Donald W. Jackson on Who Governs the Globe? Edited by Deborah D. Avant, Martha Finnemore, and Susan K. Sell. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 433pp.

A review of: Who Governs the Globe? Edited by Deborah D. Avant, Martha Finnemore, and Susan K. Sell. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 433pp

ORGANIZATIONAL REFORM AND THE EXPANSION OF THE SOUTH’S VOICE AT THE FUND

What organizational reforms might increase the influence of developing member countries within the International Monetary Fund? In this paper we argue that a variety of organizational changes are both feasible and could substantially increase the ability of developing countries to articulate policy alternatives and advance change. We focus particularly on changes in the recruitment, training, career paths and deployment of the Fund’s staff. Our recommendations address two general issues. First, we explore ways to diversify the “intellectual portfolio” of the staff by drawing more effectively on hands-on knowledge of the concrete circumstances that shape policy outcomes in the South. More mid-career hiring of staff with practical experience inside developing country institutions could increase the degree to which the distinctive institutional circumstances of developing members are taken into account in formulating Fund policies and implementing them. Allocating a larger share of the Fund’s resources to research consulting contracts for researchers and institutions based in developing countries could also expand input of ideas that reflect the experience of member countries from the South. Second, large asymmetries in workload currently make it difficult for those working on the needs of developing members to formulate and advocate alternative policies. We suggest a number of ways in which even modest reallocation and addition of staff resources might create breathing space that would allow Executive Directors from developing countries to play a larger role in shaping the Fund’s policies.

Contending Interventions: Coming to Terms with the Practice and Process of Enforcing Compliance

A review of: The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force by Martha Finnemore. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. 174pp. and International Intervention in the Post-Cold War World: Moral Responsibility and Power Politics edited by Michael C. Davis, Wolfgang Dietrich, Bettina Scholdan, and Dieter Sepp. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2004. 332pp

Talking Past Each Other: Government, Business and Civil Society Discussing Cyber Security

Martha Finnemore has visited MGIMO-University this September, she gave several public lectures for students and participated in a number of roundtables. Professor Finnemore was very kind to give an interview to our journal on various issues of international information and cybersecurity. The interview was conducted by Elena Zinovieva, vice director of the Center for International Information Security, Science and Technology Policy at MGIMO-University

World society and the transformation of national defense: exploring world cultural impact on security and military

In this paper, I explore the applicability of sociological institutionalism for the analysis of security and the military. Based on cross-sectional data from 50 countries, I show how values linked to the nation state and security are related to world cultural ideas and the diffusion of rationalized organizational models. Such linkage could explain the transformation of the military as a common and worldwide trend, being based on political and societal preconditions that converge across countries. The paper is structured as follows: I first introduce basics on military transformation in the course of time, before I turn to the framework of sociological new institutionalism. I particularly emphasize world cultural values and rationalized organizational forms as well as the diffusion process linked to them. In the empirical analysis, I first show how values linked to individualism, the nation state and world society are linked to national security. As suggested by sociological institutionalism, individual values and the importance of world society are wide-spread and also linked to less nationalism and a lower significance for security and defense. However, the nation state is still an important point of reference. In the second empirical analysis, I turn to the organizational form of the military, showing changing aims, and changed ways of organizing the service. Here we find that the military has indeed transformed to an organization with features comparable to the non-military world, supporting sociological institutionalist claims. In sum, the findings point towards changed security policies induced by world cultural norms. However, further analyses are needed to explore this relationship in more detail and to ultimately test this theory against functionalist explanations. -- Dieses Arbeitspapier analysiert Sicherheitspolitik und Militärreformen aus der Perspektive des soziologischen Institutionalismus. Basierend auf Daten aus 50 Staaten wird gezeigt, dass Werte und Organisationsformen in diesem Feld zunehmend Trends einer 'Weltkultur' entsprechen. Dazu führt das Papier zunächst kurz in aktuelle Reformen des Militärs ein, bevor in einem theoretischen Teil zwei Diskussionen des soziologischen Institutionalismus ausgeführt werden, genauer die Verbreitung kultureller Werte basierend auf Individualismus und einem geteilten Welthorizont, sowie die Einführung rationalisierter Organisationsformen in verschiedensten gesellschaftlichen Bereichen. In der empirischen Analyse wird dann gezeigt, dass sich die angenommene Weltkultur in der Tat in sicherheitsrelevanten Werten und Auffassungen niederschlägt und dass das Militär sich zunehmend 'rationalisiert' und 'individualisiert' organisiert. Die Ergebnisse unterstützen theoretische Annahmen des soziologischen Institutionalismus, sollten aber in weiteren Untersuchungen noch verstärkt gegen rivalisierende funktionalistische Theorien getestet werden.

