International Organizations

Syllabus

Instructor: Megumi Ochi

Ritsumeikan University

Graduate School of International Relations

--- CONTENTS ---

International Organizations (IOs), including inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), play significant roles in variety of IR fields, such as security, economics, environment and human rights protection, security and peacemaking, transportation and communication, innovation and so on.

International Organizations (IO) as a field is an inter-disciplinary field to understand IR from organizations' perspectives. It includes but not limited to the attempts to explain patterns within and across the existing IOs.

This course pays special attention to legal, justice and psychological perspectices on IO and discusses selected topics besed on academic articles.

It also provides an opportunity to explore and experience how to apply for an UN job.

--- STYLE ---

This course consists of:
- Homework and mini-test (at the beginning of each class)
- Literature review presentations assigned to students
- Lectures on the nextweek's topics

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Students will become able to:
- explain various concepts, structure and functions of IOs;
- discuss the contemporary challenges of the IOs; and
- apply for an IO.

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30% Weekly mini-test
20% Literature review presentation
15% Mock application exercise
35% Final report

Introduction　　

- The scope (International organization law, organization theory, psychological analysis of international politics)

Homework: Watch the video and make your own note to prepare for mini-test:
"The Theory and History of International Organizations," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60sIJOVlpXg
Theory part Clips: 4:51-31:48

Theories of IO

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Instruction on how to create a literature review
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: Watch the video and make your own note to prepare for minitest: ""The Theory and History of International Organizations,"" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60sIJOVlpXg
*history part Clips: 31:48-46:57"

History of IO

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: International organization design: Koremenos, Barbara, Charles Lipson, and Duncan Snidal. “The Rational Design of International Institutions.” International Organization 55, no. 4 (2001): 761–99.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Decision-making

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Kertzer, Joshua D., Marcus Holmes, Brad L. LeVeck, and Carly Wayne. “Hawkish Biases and Group Decision Making.” International Organization 76, no. 3 (2022): 513–48.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Financing

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Graham, Erin R., and Alexandria Serdaru. “Power, Control, and the Logic of Substitution in Institutional Design: The Case of International Climate Finance.” International Organization 74, no. 4 (2020): 671–706.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework:

International civil servants

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Pouliot, Vincent. “Historical Institutionalism Meets Practice Theory: Renewing the Selection Process of the United Nations Secretary-General.” International Organization 74, no. 4 (2020): 742–72.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

[Interval] Applying for Ios

Instruction on the mock application exercise

Lawmaking

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Linos, Katerina, and Tom Pegram. “The Language of Compromise in International Agreements.” International Organization 70, no. 3 (2016): 587–621.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Peacemaking

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Howard, Lise Morjé, and Anjali Kaushlesh Dayal. “The Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping.” International Organization 72, no. 1 (2018): 71–103.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Peacekeeping

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Beber, Bernd, Michael J. Gilligan, Jenny Guardado, and Sabrina Karim. “Peacekeeping, Compliance with International Norms, and Transactional Sex in Monrovia, Liberia.” International Organization 71, no. 1 (2017): 1–30.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Crime deterrence

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Jo, Hyeran, and Beth A. Simmons. “Can the International Criminal Court Deter Atrocity?” International Organization 70, no. 3 (2016): 443–75.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Anti-Corruption

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Jensen, Nathan M., and Edmund J. Malesky. “Nonstate Actors and Compliance with International Agreements: An Empirical Analysis of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.” International Organization 72, no. 1 (2018): 33–69.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Protection of individuals during war

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Morrow, James D. “The Institutional Features of the Prisoners of War Treaties.” International Organization 55, no. 4 (2001): 971–91.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Human rights

1. Mini-test on homework topic
2. Literature review: Chaudoin, Stephen. “How International Organizations Change National Media Coverage of Human Rights.” International Organization, 2022, 1–24.
3. Lecture on the next week's topic
Homework: To be added

Wrap up

Instruction for the final report

Readings

International Institutional Law: Unity Within Diversity, 6th Revised editionNiels M. Blokker and Henry G. SchermersMartinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2018
The Law of International Organizations, 3rd editionNigel WhiteManchester University Press, 2016
International Organizations Perspectives on Global Governance, 6th editionKelly-Kate S. PeaseRoutledge, 2018
A Theory of International OrganizationLiesbet Hooghe, Tobias Lenz, and Gary MarksOxford University Press, 2019
The Oxford Handbook of International OrganizationsJacob Katz Cogan , Ian Hurd, and Ian Johnstone eds.Oxford University Press, 2016