FOREIGN POLICY ACTOR

•DEFINED AS A PERSON OR ENTITY WITH

THE CAPACITY OF HAVING AN IMPACT
IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
 ROLE OF STATE ACTORS
•THEY SHOULD HAVE OVERALL CAPACITY TO DECIDE ON THEIR PURPOSES
AND INTERESTS.
•THEY SHOULD ALSO HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO MOBILIZE NECESSARY
RESOURCES TO ACHIEVE THESE PURPOSES AND INTERESTS AND BE
PASSIONATE ABOUT APPEALING FOR GLOBAL COOPERATION.
•THEIR ACTIONS SHOULD BE SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH TO INFLUENCE THE
STATE-TO-STATE RELATIONS OR THE BEHAVIOUR OF OTHER NON-STATE
ACTORS IN THE GLOBAL SYSTEM.
 ACTORS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO
CATEGORIES:
•STATE ACTORS AND
• NON-STATE ACTORS
STATE ACTORS
•TYPICALLY BEEN CONSIDERED THE MAIN (AND FOR A LONG PERIOD, THE
ONLY) ACTORS IN FOREIGN POLICY.
•“THE STATE AS A PERSON OF INTERNATIONAL LAW SHOULD POSSESS THE
FOLLOWING QUALIFICATIONS: A) A PERMANENT POPULATION; B) A DEFINED
TERRITORY; C) GOVERNMENT; AND D) CAPACITY TO ENTER INTO RELATIONS
WITH THE OTHER STATES”.
 NON-STATE ACTORS
•THEY ARE NON-SOVEREIGN ENTITIES THAT EXERCISE
SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC, POLITICAL OR SOCIAL POWER
AND INFLUENCE AT A NATIONAL AND IN SOME CASES
INTERNATIONAL LEVEL. THERE IS NO CONSENSUS ON THE
MEMBERS OF THIS CATEGORY SUCH AS SUB-STATE
ACTORS, INGO’S, IGO’S, ECONOMIC AGENT AND MEDIA.
INGO’S – INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATION
•A PRIVATE AND INTERSTATE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
COMPOSED OF INDIVIDUALS OTHERS THAN REPRESENTATIVES OF
STATES OR GOVERNMENTS. INGO’S IS NOT A PEACEFUL OR
SETTLED ONE. WHICH COULD BE INCLUDE TERRORIST, RELIGIOUS
OR ETHNICAL GROUPS.
 INGO’S
•INGOS OPERATE AS ACTORS IN FOREIGN POLICY MAINLY
THROUGH THEIR ABILITY TO INFLUENCE OTHER FOREIGN
POLICY ACTORS. INGOS MAY INFLUENCE AGENDA
SETTING (EX ANTE) AND PROVIDE LEGITIMACY AND/OR
IMPLEMENT SOLUTIONS DECIDED ELSEWHERE (EX POST).
INGOS STILL PLAY A DECISIVE EX POST FACTO ROLE, IN 2 WAYS:
•1) THROUGH THEIR INFLUENCE IN THE PUBLIC OPINION, THEY ARE
ABLE TO PROVIDE (OR DENY) LEGITIMACY TO THE SOLUTIONS
AGREED BY INTERNATIONAL/GLOBAL DECISION MAKERS.
•2) THEY ARE USEFUL AND OFTEN INDISPENSABLE FOR HELPING
IMPLEMENT THE SOLUTIONS AGREED BY THE GLOBAL DECISION
MAKERS.
INGO’S

