracies matter.
NGOs and MNCs participate in global politics.
Military force is not always the most important tool.
How a liberal might interpret the UN: The UN helps states solve common problems, exchange information, coordinate policies, and gain benefits that would be difficult to obtain individually.
C. Constructivism
Core view: International politics is shaped by identities, culture, ideas, norms, and shared understandings—not only material power or economic interests.
Constructivist claims about IGOs:
Interests are not fixed; they can change.
IGOs help create and spread norms.
Institutions can influence how states understand themselves and others.
Rules and expectations can change what behavior seems legitimate.
Key thinkers:
Katzenstein
Ruggie
Wendt
Keck
Sikkink
Finnemore
Logic of appropriateness versus logic of consequences
The logic of appropriateness means actors do what they believe they ought to do according to their identity, role, norms, or social expectations.
The logic of consequences means actors choose actions by calculating rewards, costs, and expected outcomes.
Constructivism emphasizes the logic of appropriateness, while many rationalist approaches emphasize the logic of consequences.
Constructivist examples
Nuclear-weapons taboo: Nina Tannenwald argues that norms have made the use of nuclear weapons socially and politically unacceptable in many circumstances, even beyond material deterrence.
European identity: The EU has helped transform how European states and peoples understand political membership and regional identity.
Pirates and terrorists: Social views of similar forms of violence can change depending on political norms, identity, and historical context.
Supranational authority
A supranational authority is an IGO whose binding decisions can override the preferences of its member-states in certain areas.
The European Union is the primary example. It has institutions that can make rules binding on member-states and, in some areas, give priority to EU law.
Examples of tension between national sovereignty and supranational authority include:
The United Kingdom’s Brexit in 2016.
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger leaving ECOWAS in 2024.
These cases show that states may accept shared authority but can also resist or withdraw from institutions when they believe membership no longer serves their interests.
Gridlock and the limits of institutional success
Hale and Held argue that successful IGOs can create self-reinforcing interdependence. In other words, the more an institution connects states and social groups, the more dependent those actors may become on the institution.
This success can eventually produce:
New problems and responsibilities.
More groups and constituencies demanding action.
Greater complexity and competing expectations.
Institutional overload.
Gridlock, in which the organization cannot adapt or reach agreement quickly enough to manage the problems it helped create or intensify.
This creates a paradox: an IGO may become more important because it succeeds, but its growing responsibilities may eventually exceed its capacity.
The dark side of globalization
Globalization creates opportunities for cooperation and economic growth, but it can also facilitate:
Illicit trade
Tax havens
Drug trafficking
Weapons trafficking
Human trafficking
Corruption
One example in the chapter is a 700-meter tunnel discovered in Slovakia in 2012. It included its own train and was used to move millions of cigarettes illegally.
UNODC
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was created in 1997.
Its roles include:
Assisting states in addressing illicit drugs and crime.
Supporting international cooperation.
Publishing the World Drug Report.
However, sovereignty limits enforcement. The UNODC can assist and coordinate states, but it cannot freely impose comprehensive enforcement inside sovereign countries.
High-priority comparisons for a test
IGO versus state
State: Sovereign political unit with authority over a territory and population.
IGO: Organization created and managed by sovereign states; its authority depends on the powers granted by member-states.
IGO versus NGO
IGO: Membership consists of states and is created through intergovernmental agreement.
NGO: Generally a private, voluntary, nonstate organization; it may influence policy but is not composed of sovereign governments.
General Assembly versus Security Council
General Assembly: One vote per state; resolutions are generally nonbinding; broad representation.
Security Council: P5 veto plus ten rotating members; decisions can be binding; primary responsibility for peace and security.
ICJ versus ICC
ICJ: Settles disputes between states; not a criminal court.
ICC: Deals with criminal responsibility of individuals for certain international crimes.
Realism versus liberalism versus constructivism
Realism: Power, security, anarchy, and great-power interests.
Liberalism: Cooperation, mutual gains, institutions, trade, and interdependence.
Constructivism: Identities, norms, culture, ideas, and changing interests.
Logic of consequences versus logic of appropriateness
Logic of consequences: Choose actions by calculating costs and benefits.
Logic of appropriateness: Act according to what seems proper or expected for a particular identity or role.
Key numbers, dates, and names to memorize
Approximately 400 IGOs exist.
IGOs have increased by more than a fivefold amount since WWII.
UN Charter signed by 51 states in 1945.
UN membership: 193.
UDHR: 1948.
HDI created: 1990.
IAEA created: 1950.
Security Council expanded from 11 to 15 members in 1965.
Trusteeship Council suspended: 1 November 1994.
UNODC created: 1997.
Brexit: 2016.
ECOWAS departures by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger: 2024.
UN food assistance: 80+ million people in 80 countries.
Child vaccination: 58%.
Peacekeepers: approximately 100,000.
Regular UN budget: about $3 billion.
Peacekeeping in fiscal year 2019–2020: approximately $7 billion.
Total UN system expenditure: $53 billion.
US contribution: 22%.
China contribution: 15.3%.
Japan contribution: 8%.
OPEC: 14 members.
EU: 27 members.
African Union: 54 members.
Important people:
Eleanor Roosevelt — UDHR chair
Peng Chung Chang — UDHR vice-chair
Charles Malik — UDHR rapporteur
Mahbubul Haq — creator of HDI
Amartya Sen — influenced HDI ideas
Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye — complex interdependence
Nina Tannenwald — nuclear-weapons taboo
Hale and Held — self-reinforcing interdependence and gridlock
Likely test questions
Define an intergovernmental organization and explain how it differs from a nonstate organization.
Identify and explain the five common functions of IGOs.
What are epistemic communities, and why do they matter to IGOs?
Explain functionalism and the idea of autonomous reputational power.
Why was the UN created, and what problems was it intended to address?
Compare the powers of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.
What is the P5, and how does the veto affect UN decision-making?
Explain the role and limits of the International Court of Justice.
Describe the UN’s major operational responsibilities and financial challenges.
Why do some scholars argue that the Security Council needs reform?
Compare realism, liberalism, and constructivism in their explanations of IGOs.
Distinguish the logic of consequences from the logic of appropriateness.
What is supranational authority? Why is the EU an example?
Explain how successful IGOs can produce gridlock.
What is the dark side of globalization, and how does UNODC respond to it?
Fast review: the chapter in one page
IGOs are organizations created and managed by sovereign states. They are major actors in global governance and perform five common functions: promoting state interests, solving common problems, creating economies of scale, providing expertise, and producing knowledge. Their authority varies, from organizations that mainly coordinate state preferences to supranational institutions such as the EU that can make binding decisions overriding national preferences in some areas.
The UN is the most important global IGO. It was created after WWII through the 1945 UN Charter, which established principles including sovereign equality and domestic sovereignty. Its main organs are the General Assembly, ECOSOC, Security Council, Secretariat, and ICJ. The UN has enormous responsibilities, but its effectiveness is limited by funding constraints, bureaucracy, veto politics, state consent, shifting global power, and competition from NGOs and MNCs.
Realists see IGOs as reflecting the interests of powerful states in an anarchic international system. Liberals see IGOs as tools that enable cooperation, efficiency, trade, and peace under conditions of interdependence. Constructivists emphasize how IGOs shape identities, norms, ideas, and standards of appropriate behavior. The central test skill is applying each theory to the same real-world example and explaining how the interpretation changes.
Final study priority: Know the definitions, the five IGO functions, the UN organs and their powers, the key numbers and dates, and the differences among realism, liberalism, and constructivism.