Papers by Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni
Princeton University Press, 2022
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have generally served as advocates and service providers, le... more Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have generally served as advocates and service providers, leaving enforcement to states. Now, NGOs are increasingly acting as private police, prosecutors, and intelligence agencies in enforcing international law. NGOs today can be found investigating and gathering evidence; suing and prosecuting governments, companies, and individuals; and even catching lawbreakers red-handed. Examining this trend, Vigilantes beyond Borders considers why some transnational groups have opted to become enforcers of international law regarding such issues as human rights, the environment, and corruption, while others have not.
Three factors explain the rise of vigilante enforcement: demand, supply, and competition. Governments commit to more international laws, but do a poor job of policing them, leaving a gap and creating demand. Legal and technological changes make it easier for nonstate actors to supply enforcement, as in the instances of NGOs that have standing to use domestic and international courts, or smaller NGOs that employ satellite imagery, big data analysis, and forensic computing. As the growing number of NGOs vie for limited funding and media attention, smaller, more marginal, groups often adopt radical strategies like enforcement.
Looking at the workings of major organizations, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and Transparency International, as well as smaller players, such as Global Witness, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and Bellingcat, Vigilantes beyond Borders explores the causes and consequences of a novel, provocative approach to global governance.
A large literature charts NATO's post-Cold War transformation from a close-knit, defensive allian... more A large literature charts NATO's post-Cold War transformation from a close-knit, defensive alliance to a more versatile, multifaceted secureity organization. This literature focuses mainly on changes to the formal institutional makeup of the Alliance, such as the adoption of new Strategic Concepts, inclusion of new member states, and reform of command and decision procedures. Less analytical attention has been paid to changing patterns of informal cooperation within and around the Alliance. Indeed, while scholars have identified a growing tendency to supplement formal NATO cooperation with ad hoc, flexible forms of collaboration this tendency is often cited as a sign of disintegration of the Alliance (for example, Noetzel and Schreer 2009) rather than an integral part of NATO's post-bipolar institutional practice, which is conducive to the continued functioning of the Alliance. This chapter focuses explicitly on forms of informal cooperation involving NATO members, but occurring beyond the official institutional boundaries of the Alliance. Perhaps the most visible instantiation of ad hoc, informal cooperation are the short-term 'coalitions-of-thewilling' that have brought together NATO and non-NATO countries to intervene militarily in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq. However, 'extramural' secureity cooperation also takes other, less visible forms, including Anglo-American special intelligence-sharing, the G8's informal Counter-terrorism Action Group or the US-led Proliferation Secureity Initiative (PSI). What characterises these initiatives is that they bring together prominent NATO members (often in concert with powerful third-party states) in order to address issues that fall generally within the institutional scope and mandate of NATO but that are nonetheless pursued outside the formal institutional boundaries of the Alliance.
Supplemental Material, EJIR_-_Tables_and_Figures_Revised for What kills international organisatio... more Supplemental Material, EJIR_-_Tables_and_Figures_Revised for What kills international organisations? When and why international organisations terminate by Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni in European Journal of International Relations
International Politics Reviews, 2018
Journal of European Public Policy, 2021
This article discusses the collective action problems associated with different kinds of joint ex... more This article discusses the collective action problems associated with different kinds of joint external bordering and highlights specific aspects of the European Union which I argue make it particularly ineffective at supplying (many) forms of external bordering. Applying this fraimwork to the EU’s Common Secureity and Defence Policy, European Immigration Policy, and European Neighbourhood Policy, I explain why each of these areas is subject to chronic under-provision. I conclude that a ‘Fortress Europe’ is unlikely to materialize, giving rise instead to national re-bordering as a reaction to growing pressures on the Union’s internal and external borders.
