International Organizations Online Test 12th Political Science Lesson 11 Questions in English

International Organizations, it is often considered as a twentieth century phenomenon that began with the establishment of the League of Nations in 1919.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) established in 1865 (originally called the International Telegraph Union), and the Universal Postal Union which was established in 1874. Both of these systems are today part of the United Nations system.

The International Peace Conference held in The Hague in 1899 elaborated the instruments for settling crises peacefully preventing wars and codifying rules of warfare.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) which began its work in 1902. It is the predecessor of the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The outbreak of World War I in August 1914, and the destruction that followed, exposed the limitations of these international mechanisms.

It was also followed by the end of an international system called the Concert of Europe that had prevented the continent from the scourge of war since the Napoleonic adventures a century earlier.

Between the years 1914-18, Europe witnessed the worst human loss in its history where around twenty million people lost their lives.

Empires collapsed (the Ottoman, the Austro-Hungarian and temporarily the Russian) and new nations such as Czechoslovakia, Estonia, and Finland were born, radical revolutions took place in Russia and Germany.

Amidst the carnage, President Woodrow Wilson in January 1918 outlined his idea of the League of Nations which received widespread support given the utter devastation caused by World War I.

Although the United States failed to join the League of Nations, President Woodrow Wilson chaired the Versailles Peace Conference’s commission on the establishment of an international Organization.

The League being housed temporarily in London, commenced operation in the year 1920 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Initially it had some success when it settled disputes between Finland and Sweden over Aland Islands, between Germany and Poland over Upper Silesia and between Iraq and Turkey over the city of Mosul.

The League acted as an umbrella Organization for agencies such as the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Permanent Court of International Justice and it later became a model for the future United Nations (UN).

The League of Nations was dominated by the victors of World War I that included France and Great Britain along with Japan and Italy as the other two permanent members of the League Council.

There were twenty eight founding members who were represented in the General Assembly who were mostly from Europe and Latin America. The League of Nations was one that was Eurocentric

The reasons for the League of Nations to fail were multiple. The absence of the United States was a significant factor in rendering the League ineffectual. Its importance was further minimized when Germany and the Soviet Union who were briefly members had undermined the significance of the Organization.

Germany joined in 1926 and exited after the Nazis came to power in 1933.

In the year 1933 Soviet Union entered the League and was expelled following their attack on Finland in 1939 which also made the USSR the only nation to be expelled from the League.

Japan left the League in 1933 following criticism by the league of its occupation of Manchuria and Italy too was equally dismissive of its membership obligations after its occupation of Ethiopia.

The global economic crisis of 1930s certainly curbed the enthusiasm of others and more particularly France and Britain who were not willing to fight distant wars that would not have an immediate effect on their national security.

In 1938 at the Munich Conference, Britain and France agreed to the dismantling of Czechoslovakia by agreeing to the addition of Sudetenland to Hitler’s Reich.

Germany attacked Poland after concluding pact with the Soviet Union in 1939 which dashed all hopes that were placed on the League of Nations. The League of Nations was not capable of applying sufficient pressure on the aggressor nations as it could only impose verbal or economic sanctions against them and these methods failed to intervene militarily.

The League of Nations did not have authority beyond its member nations and this made it possible for countries suffering from the pressure of economic sanctions to trade with non-members. Additionally, since the League did not have an army of its own, military intervention meant that member states (France and Britain) would have to supply necessary troops.

The League expelled the Soviet Union in 1939, and it was known widely that the League had failed and did not become what President Woodrow Wilson had hoped as a ‘definite guarantee of Peace’.

With the end of the Second World War which witnessed around 72 million casualties, the idea of the United Nations was born. World leaders who had collaborated to bring the war to an end felt a strong need for a mechanism that would ensure lasting peace and prevent future wars. It was also felt that this was possible only through a global Organization where all nations would work together.

The name ‘United Nations’ was coined by the then United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt

United Nations was first officially used in 1942.

Representatives from twenty-six nations signed the Declaration by United Nations to continue to fight together against the axis powers in order to obtain just peace.

In August 1944, delegates from China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States, met in Dumbarton Oaks to draw the basic blueprint for the new International Organization and by October the outline of the United Nations Charter was ready.

Following the surrender of Germany in the year 1945, representatives from fifty countries met in San Francisco on June 26, 1945 and signed the Charter.

The conclusion of the Pacific war in October 24, 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence. While making the UN Charter, the drafters faced the same issue that the League of Nations faced which was to lay the foundation of an international Organization that would guarantee peace.

