Framing Qu

Apuntes

Framing Questions ● What are international organizations? ● Do we need international organizations in international relations? ● What constraints and opportunities are there for international organizations to achieve their mandates? International organizations in world politics susan park Reader’s Guide International organizations (IOs) are now well estab- lished as part of the international system. They are increasingly examined by those wishing to understand how they influence world politics, and whether they are independent actors in their own right or serve the inter- ests of the powerful states that established them. IOs proliferated after the Second World War, and new ones continue to be created as the world becomes more integrated. From the outset, IOs have been studied from either liberal or realist traditions, with the aim of analys- ing how they support individual well-being or states’ foreign policy aims. During the cold war when real- ism was pre-eminent, it was commonly assumed that international organizations had little effect on interna- tional politics: they were merely tools to achieve states’ interests. While this can explain why states choose to establish IOs, it...