Who Owns War? The State and the Role of Non-State (Armed) Actors in Modern Warfare

Many observers view the 1972 United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm, as the event that heralded the active involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in international policy making. In the intervening years, NGO participation in international policy making has grown exponentially, as has the number of multilateral environmental conventions, global environmental conferences and other efforts to facilitate a global governance of the human environment. The increasing numbers of NGOs with a stake in global environmental politics has been well documented, as has the presence at multilateral negotiations and their influence on negotiation outcomes (Betsill and Corell 2008). This paper examines the role and influence of non-state actors (NSAs) in multinational, supranational and transnational policy making. We have selected three models of rulemaking to help explain the role and influence of NSAs in different governance systems, reflecting developments within global environmental governance over the past three decades. Whereas multinational cooperation remained the model of choice whenever international environmental rules were created until the 1980s, the model has been joined in recent years by supranational and transnational rulemaking models. We begin by briefly reviewing the three models before presenting three case studies. In the first we examine how NSAs brought their influence to bear in a particular case of multinational environmental negotiations: the International Whaling Commission (IWC). This should shed light on some of the conditions that allow NGOs to exert such a high degree of influence in multinational policy-making processes. Next we explore the role and influence of NSAs in the making of the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS). This is a prime example of supranational policy making, and serves to demonstrate the complexity of assessing the influence of NSAs in a dense institutional context. Focusing on social and environmental certification programs, the third case examines a growing tendency for NSAs to act as transnational rule makers in policy areas where states have been unwilling or unable to provide governance. Three Models of Rule Making and the Role of Non-State Actors In multinational cooperation, here represented by the IWC, member states enjoy in principle full authority. The legitimacy of rule-making is ensured by consent between sovereign states based on international law. In this liberal intergovernmental rule-making model, NSAs belong to the set of domestic special interest organizations with sufficient clout to influence negotiating positions. Of course, their efforts to influence negotiation positions meet with varying success; nation-states always have the final word. In supranational cooperation, in this paper represented by the EU ETS scheme, nationstates have transferred some of their sovereignty to other actors. In the EU case, this is most visible is the rules on qualified majority voting, co-decision making by the European Parliament and the policy-initiating role of the Commission. In short, as the consent of a state in itself is sometimes wanting in terms of legitimacy, there need additional sources of

Cyberwarfare has become one of the most prominent aspects of global geopolitical competition, introducing a new dimension of conflict involving states and non-state actors. Although research on the role of states in cyber warfare has been amplacious, research on the role of non-state actors is still limited. This study aims to analyze the role and impact of non-state actors in global cyber warfare. In cyber warfare, non-state actors can exploit the vulnerabilities of security systems to achieve their political or ideological goals, changing geopolitical dynamics in unexpected ways. Case studies raised in this study include cyber attacks by Anonymous groups against governments and companies, cyber acts of terrorism by ISIS, manipulation of information by extremist groups to achieve their political goals, and the use of digital propaganda in regional conflicts. By paying attention to the concept of force and security in the perspective of realism, this research is expected to provide a better understanding of how non-state actors influence global geopolitical dynamics through cyber warfare. The implication of this research is the importance of strengthening national cyber defense and international cooperation in the face of threats presented by non-state actors in the cyber domain.

Non-state actors (NSA) have become increasingly important in forest management and governance but with strikingly limited research on this subject. Here, we critically review the historical evolution and roles of major NSA in forest governance in selected tropical countries identifying the major challenges regarding sustainable and effective engagement of NSA and suggest pathways for better utilization of NSA. Historical evolution of forest governance revealed that the nature and role of NSA have substantially changed over time and NSA has expanded and diversified since the late 1970s with the introduction of different forms of community-based forest management (CBFM) models. Nevertheless, due to challenges such as predominant revenue orientation of forest governance that overshadows effective participation of NSA in governance, tenurial uncertainty, dependence on external funds and facilitation, ad hoc and project-based nature of operation, and sustainability of the relevant institutions, the outcomes of CBFM were limited. We conclude our synthesis calling for stronger policy, financial, and procedural support that ensures effective collaborations and partnerships with NSA that can result in positive outcomes for forest conservation and improvement of forest dependent local peoples’ livelihoods.

This chapter engages the key legal debates surrounding the role of non-state actors (NSAs) in climate law. NSAs—a wide category that reflects the expansion of international climate governance beyond the state—include entities as diverse as individuals, companies, international organizations, industry associations, cities, indigenous peoples, and civil-society organizations. Over the past decades, and especially since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the many roles of NSAs in addressing climate change have attracted significant interest from treaty negotiators, business man-agers, environmental activists, policymakers, and researchers. Seen as performing vital functions ranging from innovation and agenda-setting to implementation, monitoring, and enforcement, NSAs are widely considered as bringing about dynamic forms of climate governance. The potential of direct mitigation effort by NSAs, such as voluntary emission-reduction commitments by companies and cities, is similarly highlighted as a key component in any future solution to climate change. The growing climate action by NSAs forces a rethink of the legal underpinnings of the climate regime and opens new perspectives on the logic of NSA-driven climate governance. This chapter discusses the legal dynamics of non-state climate governance. Using three archetypical NSAs—companies, cities, and civil-society organizations—as proxies, the chapter isolates three primary debates that frame the interactions between NSAs and climate law. These debates focus on the responsibility of NSAs for causing climate change, the legal techniques of NSA governance, and the role of NSAs as agents of legal change and they reflect the rise of polycentric climate governance and illustrate the expansion of climate law beyond its original emphasis on states. However, the discussion also exposes the difficulties that emerge when embedding different NSAs in a single conceptual frame, as well as the limits of NSA-driven governance more broadly.