How could one draft a Charter that would effectively deal with the fact that some countries were more equal than others? How could one make sure that one country could not simply walk out when it did not like the decisions of the UN, as Japan had done earlier in the 1930s. The simple solution that the drafters came up with was the veto power.

Veto power was granted to the five founding members of the UN – China, France, Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union who are also known as the Permanent Five (P-5).

The founders of the UN were keenly aware of the failures of the League of nations, most of its ideals constituted the core element of the UN Charter. Most evidently, the UN Charter and the League of Nations Covenant had promotion of international security and the peaceful settlement of disputes as its key goals, however, the Charter included two more elements that were also given importance.

Although it was reflected briefly in article 23 of the League of Nations Covenant, the UN Charter included social and economic progress into its key goals. The emphasis laid on social and economic progress was rooted in the inter-war years.

The global economic crisis of the 1920s to the 1930s as the root cause of political upheavals that led to the rise of ultra-nationalism and acts of aggression resulted in the Second World War. Thus the UN was created to be an active participant in world affairs.

In 1945, the six major organs of the UN were (i) the General Assembly, (ii) The Security Council, (iii) Economic and Social Council (iv) Trusteeship Council, (v) International Court of Justice and (vi) the Secretariat.

All organs of the UN meet regularly and members vote to make decisions, issue declarations and discuss issues that are of prime importance. Yet the functions of the organs differ significantly vis-à-vis each other. While the General Assembly is the Parliament of the UN, the Security Council is its executive committee; the secretariat is the operational body or the bureaucracy that runs the UN.

The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the UN which is comprised of Member States and each one has a vote no matter its influence or size.

Discussions often include issues arising under the UN Charter, decisions on international peace and security, admitting new member states and the UN budget is decided by two-thirds majority.

Resolutions taken by the General Assembly are only recommendations to the member states, but since they represent the views of majority of the world, it carries with it a heavy moral weight and often leads countries to join international agreements called treaties, conventions, protocols, etc.,

The General Assembly’s sessions begin in September every and most resolutions are made between September and December. Requests for special sessions may be initiated by the Security Council or if a majority of its members make a request.

At the beginning of each regular session, the General Assembly has a two-week general debate in which heads of State present their views on a wide range of issues such as terrorism, war, poverty, hunger and disease.

India has always seen itself as a champion, a ‘moralistic force’ of the so called Third World, the developing states. Former Secretary General Kofi Annan has been quoted as saying that India has been one of the most significant votaries of shaping the UN agenda on behalf of the developing world.

The veto power has been criticized for its undemocratic nature. A single country can prevent a majority of the Security Council from taking any action. For example, the United States routinely casts lone vetoes of resolutions criticizing Israel. The permanent members also veto resolutions that criticize their own actions.

Peter Nadin writes that “The veto is an anachronism. In the twenty-first century, the veto has come to be almost universally seen as a disproportionate power and an impediment to credible international action to crises.” The “enormous influence of the veto power” has been cited as a cause of the UN’s ineffectiveness in preventing and responding to genocide, violence, and human rights violations.

Various countries outside the P5, such as the Non-Aligned Movement and African Union have proposed limitations on the veto power. Reform of the veto power is often included in proposals for reforming the Security Council.

By adopting A/RES/377 A, on 3 November 1950, over two-thirds of UN Member states declared that, according to the UN Charter, the permanent members of the UNSC cannot and should not prevent the UNGA from taking any and all action necessary to restore international peace and security, in cases where the UNSC has failed to exercise its “primary responsibility” for maintaining peace

UNGA as being awarded “final responsibility”—rather than “secondary responsibility”—for matters of international peace and security, by the UN Charter. Various official and semi-official UN reports make explicit reference to the Uniting for Peace resolution as providing a mechanism for the UNGA to overrule any UNSC vetoes; thus rendering them little more than delays in UN action, should two-thirds of the Assembly subsequently agree that action is necessary.

Under the UN Charter the Security Council has the responsibility to maintain international peace and security. Unlike the General Assembly which has regular meetings, the Security Council does not have such meetings and can be convened at any time whenever there is a threat to international peace.

The Security Council has fifteen members which includes five permanent members (P-5). The other ten members are elected by the General Assembly on rotation basis for a period of two years.

In order to pass a resolution in the Security Council nine out of fifteen votes is required. However, if any one of the P-5 Members votes ‘No’, often referred as Veto, the resolution does not pass.

The Economic and Social Council of the UN which has fifty-four members who are chosen for equal geographical representation and serve a three-year term is the central body of the UN for coordinating the economic and social work of the UN and the UN system.

Over seventy percent of the UN System is devoted to promoting higher standards of living, alleviating poverty through full employment; economic and social progress; and development. It promotes economic growth in developing countries, supports human rights, and fosters world cooperation to alleviate poverty and under-development.

