III: INTERNATIONAL ACTORS
An actor is anyone who may play a role within a given social
system. Individuals are the primary actors within all human societies.
Some would argue that individuals are the only actors. Ultimately all
decisions are made by individuals. But, human beings belong to social
groups and they form various kinds of associations. Social groupings and
organized groups have leaders who speak for the group. These leaders have
more power and influence than do the ordinary members of the group or
association. What we call the state or the nation-state is a complex
organization; and, an international system made up of states is even more
complex. It is as we stated earlier "a system of
systems."
An International Actor
refers to any social structure, which is able to act and influence the
global or international system. Below is a list of
different types of international actors.
Classifying
International Actors by Level
Global,
Trans-State Actors: (Global or Regional Level)
Public
Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs)
or International Organizations (IOs)
Global or Universal IOs
United Nations Organization (UN or UNO)
International Court of Justice (ICJ)
World Bank
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
formerly General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
Functional Organizations
International Labor Organization (ILO)
Universal Postal Union (UPU)
International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
World Health Organization (WHO)
United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)
United Nations Economic, Social, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Regional IOs
European Union (EU)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Organization of American States (OAS)
Private Not-Profit and Semi-Private Voluntary
Associations
International Non-Governmental
Organizations (INGO) or sometimes misleadingly called
generically as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
"An international nongovernmental
organization (INGO) is a voluntary association of organizations or
individuals for worldwide or regional action."
"The term nongovernmental organization or NGO is sometimes used to
describe these groups, although it more correctly refers to a entity
working domestically. Both terms, NGO and INGO, should be differentiated
from intergovernmental organizations or IGOs." See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_nongovernmental_organization
The United Nations Department of
Public Information provides the following information regarding NGOs.
http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/brochure.htm
The following are examples of INGOs
International Committee of the Red Cross
Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières
Oxfam
International
Caritas, Catholic Relief Services
CARE International
It is estimated that there are more
than 40,000 internationally operating NGOs. Read the following
article in
Wikipedia on NGOs.
Private
For-Profit Transnational or International Corporations and Banks
Multi-National Corporations (MMCs) and Transnational Banks (TNCs)
NAME OF COMPANY
BILLION OF DOLLARS IN REVENUES 2005
WAL-MART STORES
$288.0
BRITISH PETROLEUM
$285.1
EXXON MOBIL
$270.8
ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL GROUP
$268.8
GENERAL MOTORS
$193.5
DAIMLER-CHRYSLER
$176.7
TOYOTA MOTOR
$172.6
FORD MOTOR
$172.3
GENERAL ELECTRIC
$152.9
TOTAL
$152.6
CHEVRON
$148.0
CONOCOPHILLIPS
$121.7
AXA
$121.6
ALLIANZ
$118.9
State Actors (State Level)
Central Governments of Sovereign
States
The most important actors within the global system continue to be the
central governments of the sovereign states of the world. Central
governments are concerned primarily about the welfare of their own
domestic state-societies. But, through their foreign policies,
these central governments impact on other central governments, other
sovereign state-societies, and the global system. Central
governments are the only organizations which up to this point have a
legal right to go to war.
Gross National Income (GNI) measures
the total value of goods and services produced in a given country.
Obviously these amounts are not all available to the central government.
Total government expenditures would be a better measure for the relative
importance of that central government both within its own society and in
the larger world. Nonetheless, GDI is often used to weight
different countries.
COUNTRY
GROSS NATIONAL INCOME IN 2006
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
UNITED STATES
$12,150.9
JAPAN
$4,749.9
GERMANY
$2,489.0
UNITED KINGDOM
$2,016.4
FRANCE
$1,858.7
CHINA
$1,676.8
ITALY
$1,502.6
CANADA
$905.6
SPAIN
$875.8
MEXICO
$703.1
The figures for both
the MNCs and the State GNI are taken from Kegley,
World Politics, 11th Ed Rev, Table 6.2, p. 207.
Civil Societies within States.
Central governments are only one type of actor within a given country or
state-society. There are millions of individuals, families, private
businesses, corporations, voluntary associations, organized interest groups,
and political parties. Some of these intra-state actors also impact on
the global system. Private individuals who travel to foreign countries
as tourists can, under certain circumstances, become international actors.
