Most realist scholars argue that nation states are the single most important actors in world politics and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty International or Greenpeace play only minor roles in the conduct of global politics. Do you agree or disagree and why?
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I agree with the realist perception of the IR “importance” scale. At a time when society plays off of economic, social, and political actions/events in the world, NGOs show little in the way of importance. Although they shape part of the structure of International Relations, non-governmental organizations have difficulty with legitimacy and lack the power to make an impact that nation states produce. Nation states continue to shape politics due to their governmental power and independent nature. However, over the past few decades, international NGOs have increased their influence with evolving issues such as genocide and global warming. They could actually be considered to be “infant industries” in a sense. For the time being, politics will continue to be run by the all powerful nation states because of the way global society works.
I agree that nation-states are the most powerful actors in global politics, but I think that NGOs have an important and integral role to play, NGOs do have power. There are over 25,000 NGO’s active worldwide today and many of them provide important societal resources. One of the most recognizable NGOs is the Red Cross. The Red Cross fulfills a role that no government actually can, they provide health care without government strings. This NGO supersedes politics and provides direct health care that a state cannot. Other NGOs work to promote people’s interests in government and thus affect political decisions, while still others promote peace and work to help the environment. NGOs are important actors on the world stage which fill in where governments and individuals cannot. Their power base doesn’t lay in the ability to threaten other countries, but rather in their ability to go where a state, with political strings cannot.
^ and ^^ are both very good. I guess the readings may also come handy addressing such a question.