To address specific needs of the council, it has established a number of specialized agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Under the UN Charter, the Trusteeship Council was assigned to monitor the administration of eleven Trust Territories – former colonies. At the end of the Second World War, this system was created for the advancement of the inhabitants of those dependent territories for their progressive development towards self-governance or independence.

In 1994, Palau became the last Trust Territory to become independent and subsequently the council decided to suspend operations and meet when occasion might require.

China, France, United Kingdom, the Russian Federation and the United States who are permanent members of the UN Security Council comprise the Trusteeship Council.

The UN’s main judicial organ is the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and is located in The Hague, Netherlands.

The ICJ or World Court was established in 1945. It’s predecessor was the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

The ICJ or World Court began it functions in 1946.

The court is presided by fifteen judges elected for nine year terms, each belonging to a different nation. The judges are selected by both the General Assembly and the Security Council.

The court and its offices occupy the ‘Peace Palace’ which was constructed by the Carnegie Foundation which a non-profit Organization to serve as the headquarters of the Permanent Court of International Justice under the League of Nations. The UN makes an annual contribution to the Foundation for the use of the building. UNSC refer cases to the ICJ.

The UN Secretariat administers the programs and the policies lay out by the other principal organs of the UN. The Secretary General heads the Secretariat and is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendations of the Security Council

The Secretary General is appointed for a five-year term which is renewable. As the chief administrative officer of the UN the Secretary General directs the work of other staff in the Organization who is known as international civil servants.

The Secretariat is headquartered at New York and has its offices at Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Beirut, Santiago and Bangkok.

These duties are varied and range from peacekeeping operations, mediating international disputes, surveying social and economic trends to laying the groundwork for international agreements and organizing international conferences. Th e role of the Secretariat which is multi-faceted is under constant pressure from the dyad of nation- state imperatives and universal goals.

The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council matters that may in his opinion disturb international peace and security. He can also use his good offices to prevent conflicts or promote peaceful settlements of disputes between nations. The Secretary General can also act upon his own discretion to deal with humanitarian or any other problem that might require special importance.

New bodies were added on a regular basis while some were made to be temporary bodies such as the UNHCR; they have nevertheless become permanent organs.

Envisioned in 1945 in article 77 of the UN Charter, it states explicitly that the UN ‘may make suitable arrangements for consultation with nongovernmental Organizations which are concerned with matters within its competence’. This made it possible for the UN to work with hundreds of NGOs to undertake humanitarian work in conflict zones.

In 2007, thirty-two NGOs issued an open letter to the Secretary General to pressurize Sudan’s government to permit a Joint African Union/United Nations Peacekeeping force to enter the conflict-ridden Darfur region.

The ECOSOC under the UN mandate coordinates the economic and social work of the UN and the UN family of Organizations. It therefore plays a key role in fostering international cooperation for development.

The ECOSOC although a relatively powerless body of the UN structure, oversees a number of functional and regional commissions. The Commission on Human Rights monitors the observance of human rights across the world.

The true global economic power in fact lays with the so called three sisters (i) the World Bank (ii) The International Monetary Fund and (iii) the World Trade Organization.

The World Bank which is based in Washington was originally known as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

The term “world bank” was first used in reference to IBRD in an article in the Economist on July 22, 1944, in a report on the Bretton Woods Conference.

The primary focus of the Bank is to work with the poorest people and the poorest countries through its five institutions to reduce poverty, increase economic growth and increase the quality of life by using its financial resources and its extensive experience. The World Bank is managed by its member countries who are lenders, borrowers or donors.

Many developing countries in the world use the World Bank’s assistance ranging from loans and grants to technical assistance and policy advice. The Bank works with a wide range of actors that includes government agencies, civil society Organizations, other aid agencies and the private sector.

The fundamental mission of the World Bank is reducing poverty and improving the quality of life has not changed, in recent times it is adjusting its approaches and policies to the needs of developing countries in the new economic context.

With an additional seat in the Board of Directors for Sub-Saharan Africa and an increase in voting power of developing countries, the Bank seeks to elevate the representation and influence of developing and transition countries that are in the Bank Group.

Among its key concerns, the Bank has governance and anticorruption across sectors and countries. This is based on the mandate to reduce poverty – a capable and accountable state creates opportunities for all to develop.

The Bank’s ability to access information policy provides opportunities for the Bank to share its knowledge and experience with a wide audience in order to enhance its quality of operations by providing more information about projects and programs than ever before.

