Actors, power and national interest

International Relations · Foundations. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

The state is still the main actor in IR. A state has sovereignty: supreme authority inside its territory and no legal superior outside it. Non-state actors also matter. They include intergovernmental organisations such as the UN, international non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International, and multinational corporations.

Each state pursues its national interest. The most vital interest is survival and the security of its territory. Other interests, such as prosperity and prestige, come after it.

To secure its interests a state uses power, the ability to make others do what they would not otherwise do. Hard power forces or pays. Soft power attracts. Smart power mixes the two to suit the case.

Rules to remember

Montevideo Convention, 1933: a state has a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.
Morgenthau: national interest is 'interest defined in terms of power'.
Hard power = coercion or payment: military force, economic sanctions, aid used as an inducement.
Soft power (term coined by Joseph Nye) = attraction through culture, political values and foreign policy.
Smart power = a chosen combination of hard and soft power.
Tangible elements of power: geography, population, natural resources, economy, military strength.
Intangible elements: national morale, national character, leadership, quality of government and of diplomacy.

Common mistake

Students class economic sanctions as soft power because no weapons are used. Sanctions coerce, so they are hard power; soft power works only by attraction and persuasion.

Worked example

A body has member governments, a founding treaty and a secretariat. Another body is a private charity that sends doctors to war zones in many countries. Which is the intergovernmental organisation and which is the international non-governmental organisation?

An intergovernmental organisation (IGO) is created by states and its members are states.
An international non-governmental organisation (INGO) is private; its members are individuals or associations, not governments.
The first body has governments as members, so it is an IGO. The second is a private charity, so it is an INGO.
Both are non-state actors, because neither is itself a sovereign state.

Answer: The first is an IGO; the second is an INGO.

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