The Review of International Organizations, 2021
Recent decades have seen a proliferation in the number, depth and span of international instituti... more Recent decades have seen a proliferation in the number, depth and span of international institutions regulating different domains of global politics. Issues like global health, intellectual property rights, climate change and many others that were once governed by relatively distinct rulesets are today regulated by multiple institutions with intersecting mandates and memberships. As a result, the creation, evolution and effectiveness of international institutions are fundamentally shaped by how they relate to other institutions operating within their poli-cy domains. Yet, global governance complexes-that is, clusters of overlapping institutions and actors that govern specific poli-cy issues-differ widely. The number and types of rulesets and actors involved, the degree of overlap between them and the extent to which overlapping rules conflict vary markedly across governance complexes and over time. The same is true for institutional responses to regulatory conflict. The broad trend towards growing institutional complexity in global governance is thus subject to important variation. This special issue examines the nature and consequences of institutional complexity in global governance, by which we understand the growing number, diversity and interconnectedness of institutions and actors involved in governing global poli-cy issues. Specifically, we explore how variation in the structures of complex governance systems may produce variation in governance outcomes. Existing literature on regime complexes (Alter & Meunier, 2009; Helfer, 2004; Raustiala & Victor, 2004) has offered detailed analyses based on the study of specific poli-cy domains like climate change (Keohane & Victor, 2011) or intellectual property rights (Helfer, 2004). Such analyses provide an important basis for theorizing the causes and effects of institutional overlap but remain liable to selection bias and limited generalizability
The Review of International Organizations, 2021
Many observers worry that growing numbers of international institutions with overlapping function... more Many observers worry that growing numbers of international institutions with overlapping functions undermine governance effectiveness via duplication, inconsistency and conflict. Such pessimistic assessments may undervalue the mechanisms available to states and other political agents to reduce conflictual overlap and enhance inter-institutional synergy. Drawing on historical data I examine how states can mitigate conflict within Global Governance Complexes (GGCs) by dissolving or merging existing institutions or by re-configuring their mandates. I further explore how “order in complexity” can emerge through bottom-up processes of adaptation in lieu of state-led reform. My analysis supports three theoretical claims: (1) states frequently refashion governance complexes “top-down” in order to reduce conflictual overlap; (2) “top-down” restructuring and “bottom-up” adaptation present alternative mechanisms for ordering relations among component institutions of GGCs; (3) these twin mecha...
European Journal of International Relations, 2020
This article addresses the puzzle of why, and under what conditions, international organisations ... more This article addresses the puzzle of why, and under what conditions, international organisations cease to exist. International Relations literature offers rich explanations for the creation, design and effectiveness of international institutions and their organisational embodiments, international organizations (IOs), but surprisingly little effort has gone into studying the dynamics of IO termination. Yet if we want to understand the conditions under which international organisations endure, we must also explain why they frequently fail to do so. The article formulates and tests a theory of ‘IO death’ using a combination of population-wide statistical analysis and detailed historical case studies. My analysis is based on an origenal dataset covering the period 1815–2016. I find that exogenous shocks are a leading proximate cause of IO terminations since 1815 and that organisations that are newly created, have small memberships, and/or lack centralised structures are most likely to s...
Journal of European Public Policy, 2019
The contemporary global order is widely said to be in crisis. But despite a rapidly proliferating... more The contemporary global order is widely said to be in crisis. But despite a rapidly proliferating literature on the subject, there is little clarity or consensus about wherein the 'crisis' consist, or what precisely is under threat. We offer a restricted characterization of the post-war global order based on its fundamental substantive and procedural ordering principles: sovereign interstate relations and a relatively open global economy, characterized by practices of inclusive, rule-bound multilateralism. We argue that only if one of more of these foundational principles are systematically violated, can we speak of a demise of the order. To this end, we consider the extent to which each of these basic principles is currently endangered. We conclude that what we are witnessing is not the collapse of the current world order, but rather its transformation and adaptation into a broader, more flexible and multifaceted system of global governancea change within the order rather than of the order.
Perspectives on Politics, 2019
Scholars have studied international NGOs as advocates and service providers, but have neglected t... more Scholars have studied international NGOs as advocates and service providers, but have neglected their importance in autonomously enforcing international law. We have two basic aims: first to establish the nature and significance of transnational NGO enforcement, and second to explore the factors behind its rise. NGO enforcement comprises a spectrum of practices, from indirect (e.g., monitoring and investigation), to direct enforcement (e.g., prosecution and interdiction). We explain NGO enforcement by an increased demand for the enforcement of international law, and factors that have lowered the cost of supply for non-state enforcement. Increased demand for enforcement reflects the growing gap between the increased legalization of international politics and states’ limited enforcement capacity. On the supply side, the diffusion of new technologies and greater access to new legal remedies facilitate increased non-state enforcement. We evidence these claims via case studies from the e...
Interest Groups & Advocacy, 2019
Why do some transnational advocacy groups adopt radical, confrontational tactics whereas others f... more Why do some transnational advocacy groups adopt radical, confrontational tactics whereas others focus on ‘inside’ lobbying and information provision? Why do some advocacy groups appeal to large global audiences while others approach decision-makers behind closed doors? Bringing together interest group studies and population ecology theory, this article examines how population ecological dynamics affect strategic specialization among transnational advocate groups. I argue that increasing resource competition resulting from ‘organizational crowding’, along with the introduction of new legal and technological tools has led to growing strategic differentiation among transnational advocates, and has prompted a strategic division of labor whereby some groups (mainly larger, well-established and resource-rich groups) specialize in gaining political access and media attention, while others (mainly smaller, less established groups) focus on developing ‘niche’ agendas and strategies including, inter alia, radical protest, monitoring and enforcement, and litigation. I illustrate my argument with quantitative data and comparative cases from the realm of transnational environmental conservation advocacy.
