The State or Else! Statism's Resilience in NGO Studies

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The Resilience of the State: Democracy and the Challenges of Globalization. By Samy Cohen. Translated by Jonathan Derrick. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006. 198 pp., $49.95 (ISBN: 1-58826-420-6). For most of the discipline's history, international relations scholars have ignored nonstate actors such as businesses, civic groups, transnational terrorist organizations, and the like because these entities seemed to stand on the sidelines of world politics. They existed, but their size, power, and activities made them third-rate factors in the analysis of world affairs. Most scholars saw states as the primary actors and, therefore, the sole legitimate object of study because state action—mainly in the form of military, diplomatic, and policy activity—by-and-large shaped the contours of international collective life. This neglect of nonstate actors started to change in the latter part of the last century. At first, scholars demonstrated that nonstate actors, although still in the shadow of states, significantly influence state behavior. They began to see nonstate actors as transnational pressure groups that lobby or otherwise try to influence government officials (see, for example, Rochon 1988; Forsythe 1989; Bramble and Porter 1992). Over time, it became clear that nonstate entities were not simply appendages to the state-system but had a political life of their own. Transnational businesses, especially multinational corporations, alter the economic landscape of world affairs. Public-minded nongovernmental organizations not only lobby government officials in various countries but work to shift widespread cultural understandings about human rights, environmental protection, and international peace. Humanitarian relief organizations undertake action on the ground to feed, clothe, shelter, and provide medical assistance to those in need. Global media outlets construct and widely disseminate new understandings of world affairs. Terrorist networks instill fear and alter political calculations in various parts of the world. Far from being at the margins of political life, nonstate actors appear to be key players (see, for example, Walker 1988; Rosenau 1990). Recognition of the importance of nonstate actors soon gave way to love. Normatively …