Mutual Interests, Normative Continuities, and Regime Theory:

Abstract

An important issue in the study of international cooperation is whether regimes are grounded centrally on mutual interests among states or on power relations. This article presents the basic neorealist and neoliberal perspectives on this issue. It notes, however, that neorealists have failed to recognize that some regimes based on mutual interest in the protection of state political autonomy are consistent with neorealist assumptions. The article analyzes the international regimes for the shipping, air transport, telecommunications and postal service industries and focuses on the mutual interests that supported the regime norms. The analysis indicates that mutual interests in facilitating the flow of international commerce and protecting states' policy autonomy in strategic economic sectors have sustained very strong regimes since the late 19th century. The key exception to this evaluation is the crumbling of those aspects of the regimes governing prices and market shares since the late 1970s.