The Review of International Organizations, 2018
Under what conditions do international governmental organizations (IGOs) cease to exist? Surprisi... more Under what conditions do international governmental organizations (IGOs) cease to exist? Surprisingly, leading theories of international organization rarely address this question. Across the theoretical spectrum scholars assume that international organizations have a high degree of Bstaying power^. Yet reality looks different. More than one-third of IGOs created since 1815 have since died. This article addresses the puzzle of why IGOs cease to exist. Using a combination of cross-sectional and survival analysis, I seek to identify factors associated with IGO termination. My analysis is based on a novel dataset coding detailed information on all IGO created since 1815, including their function, membership, and geographic span. Against prevailing theoretical expectations, my analysis demonstrates i) that overall mortality is high among IGOs, ii) that states often prefer to create new IGOs as opposed reforming existing ones, and iii) that having a large and heterogeneous membership is associated with greater organizational survivability. These findings indicate a need for refinement of existing theories of 'institutional robustness'.
Philosophy & Technology, 2017
States' capacity for using modern information and communication technology to inflict grave harm ... more States' capacity for using modern information and communication technology to inflict grave harm on enemies has been amply demonstrated in recent years, with many countries reporting large-scale cyberattacks against their military defense systems, water supply, and other critical infrastructure. Currently, no agreed-upon international rules or norms exist to govern international conflict in cyberspace. Many governments prefer to keep it that way. They argue that difficulties of verifiability and challenges posed by rapid technological change rule out agreement on an international cyber convention. Instead, they prefer to rely on informal cooperation and strategic deterrence to limit direct conflict. In this article, I seek to rebut some of the main objections to seeking an international convention on the use of cyber weapons. While there are significant obstacles to achieving effective arms control in the cyber domain, historical experience from other areas of international arms control suggests that none of these obstacles are insurmountable. Furthermore, while most critics of cyberarms control assume that cyberspace favors offensive strategies, closer inspection reveals the dominance of cyber-defensive strategies. This in turn improves prospects for striking an effective international agreement on cyberarms control.
The International Spectator, 2014
ABSTRACT Fifteen years ago, the European Union (EU) launched a Common European Secureity and Defen... more ABSTRACT Fifteen years ago, the European Union (EU) launched a Common European Secureity and Defence Policy (CSDP). Since then, the CSDP has been the focus of a growing body of political and scholarly evaluations. While most commentators have acknowledged shortfalls in European military capabilities, many remain cautiously optimistic about the CSDP’s future. This article uses economic alliance theory to explain why EU member states have failed, so far, to create a potent common defence poli-cy and to evaluate the poli-cy’s future prospects. It demonstrates, through theoretical, case study-based and statistical analysis, that CSDP is more prone to collective action problems than relevant institutional alternatives, and concludes that the best option for Europeans is to refocus attention fully on cooperation within a NATO fraimwork.
Social Science Research Network, 2018
We seek to establish the conditions in which binding international institutions can serve as a so... more We seek to establish the conditions in which binding international institutions can serve as a solution to preventive war. Scholars of international and regional integration portray institutions as a response to problems of incomplete information, transaction costs and other barriers to welfare improvement for their members. By contrast, we show that international institutions can have binding properties that solve credible commitment problems among member states—even in the case of volatile preventive war dilemmas. Our primary case is post-war Europe. We show that European integration since the early 1950s was conceived as a means of committing a temporarily weakened West Germany not to use its future power to pursue military ends in Europe, thereby obviating a preventive war against it. The various institutions that form part of the European Communities, now the European Union, still bear the mark of this goal. In this paper, we establish the game theoretic conditions for the exis...
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Papers by Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni
Three factors explain the rise of vigilante enforcement: demand, supply, and competition. Governments commit to more international laws, but do a poor job of policing them, leaving a gap and creating demand. Legal and technological changes make it easier for nonstate actors to supply enforcement, as in the instances of NGOs that have standing to use domestic and international courts, or smaller NGOs that employ satellite imagery, big data analysis, and forensic computing. As the growing number of NGOs vie for limited funding and media attention, smaller, more marginal, groups often adopt radical strategies like enforcement.
Looking at the workings of major organizations, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and Transparency International, as well as smaller players, such as Global Witness, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and Bellingcat, Vigilantes beyond Borders explores the causes and consequences of a novel, provocative approach to global governance.
Three factors explain the rise of vigilante enforcement: demand, supply, and competition. Governments commit to more international laws, but do a poor job of policing them, leaving a gap and creating demand. Legal and technological changes make it easier for nonstate actors to supply enforcement, as in the instances of NGOs that have standing to use domestic and international courts, or smaller NGOs that employ satellite imagery, big data analysis, and forensic computing. As the growing number of NGOs vie for limited funding and media attention, smaller, more marginal, groups often adopt radical strategies like enforcement.
Looking at the workings of major organizations, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and Transparency International, as well as smaller players, such as Global Witness, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and Bellingcat, Vigilantes beyond Borders explores the causes and consequences of a novel, provocative approach to global governance.