International Organisations

International organisations: definition

Let us look at the definition of IGOs.

The United Nations (UN) is a prime example of an IGO, with 193 member states. Other examples of IGOs include:

1. The European Union (EU)

2. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

3. The World Health Organisation (WHO)

4. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

5. The African Development Bank (ADB)

6. The World Trade Organisation (WTO)

7. The World Bank

8. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Types of international organisations

While focusing on the role of international development organisations in global strategies for development, we will divide IGOs into those whose primary focus and effects are either:

• Economic, and
• Political

These are broadly the two types of international organisations that are present. Below, we will also look at the functions of international organisations and their importance.

Fig. 1 - International organisations can have multiple aims, including giving financial assistance to and helping the economic development of countries that need it.

The role of international development organisations with economic effects

First, we'll look at the functions and roles of international development organisations with economic effects.

Over the 20^th century, perhaps no other IGOs have had a larger impact on global development than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

The IMF as an economic international organisation

The IMF acts as a lender for countries in debt and provides loans to developing countries to help fight poverty. Officially,

As an IGO, the IMF is there to help regulate the global economy.

In theory, it is an IGO that enables access to funding and provides expertise in economic development strategies. However, the realities are different.

The IMF does not freely give out loans to developing and struggling countries. Instead, the IMF provides conditional loans on the basis that they adopt neoliberal economic policies. These are known as Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs).

Structural Adjustment Programmes by the IMF

SAPs are given under the conditions that the country:

1. Allows ‘free trade’ by removing restrictions on imports and exports.
2. Regulates private companies less (deregulation) by reducing employment and environmental laws.
3. Cuts taxes for Transnational Corporations (TNCs).
4. Promotes privatisation, which involves selling industries owned and run by the state into private company hands.

Evaluating the IMF’s role in development

To evaluate the IMF’s role in global development we must look at the effects neoliberal SAPs have had on developing countries. Evelyne Hong (2000) says SAPs have only negatively impacted less economically developed countries (LEDCs) compared to those that did not take a loan from the IMF. These include:

1. Increased poverty.

2. Increased inequality.

3. Poor social conditions, i.e. reduced health and education outcomes.

4. Corruption.

5. Environmental damage.

6. Social unrest.

The reasons for this are:

• Deregulation, privatisation, and reduced taxes lead to low pay and less available funds for governments to spend on health and social care provision. When there is development, the already better-off gain more whilst the poor face greater poverty.

• SAPs reorient the economy to export markets rather than domestic needs. This often leads to the production of ‘cash crops’. Environmental damage follows in the form of deforestation, land deterioration, and increasing levels of CO2 emissions.

• SAPs deal with mainly short-term economic problems that favour the introduction of foreign TNCs. Longer-term, more sustainable forms of development are not considered.

The World Bank as an economic international organisation

Working closely with the IMF, the World Bank provides loans to governments of developing countries. The World Bank has the primary objectives of reducing poverty and improving living standards among its member states.

However, this has often been restricted to loans for specific, large-scale, infrastructure projects such as dams, which have been inappropriate for wider development. They often come at the expense of displacing some of the poorest communities.

The importance of international organisations: criticisms of the IMF and the World Bank

Whilst the importance of international organisations is clear, the criticisms of the IMF and its SAPs can be applied to the World Bank. To summarise:

• The IMF and the World Bank, with their SAPs, are heavily criticised for their role in global development strategies. In particular, they are said to have imposed a particular model of economic reform, namely, neoliberalism.

• Neo-Marxists would argue that World Bank and IMF policies are merely signs of hegemony (domination) from the ‘West to the Rest’ that only serve to make LEDCs more exploitable by ‘Western’ TNCs.

The functions of international organisations with political effects

Though the IMF and The World Bank play an implicit role in political affairs, IGOs like the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) do the same explicitly.

The United Nations as a political international organisation

The UN has a global membership with 193 states in its ranks. It has a range of political, cultural, and economic institutions focused on various issues.

The UN's official aims include:

• Ensuring international peace and security.

• Encouraging co-operation to resolve economic, political, and cultural problems

• Dispute resolution.

• Promotion of human rights and freedoms.

Whilst the UN is seen as a more ‘pro-LEDC’ organisation than either the IMF or the World Bank, the extent to which it can positively affect global political development strategies is perhaps best illuminated by deep diving into the example of the COP (Conference of the Parties: i.e., all the signatories to the UN Convention on Climate Change) meetings around climate change.

It is a good example when considering both the strengths and weaknesses political IGOs like the UN can have in affecting global development strategies.

Fig. 2 - There are debates as to the effectiveness of the UN's aims.

The World Trade Organisation as a political international organisation

The World Trade Organisation has a few defined functions and aims. These include:

• Establishing world trade rules.

• It has over 150 member states, which between them hold 90 per cent of all world trade.

• It has the stated intention of promoting free and fair trade across all nations.

Its critics (Rodrik, 2018; Edelman, 2005; Jang, 2002) argue that in practice the WTO:

1. Pushes neoliberal reforms.

2. Excludes developing countries from important discussions.

3. Places free trade over all other considerations. For example, measures of sustainability are not included.

4. Creates an unequal relationship between developing and developed nations.