Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Over the last 30 years, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have increased tremendously in numbers and power. Yet this “global associational revolution” has also sparked objection and resistance from groups whose interests, beliefs, or ideologies are threatened by NGO campaigns. These countermobilizations have opposed NGOs on such issues as the International Criminal Court, greenhouse gas controls, and family planning. Beyond such ad hoc countermobilizations, broader objections to the NGO form itself have recently emerged. In June 2003, for instance, participants in a widely publicized international conference attacked NGOs for being undemocratic, unaccountable, anti-capitalist, and a threat to the nation-state. Meanwhile, conservative think tanks in major countries have established a loose transnational network to counter NGO campaigns and curtail their influence in world politics. Spearheaded by the American Enterprise Institute and Australian Institute of Public Affairs, the network uses both NGO repertoires, such as websites and conferencing, and NGO framing, such as arguments grounded in norms of sovereignty and accountability--against NGOs.

Together these developments signal the emergence of a transnational “anti-NGO movement.” This paper examines this nascent countermovement to fill gaps in the literature on transnational politics. While numerous scholars have chronicled the rise of NGOs, there has been little research on growing international collaboration against this trend. My paper fills the gap while contributing to three strands of theory on international collaboration. First, I argue that anti-NGO mobilization requires constructivist theory to rethink the “logic of appropriateness” and the “logic of argument.” If NGO movements and countermovements marshal competing norms, “appropriateness” is highly contested. Likewise, if a conservative countermovement questions the very legitimacy of NGO participation in world politics, a “logic of argument” over substantive issues recedes in significance. Second, I introduce a new theory of “transnational countermobilization.” In recent years, the literature on transnational contention has burgeoned, but countermobilizations have been neglected, despite their importance. For its part, the literature on countermovements has focused only on domestic examples and has ignored transnational countermobilizations. Third, I examine implications of anti-NGO mobilization for theories of global governance. In this literature, as Mary Kaldor has recently observed, conservative think tanks are “rarely mentioned” despite being “extremely powerful.” Thus, our perspectives on a postulated “global civil society” are one-sided, and predictions about future prospects may be more optimistic than merited

Publication Type: Session Paper

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper asks for the way forward in international arms control in the light of the dominant role of the US. Where do we stand and where will we go to in international security policy and in arms control in particular? Which role can middle powers and NGOs play in the future? Are they left aside and will their impact be diminished in a unipolar world dominated by one superpower or will they find a niche to actively shape international affairs? These questions have even gained in importance after the tragic events of 9-11 and its aftermath, esp. the preemptive strikes against Iraq as part of the US counter-proliferation strategy. The effectiveness of international action and cooperation in tackling the proliferation problem is not only a question of size, power and characteristics of the international actors, but also of the nature of their interaction. The paper suggests conditions in which NGO-middle power coalition is more likely and more effective and tests the arguments in different areas of international arms control issues (landmines, small arms, nuclear and biological weapons).

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: On 24 May, 1999, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution which set in motion a multi-year negotiation leading to the adoption of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Over the next four years, a group of public health NGOs helped establish a coalition of NGOs to lobby for a strong treaty from every region in the world- a coalition of public health, human rights, consumer rights, women's and children's rights organizations and environmental activists. This group, which has now grown to over 200 organizations from almost 90 countries, operated on a shoestring with each group contributing its own expertise, materials and hard work. Working with a coalition of willing countries (India, Thailand, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the island nations of the Pacific and Caribbean and the entire continent of Africa- Anglophone and francophone) and many others, this coalition was able to thwart the desires of the US government for a weak and ineffectual treaty. On March 1, 2003 at around 4 in the morning the negotiations ended with most countries giving speeches of congratulations, and only the US threatening to try to derail the treaty before the World Health Assembly could adopt it and place it before the world for ratification. This case study details how this coalition of NGOs and governments achieved this goal.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper will explore the evolution of the NGO claim of involvement in what has been called the humanitarian international - the system of actors and institutions that are the first line of response to complex emergencies. The core set of universal principles that guide all humanitarian action has come under threat in recent years. The paper will analyze whether particularistic and/or survival imperatives of humanitarian NGOs fit with these universal principles, using exploratory case analysis.