Partial preview of the text
Download Power and interdependence and more Study notes International Relations in PDF only on Docsity!
milnerO2ch02.029_049 10/8/08 5:56 PM at r- = CHAPTER 2 Institutions, Power, and Interdependence Randall W. Stone ‘THE TWO AND A HALF DECADES since the appearance of Keohane and Nye’s Power and Interdependence have witnessed a profound institutional tion of international relations. International institutions have prolifer- ated, expanded, and deepened. The number of intergovernmental organi- zations has increased, and their memberships have expanded: The United Nations has 192 members, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank currently have 185 members, and the World Trade Organization grew from 128 members in 1994 to 153 a decade later, with 30 more countries at various stages in the application process. The European Union expanded to fifteen member countries in 1995, to twenty-five in 2004, and to twenty-seven in 2007. Substantial decision-making power has been delegated to international organizations, and a few dispose of substantial resources. The IMF held approximately $400 billion in assets, of which $190 billion was available to lend in 2007, while the World Bank had $230 billion in outstanding loans and $3 3 billion in capital. In- ternational institutions have extended their influence into policy areas traditionally the prerogative of states, and patterns of international coop- eration have become progressively formalized in international law. By the beginning of the twenty-first century there was virtually no problem of broad international concern for which no international regime existed to express principles and norms of formalized cooperation, and this cooperation almost always involved the participation of international organizations, On the other hand, international institutions consistently fail to solve the problems they were created to address. This is not simply to say that international institutions are suffering from unpopularity; indeed, the fact that dissatisfaction with institutions such as the IMF, the WTO, and the EU is on the rise is not necessarily a bad sign. Public institutions that evoke no dissatisfaction cannot be very significant, and if public opinion identifies problems and interest groups organize to influence these insti- tutions, this is a sign of their growing importance. As a result of this pres- sure, international institutions across the board are engaged in efforts at reform, and they are evolving at an ever-increasing rate, becoming more transparent, publishing more data, and creating independent evaluation 