Contents: Part I Introduction and Sources: Non-state actors in the international system of states, Bob Reinalda The Yearbook of International Organizations and quantitative non-state actor research, Elizabeth Bloodgood Researching transnational history: the example of peace activism, Thomas Richard Davies The United Nations Intellectual History Project and the role of ideas, Francis Baert. Part II Actors Other than Governments:Transnational religious actors, John T.S. Madeley and Jeffrey Haynes Transnational corporations and the regulation of business at the global level, Karsten Ronit Unravelling the political role of experts and expertise in the professional services industry, Angela Wigger Parliaments and parliamentarians as international actors, AndrA(c)s Malamud and Stelios Stavridis Autonomous agencies of the European Union as non-state actors, Martijn Groenleer. Part III Perceptions and Understanding: Liberal political philosophy: the role of non-state actors and considerations of global justice, Geoff Gordon and Roland Pierik Non-governmental organizations and non-state actors in international law, Anna-Karin Lindblom Intergovernmental organizations in international relations theory and as actors in world politics, Joel E. Oestreich Inter-organizational relations: an emerging research programme, Rafael Biermann Civil society and NGO: far from unproblematic concepts, Norbert GA tz Non-state and state actors in global governance, Martin Koch Limitations of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, Dennis Dijkzeul and William E. DeMars. Part IV Nature and Impact: Non-state actors and the transformation of diplomacy, Brian Hocking Dynamism and resilience of intergovernmental organizations in a world of persisting state power and rising non-state actors, Yves Schemeil International bureaucracies: organizing world politics, Steffen Bauer and Silke Weinlich Interest representation and advocacy within the European Union: the making of democracy?, Sabine Saurugger From agenda setting to decision making: opening the black box of non-governmental organizations, Liesbet Heyse Non-governmental organizations and decision making in the United Nations, Jutta Joachim The ongoing organizational reform of the United Nations, Yves Beigbeder Reporting and peer review in the implementation of international rules: what role for non-state actors?, Thomas Conzelmann Accountability of public and private international organizations, Steve Charnovitz Non-state actors and the proliferation and individualization of international dispute settlement, Eric De Brabandere. Part V Separate Worlds: Politics and the world of humanitarian aid, Wolf-Dieter Eberwein Non-governmental organizations in the human rights world, Anja Mihr Non-state actors in the global security world, Carolyn M. Stephenson Non-state actors in the development aid world as seen from the South, Moushumi Basu Cities for citizens in the global South: approaches of non-governmental organizations working in urban development, Diana Mitlin Non-state actors in the global health world, Peter Hough Non-state actors in multilateral trade governance, Dirk De BiAvre and Marcel Hanegraaff Non-state actors and environmental governance: comparing multinational, supranational and transnational rule making, Lars H. Gulbrandsen, Steinar Andresen and Jon Birger SkjA|rseth Bibliography Index.

China’s climate governance from 2009 to 2019: motivations, instruments, actors, and geopolitics

Based on spatial approach and multilevel governance theory, the role and strategies of non-state actors in Germany involved in the integration of migrants at the local, national, regional and global levels are analyzed. The study concerns non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including non-governmental non-profit structures, foundations, migrant associations, trade unions, as well as the media and international intergovernmental organizations. It is shown that the German method of management in this area involves close cooperation between a wide range of such institutions and the state.

This chapter examines the role of non-state actors in promoting compliance with climate change instruments and finds that their contribution has been substantial. Non-state actors are proven enforcers – sometimes more effective than states. Climate cases brought by non-state actors to non-climate institutions help to demonstrate this point, and effective mechanisms for non-state access to compliance are modeled within multilateral environmental agreements ranging from Aarhus to NAFTA. The author argues that the role of non-state actors should be expanded as climate change frameworks evolve and compliance mechanisms are strengthened. Leaving the public without standing within formal enforcement mechanisms misses a critical opportunity to promote compliance.

This study examined the role of Non State Actors (NSAs) in strengthening the developmental capacity of the state, using a case study of Cross River State, Nigeria. Primary and secondary data on selected constituents of NSAs including Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Privately Owned Companies, Banks, Private Hospitals and Private Schools were analyzed using tables and charts. The results revealed that activities of NSAs significantly enhance the developmental capacity of Cross River State especially in the areas of provision of public services, knowledge and skill acquisition, infrastructural development and employment generation. Besides other recommendations, it was recommended that NSAs and the government should perform complementary roles in enhancing developmental capacity and that the establishment of more NSAs in the rural areas should be encouraged through the provision of special funding and other incentives for NSAs that have their offices in the rural areas.