The European Community's Power in the Financing for Development Initiatives

In order to examine the nature of the power that the EC wields, this paper focuses specifically on its productive power. This paper examines whether and, if so, to what extent, the EC contributed to the financing for development by identifying the problems, formulating solutions, and persuading others to accept these solutions. The process through which the financing for development initiatives decides upon relevant issues and how the EC engages with these issues makes it clear that the EC should not be regarded as a genuine productive power because it was not the sole trigger that prompted the definition of problems or the formulation of solutions. Nonetheless, it should be regarded as a significantly influential driving force in the financing for development, in terms of its contribution to defining problems and formulating solutions. The EC's role in encouraging commitment to the financing for development initiative and persuading others to accept this commitment shows that the EC can be regarded as an entity wielding some form of productive power. However, further study is required to understand the extent to which the EC can really influence the behaviors of states. This study also reveals that the EC can execute productive power only when permitted or delegated to do so by other bodies and its member states. These facts, which are exhibited in this paper, help clarify the context in which international organizations execute power.The EC, financing for development, power of international organizations, productive power

What drives norm success? Evidence from anti–fossil fuel campaigns

Why do some international norms succeed, whereas others fail? We argue that norm campaigns are more likely to succeed when the actions they prescribe are framed as a solution to salient problems that potential adopters face, even if different from the problem that originally motivated norm entrepreneurs. For instance, the campaign to reduce environmentally harmful fossil fuel subsidies has been more effective when linked to fiscal stability, a common problem that policy makers face. Problem linkages can thus bolster the attractiveness of a proposed new norm and broaden the coalition of actors that support the norm. We probe the plausibility of this argument by studying two campaigns that aim to shift patterns of finance for fossil fuel production and consumption: subsidy reform and divestment. Subsidy reform encourages governments to reduce subsidies for products like gasoline; divestment encourages investors to sell or avoid equity stocks from fossil fuel industries. We look at the variation in the impact of these two campaigns over time and argue that they have achieved institutional acceptance and implementation chiefly when their advocates have been able to link environmental goals with other goals, usually economic ones

International Organizations as Corporate Actors: Agency and Emergence in Theories of International Relations

In this paper, the implicit and explicit conceptualizations of international organizations found in the three major theories of international relations are outlined and compared. It turns out that in a neorealist framework, international organizations can be explained; however, they exhibit no autonomy and cannot therefore be conceptualized as a corporate actor. Principally, the same applies to rational choice institutionalism, although limited autonomy is conceivable. Both theories are reductionist in the sense that they do not allow a corporate actor beyond the nation-state. International organizations are at best instruments of state interests. Solely social constructivist theories allow a conceptualization of international organizations as partly autonomous corporate actors. The reason for this conceptual openness lies in its ontology that includes ideational factors such as knowledge and ideas. The concept of emergence gives the core explanation for international organization autonomy: identities and interests of states and international organizations constitute each other mutually. This is specified by referring to the generation of new knowledge within international organizations as the key feature which accounts for feedbacks to the member-states of international organizations. This power of international organizations to alter perceptions and identities of their own ‘founding fathers’ makes them more than state instruments. International organizations thereby gain autonomy, which justifies conceiving of them as high-order corporate actors in international relations.