Corporations, banks, labor unions,
religious organizations, and political parties may have branches,
affiliations, chapters, associations outside their main place of location.
Many state-societies are multi-ethnic,
multi-national, and multi-religious. Ethnic and tribal areas may
straddle more than one state.
Civil war is a condition that exists
in many countries of the world. Insurgents, rebels, guerrilla
movements, organizations practicing terror to gain their ends, and outlawed
political movements do in fact play a role in international politics.
Societal communities can
become important international actors.
Individual Actors.
Ultimately all human societies, including the
global system, are made up of individuals. And ultimately, only
individuals act whether as part of a social grouping, an organized group, or
a formal, bureaucratic organization.
Individuals as private individuals do not usually become
international actors. Former leaders of countries, kings, and very
rich persons sometimes become international actors as single individuals.
Ordinary citizens may become actors if abducted by
terrorists, trapped in some natural catastrophe, or accused on crimes in a
country other than their own. Tourists, businesspersons in foreign
countries, citizens of one country visiting their relatives in another
country may find themselves unexpected as objects of international disputes.
But most people reside most of their lives in a single
country and do not become international actors.
Individuals become important as international actors when
they play roles within organizations. The individual, the role
occupied by the individual, and the organization on whose behalf the
individual acts tend to become conflated.
Classifying
International Actors by Type of Organizational Structure
Bureaucratic Actors:
Almost all international actors are bureaucratic in their organizational
structures. Bureaucracies or formal organizations are the most powerful
institutions on this planet. All central governments and their local
subdivisions are bureaucracies. All large private for-profit business
corporations (MNCs and TNBs) are bureaucracies. All IGOs or IOs are
bureaucracies. Many, but not all, INGOs and NGOs are dominated by their
bureaucratic, professional staff.. Bureaucratic Actors predominate in the global system.
Voluntary
Associations: Most mass membership organizations are voluntary
associations. They may have a small staff or secretariat of paid,
full-time employees, but the bulk of the membership are volunteers who, usually,
pay a membership fee to the association. What we generally call interest groups
or pressure groups often fall into this category of voluntary associations.
Political parties are often this kind of mass membership organization. The
organization is often headed by a national leadership who are elected. The
leadership and the paid professional staff may come to dominate the
organization. If the voluntary organization has a large staff, more than
several hundred, we may come to look at it as a bureaucratic organization.
The head of the professional staff is often called the General Secretary of the
organization. Most NGOs and INGOs fall in this category and have a
bureaucratic component to their voluntary membership base.
Individuals and
Families: Ultimately all human societies,
including the global system, are made up of individuals. Individuals are
born into and live in families. Extended families may form clans and
tribes. Bonds of blood may produce ethnic communities or what I have
called societal communities.
Societal Communities.
Societal communities refers to social groupings that share common cultural
characteristics based on blood relationships, common ethnicity, common language,
common religion, and common national identity. They share common cultural
traits. There may be traditional positions of leadership recognized by the
community. There may be a recognized tribal chief, elders, wise persons,
witch doctors, priest, or other authority. Max Weber described these
leadership positions as "traditional."
But, societal communities may also
generate charismatic leaders. Charisma is a quality of leadership which
seems to arise spontaneously. It is difficult to define rationally but can
readily be observed. Some leaders attract large crowds of followers and
others do not. Whatever it is that makes them popular may be summarized as
charisma. These leaders are neither traditional authority figures, nor do
they occupy any official position of authority. They may ultimately become
elected to some position of legal-rational authority.
Social groupings are groups that are
culturally bound together. They do not have formal, legally-defined
authority structures. But social groupings can form voluntary
associations, which in term generate a formal leadership. Social groupings
become organized social groups. Not all Irishmen belong to the
Ancient Order
of the Hibernians. But this fraternal organization was originally
established to assist Irish immigrants to the United States facing
discrimination. The organized group helps the broader, culturally
connected social grouping.
Other
Classification of International Actors
Individuals, Organized Groups, The Central Government, Society as a Whole,
the State, Regional Balances, The Global System
Societal Components: Public Opinion, Interest Groups, Political Parties,
Iron Triangles, Military-Industrial Complex, Think Tanks, Public Officials as
Foreign Policy Makers
Copyright
Dr. Harold Damerow
Prof. of Government and History
Union County College
Cranford, NJ 07016
August 24, 2007
September 11, 2009