The involvement of non-state actors in legal regimes concerning the protection of cultural heritage has been identified as a key challenge facing the development of international law in this field. This challenge is intensified when the relevant cultural heritage under consideration takes the form of religious sites whose use by a church community (non-state actor) for the purposes of its religious activities has been impacted upon by circumstances such as war or inter-ethnic conflict resulting in the displacement of that church community. This article contributes to this discussion by reference to a significant non-state actor in the field of religion and global affairs – the Orthodox Church – and specifically by reference to the Church’s heritage in Turkey. After providing the reasons which justify a scholarly legal examination of the Church’s assertion of rights with respect to its heritage in Turkey, as well as an outline of the main measures which have been applied by Turkish authorities to this heritage, the article proceeds to offer a tentative overview and analysis of the relevant legal and policy framework and suggests certain issues requiring further scholarly exploration. It is argued that in addition to providing useful insights about the role of nonstate actors in the cultural heritage field, such further exploration can offer useful insights about a related topic which is currently relatively unexplored by cultural heritage commentators, namely, the post-conflict management of religious sites.

This chapter analyzes the different roles of non-state actors in global crime governance. The chapter starts by elaborating on the complexity of global crime governance, which makes the involvement of non-state actors in governance efforts more likely. In a second step, different categories of non-state contributions are presented, showing that the different attempts of global crime governance presented in the book vary significantly in how far they involve non-state actors. In the following section, the role of non-state actors in the global policy process is presented, showing that moral entrepreneurship at the beginning of a norm life cycle is only one among other crucial roles non-state actors play. In sum, the chapter shows that world society formation in global crime governance is accompanied by various and different contributions of non-state actors.

The multilateral system on migration is facing more and more significant and intersecting challenges: from the climate crisis, rising numbers in forced displacement, to labour needs in many parts of the world, and drastic changes to our world due to disruptive technologies—governments alone cannot address these complexities. This chapter delves into the role of non-state actors and cities in shaping global migration and refugee regimes, particularly in turbulent times. Drawing from extensive research and practical experience, the author examines the evolving landscape of global migration governance, focusing on the influence of non-state actors (NSAs) and cities. Key questions explored include the impact of global compacts on migration and refugees on NSA and city engagement, challenges and opportunities in global processes and fora, and the necessity of stakeholder involvement for effective migration governance. The chapter advocates—based on her research—for increased collaboration between international organizations, states, civil society, and cities, emphasizing the importance of inclusive decision-making to address the complexities of migration on a global scale.

The historical tension between the powers of states and the rights of individuals sets the context for this look at the evolving role of non-state actors in international relations. Global connectivity has diluted state power, blurred borders and added a new dimension of non-state actor empowerment. The author’s firsthand observations, drawn from a career as a Canadian diplomat, bear witness to the ever-increasing role of non-state actors in foreign policy and international relations. This practitioner’s perspective presents some personal observations on how non-state actors have helped to shape Canada–Asia relations, with brief and selective examples from the author’s work in and on Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The piece also offers some concluding thoughts on the significance of this phenomenon for the broader conduct of international relations and the study of foreign policy.

This thesis uses qualitative empirical research methods to investigate the role of non-state actors in promoting compliance with the World Heritage Convention. The study focuses on the Great Barrier Reef and traces Australia's interactions with the World Heritage Committee and other institutions between the years 2010 and 2015. The study demonstrates how non-state actors are able to construct their own legitimacy and assert their own authority by building relationships and deploying expertise at discrete times. The findings contribute to the broader regulatory literature on how the World Heritage Convention operates and on the role of non-state actors in regulation.

Today’s management of migration is strongly dependent on the role of reception centres. Despite their crucial role, scholars of the securitisation of migration have overlooked at how they affect the process. In the light shed by this special issue, the present contribution analyses non-state actors’ cognitions and narratives in the management of reception centres, so as to explain their performative roles in securitising or de-securitising human mobility as a threat. Its findings prove that, when reception centres’ managers hold prejudicial cognitions, they develop negative practices that produce hostile and stereotyped narratives. A multi-method comparative case study, including covert ethnography, field observation and in-depth interviews, shows that, differently from speech-acts, narratives do not need to be accepted by the audience to exercise their effects. The audience is impressed from the narratives, which in a performative act, make people feel and perceive what the narration stages [Alexander, J. 2004. ‘Cultural Pragmatics: Social Performance between Ritual and Strategy.’ Sociological Theory 22 (4): 527–573; Lyotard, J. F. 1979. La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savior. English Translation “The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge”. Manchester University Press]. Akin accountings contribute to spiralling the process, by self-fulfilling and reinforcing the securitisation of migration.