The beginning of operations in 1946 with thirty-eight members, there has been a dramatic change in the number of members and the conditions in the world. As many nations became independent from colonial rule, they gradually joined the institution and subsequently the bank and the development needs of member states expanded.

The main objective of the IBRD is to reduce poverty in middle-income countries and credit worthy low income by promoting sustainable development through loans, guarantees and analytical and advisory services. It was established in 1945 and has 184 members. Its net income and allocable income for the fiscal year in June 2018 amounted to $698 billion.

The International Development Association: It supports country-led initiatives for poverty reduction in the poorest countries with interest-free credits and grants with money received from contributions made by members. It was established in the year 1960 and its total commitment amounted to $24 billion in the fiscal year June 2018.

The International Finance Corporation: It provides loans to the private sector to promote economic development in developing countries. It was established in 1956 with 176 members and its investments in the year 2018 amounted to $23.3 billion.

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes: It encourages foreign investment in developing countries by providing facilities for arbitration of investment disputes. It was established in 1966 with 140 members.

The International Monetary fund or the Fund is the world’s largest premier international financial institution. It was conceived at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 as a global response to the great economic depression of the 1930s.

The International Monetary fund was established to provide short term and medium term finance to member countries facing balance of payments difficulties so that they could pursue policies of economic adjustment that did not rely on competitive devaluation and protectionist trade policies.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an independent international Organization with 185 member countries with the objective to promote economic stability and growth. The member countries are the shareholders in the cooperative and provide capital for the International Monetary Fund through quota subscription.

Surveillance of Members’ Economic Policies: nations who are members agree to pursue economic policies that are consistent with the objectives of the IMF and the articles of agreement confer on the IMF the legal authority to oversee compliance with this obligation which makes the IMF the only Organization that has the mandate to examine regularly the economic conditions of virtually all countries in the world

The IMF participates in two international initiatives to provide debt relief (i) Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and (ii) Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).

If there is a global need to supplement existing reserves, the IMF has the authority to issue an international asset called the Special Drawing Right (SDR). These SDRs belong to the net international reserves of members and can be exchanged for convertible currencies.

MDBs belong to a complex set of public institutions that can be categorized as (i) global, (ii) regional and (iii) Sub-regional. Categorizations of all MDBs are done by taking into consideration their regional coverage.

Most MDBs fall in the above mentioned three categories and directly target a particular continent such as the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, New Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, European Investment Bank, etc.

The prominent British economist John Maynard Keynes addressed economic and social needs that emerged in the post-war period. Harry Dexter White- an American economist was a key figure in envisioning the set of institutions that were to be created as envisioned by John Maynard Keynes.

Almost all countries in the world with the exception of Cuba and North Korea are members of MDBs. All countries with membership in MDBs contribute to the institution since they are affiliated to and avail loans from them.

The Asian Development Bank is a regional multilateral finance institution that is dedicated to the realization and reduction of poverty in Asia and the Pacific. The ADB was founded in1966 and has 62 member countries and most of them belong to the region

The ADB’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) is the central component of its Long-Term Strategic Framework (LTSF 2001 – 2015). This fifteen-year agenda of the ADB subscribed to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to achieve the target of halving the number of people living in poverty worldwide.

The ADB now operates through five geographically contiguous areas which addresses country and sector themes. The groupings are (i) East and Central Asia, (ii) the Mekong, (iii) the pacific, (iv) South Asia and (v) South-East Asia

The ADB receives resources from its shareholders. Japan and the United States have the largest shares among the 62 country members that amounts to 15.9 percent of shares.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Qingdao declaration: India refused to endorse the ambitious Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). India coined SECURE strategy for comprehensive security in the SCO region.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): It is a Eurasian political, economic, and security Organization formed in 2001 and headquartered in Beijing.

The SCO owes its origin to its predecessor Shanghai Five (a multilateral forum founded by 5 countries China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Shanghai in 1996).

Its driving philosophy is known as the “Shanghai Spirit” which emphasizes harmony, working by consensus, respect for other cultures, non-interference in the internal affairs of others, and non-alignment.

SCO comprises eight-member states, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russian, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

2018 year SCO meet is India’s first participation in the summit as a full-time member. India, along with Pakistan, became full-time members during the Astana summit in Kazakhstan in June 2017.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Asian Premium: It is the extra charge being collected by OPEC countries from Asian countries when selling oil.

There are 3 important benchmarks in global market, representing the cost of oil produced in respective geographies. Brent: Light sweet oil representative of European market, West Texas Intermediate (WTI): US market, Dubai/Oman: Middle East and Asian Market.

