The Effect of “Collective” Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs) on Global Security

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of “collective” regional intergovernmental organizations (RIGOs) on global security, national (traditional) and human (non-traditional), of the member states. A total of 12 RIGOs across 222 countries were selected. It has been argued whether the “collective” RIGOs, military or economic, regional or sub-regional, have been effective in enhancing the global security of their respective “individual” sovereign member states. The following 10 variables were chosen as human security: poverty, corruption, unemployment, global food security, income inequality, population growth, human development index (HDI), political freedom, quality of life, and economic freedom. For the national security variables, conflict, military expenditure, and global peace were selected. Based on factor analysis, two global security patterns were found: predominant and peripheral. RIGOs, despite their institutional collectivism, were found not to affect the predominant global security, while their effects on the peripheral global security were found to be spotty. In affecting global security, national or human, RIGO with its collectivism was found not to prevail over individual sovereign member states.