•EXAMPLES OF PROMINENT INGOS INCLUDE

GREENPEACE, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, OXFAM
INTERNATIONAL, ETC.
 IGO’S – INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS
•ENTITIES ESTABLISHED BY FORMAL POLITICAL AGREEMENTS
BETWEEN THEIR MEMBERS THAT HAVE THE STATUS OF
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES. THEIR EXISTENCE IS RECOGNIZED BY
LAW IN THEIR MEMBER COUNTRIES AND THEY ARE NOT TREATED
AS RESIDENT INSTITUTIONAL UNITS OF THE COUNTRIES IN
WHICH THEY ARE LOCATED.
 IGO’S DIVIDED INTO DIFFERENT
CATEGORIES:
•GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS
•REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
•ETHNO-CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS
•ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS
•COLLECTIVE SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS
 GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS
•THESE ARE OPEN TO STATES WORLDWIDE WHEN MEETING CERTAIN
CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION. THERE CAN BE SPECIALIZED OR, ON THE
CONTRARY, COVER A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES. THE MOST SALIENT
EXAMPLE OF THE LATTER CASE IS THAT OF THE UNITED NATIONS
ORGANIZATION (UNO), WHEREAS EXAMPLES OF SPECIALIZED
GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL
POLICE ORGANIZATION (ICPO - INTERPOL), THE WORLD CUSTOMS
ORGANIZATION (WCO), ETC.
 REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
•THESE IGOS ARE OPEN TO MEMBERS PLACED IN A SPECIFIC
REGION OF THE WORLD, MEMBERSHIP BEING LIMITED TO
STATES PLACED IN THOSE REGIONS. THESE INCLUDE THE
EUROPEAN UNION (EU), THE AFRICAN UNION (AU), THE
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES (OAS), THE ASSOCIATION
OF SOUTH-EAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN), ETC.
 ETHNO-CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS
•OPEN TO MEMBERS SHARING A COMMON CULTURAL,
LINGUISTIC, ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS OR HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.
THESE ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE, AMONGST OTHERS, THE
COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS (CON), THE ORGANIZATION OF THE
ISLAMIC CONFERENCE (OIC), THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES (LAS),
THE ORGANIZATION INTERNATIONAL DE LA FRANCOPHONE (OIF).
 ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS
•THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS ARE IGOS COMPOSED OF
SOVEREIGN STATES AND THAT HAVE AS THEIR PRIMARY GOAL
THAT OF PROMOTING CERTAIN ECONOMIC OBJECTIVES. THESE
ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
(IMF), THE WORLD BANK (WB), WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
(WTO) AND THE ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION
AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD), AMONGST OTHERS.
 COLLECTIVE SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS
•THESE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE AS PRIMARY OBJECTIVE THE PREVENTION OF
AND COUNTERACTION TO MILITARY THREATS OR ATTACKS TO ITS
MEMBERS. THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE COMPOSED BY STATES AND ARE
USUALLY BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF MUTUAL SUPPORT IN CASE OF
MILITARY AGGRESSION. AS A CONSEQUENCE, IF A THIRD STATE OR PARTY
ATTACKS ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE ORGANIZATION, ALL OTHER MEMBER
STATES ARE COMMITTED TO SUPPORT THE ATTACKED MEMBER, THE DEGREE
OF COMMITMENT DEPENDING ON THE ORGANIZATION.
 COLLECTIVE SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS
•THE LIST OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDES THE NORTH
ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO), THE ORGANIZATION FOR
SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (OSCE), THE COLLECTIVE
SECURITY TREATY ORGANIZATION (CSTO), THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION
ORGANIZATION (SCO), ETC. ADDITIONALLY, SOME GLOBAL OR REGIONAL IGOS
MAY HAVE A SECURITY DIMENSION, AS IS THE CASE OF THE UNITED NATIONS
OR THE EUROPEAN UNION.
 ECONOMIC AGENTS
•PHYSICALLY STATIC NATURE OF MUCH INVESTMENT, COUPLED WITH THE
NEW TRANSPARENCY THROUGH WHICH INVESTORS CAN MONITOR
PERFORMANCE, MEAN THAT THE SUPPOSED TRANSFER OF POWER FROM
GOVERNMENTS TO CORPORATIONS IS LARGELY AN ILLUSION. IT IS TRUE
THAT COMPANIES ARE MORE INVOLVED WITH AND DEPENDENT ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS THAN EVER BEFORE. TRADE AND
INVESTMENT HAVE BOTH GROWN MORE RAPIDLY THAN OUTPUT
 MEDIA
•THE ROLE OF MEDIA IS ESSENTIAL TO SHAPE
NATIONAL/TRANSNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION. COVERAGE OF
EVENTS MAY MODIFY THE AWARENESS AND ATTITUDE OF PUBLIC
OPINIONS WORLDWIDE, WHICH IN TURN MAY INFLUENCE
INTERNATIONAL ACTORS. THE COVERAGE OF CERTAIN EVENTS BY
BROADCASTERS HAS INFLUENCED THEIR DEVELOPMENT.
 OTHER NON-STATE ACTORS
•THESE INCLUDE CRIMINAL, ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS GROUPINGS. THESE NON-
STATE ACTORS ARE NON-CATEGORIZED AS THEIR AIMS, STRUCTURES AND
MEANS OF ACTIONS DO NOT FIT INTO THE PREVIOUS CATEGORIES, NOR ARE
THEY SIMILAR BETWEEN THEM.
•THE FACT THAT THESE ACTORS DO NOT FIT INTO ANY OF THE PREVIOUS
CATEGORIES DOES NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THEIR IMPORTANCE. IN FACT,
MANY OF THESE ACTORS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO SHAPE, ALONG HISTORY,
ESSENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD OF FOREIGN POLICY.
THANK YOU!!!