The US and Europe had an advantage because their markets and prices were based on future trading and reflected every trend in the crude market. On the other hand, Asia represented by Dubai/Oman do not have any derivative trading, doesn’t have that edge.

The Oil price charged from Asian countries remained $1-$2 dollar higher than that from Europe and the US. This price differential is termed as ‘Asian Premium’.

OPEC is headquartered at Vienna, Austria. It was set up at the 1960 Baghdad Conference with Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela as founding members.

International Atomic Energy Agency: It is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. This organization within the United Nations system set up in July 1957 through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute

1. a) Both A and R is True and R is the correct explanation of A.

The objective of IAEA Safeguards is to deter the spread of nuclear weapons by the early detection of the misuse of nuclear material or technology. It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.

In 2014, India ratified an Additional Protocol (as part of its commitments under US-India Nuclear Deal) to its safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

BIMSTEC is a regional Organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.

The BIMSTEC sub-regional Organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. Its Secretariat has been established at Dhaka.

South- South Cooperation (SSC) is defined as the exchange and sharing of developmental solutions among countries in the global south. The formation of SSC can be traced to the 1955 Bandung Conference.

IBSA: It is an international tripartite grouping for promoting international cooperation of India, Brazil and South Africa.

IBSA was formally established by the Brasilia Declaration of 6 June 2003 by external affairs ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa. IBSA Mechanism for Development Cooperation -IBSA Fund for the Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger.

Each member country contributes $1 Million annually to the IBSA fund. The IBSA Fund is managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.

NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere. The nations of Western Europe wanted assurances that the United States would intervene automatically in the event of an attack.

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in 1949. In this agreement, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom agreed to consider attack against one an attack against all, along with consultations about threats and defense matters.

UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact: It is an agreement between the UN chief, 36 Organizational entities, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the World Customs Organization, to better serve the needs of Member States when it comes to tackling international terrorism.

Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: It is a multilateral treaty banning all nuclear explosions for both military and civilian purposes. It was negotiated at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It was opened for signature on 24 September 1996.

The Treaty establishes a CTBT organization (CTBTO), located in Vienna, to ensure the implementation of its provisions, including provisions for international verification measures.

India did not support the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1996 and still does not due to following reasons: CTBT does not address complete disarmament (supported by India), discriminatory in nature with permanent UNSC members.

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) 1968

Its objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and South Sudan are not parties to this treaty.

INGOs often work with intergovernmental organizations and donor agencies and can have tremendous sway in certain policy domains. Recently the work of INGOs has been linked with their efforts to changes in trade and investment patterns and decisions in terms of humanitarian intervention, economic sanctions and aid allocation.

In the year 1910, a group of 132 organizations came together to form the Union of International organizations. In 1929 a group of organizations that regularly attended the League meetings and formed the Federation of Private and Semi-Official International organizations established in Geneva.

When the UN Charter was finalized, the San Francisco Conference agreed to make provision for both intergovernmental organizations and private organizations to have formal relations with the ECOSOC.

Under Article 57, a new term Specialized Agencies was introduced to define inter-governmental organizations. Under Article 71, a new second term was introduced – non-governmental Organizations

Amnesty international is one of the largest international non-governmental organization that works for the rights of humans across the globe. Its work is a worldwide campaign movement that seeks to promote all human rights that are established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other international human rights instruments.

In the year 1977, the Amnesty International was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its campaign against torture.

The Human Rights Watch was founded in 1978 with the founding of its Europe and Central Asia Division then known as the Helsinki Watch.

The Human Rights Watch is known for its accurate findings, impartial reporting, effective usage of media and targeted advocacy often in partnership with local human rights groups.

Human Rights Watch has won the 2008 United Nations Prize for Human Rights, in recognition of the vital role played by the Human Rights movement in trying to end abuses over the past 60 years.

The award given every five years was bestowed in New York on December 10, 2008, the 60^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Human Rights Watch in order to maintain it independence claims that it does not accept government funds directly or indirectly or support from any private funder that could compromise its objectivity and independence. It also does not embrace any political cause and is non-partisan and strives to main neutrality in situations of armed conflict.

Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental Organization with offices in over 39 countries and an international coordinating body in Amsterdam.

The Netherlands Greenpeace was founded in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe Canadian and US ex-pat environmental activists.

Greenpeace states its goal is to “ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity” and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfi shing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues.

Greenpeace has a general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is a founding member of the INGO Accountability Charter, an international non-governmental Organization that intends to foster accountability and transparency of non-governmental Organizations.

International Organizations have become an increasingly common phenomenon in international life. The proliferation of international Organizations and treaty arrangements among states represents the formal expression of the extent to which international politics is becoming more and more institutionalized.