Effect of Non-State Actors on the International System

Non-state actors encompass individuals and organizations that are not connected with, directed by, or sponsored through the state government. They include NGOs, armed resistance groups, paramilitary, cyber-criminals, private financial organizations, and corporations.¹ Moreover, non-state actors’ ideas are well comprehended by incorporating any other entity that is not a state but instead used about religious groups and civil society. The rise of non-state actors has a significant position in the international system. It has led to a new complexity in international relations, the changes in the concepts of sovereignty and nationalism, critical role in promoting international cooperation and collaborations, communication and transportation revolution.

In the modern world system, in addition to states, various non-state actors – TNCs, international political, environmental and other movements and groups, various network communities, interest groups and similar entities – have a great influence. Compared to states, this class of subjects is much less limited in their activities by the rules and official mechanisms of international communication at the global, regional and country levels. In the world system as a whole, non-state actors play the most important role of “agents of communication”, a kind of intermediaries between the levels of interaction characteristic of states². There is no need for them to strictly follow the rules established by interstate treaties, unless the states specifically compel them to do so due to certain circumstances.

For example, transnational banks, taking advantage of their lack of state control, in the pursuit of profits, for a long time purposefully encouraged risky financial transactions in the 2000s. Only when faced with the global financial crisis, the states represented by the G20 in 2008-2009 agreed among themselves on some measures to increase the attention of governments to the activities of the banking sector³. The role of some private banks in the 1990s is also known, through whose networks they laundered the money of transnational drug production and distribution networks.

After the events of September 11, 2001 in the United States, the unseemly activities of some commercial lending institutions, on whose accounts funds used by international terrorist networks, in particular Al-Qaeda, were accumulating, became public. International energy corporations, in particular oil corporations (which in the 2000s included corporations of a number of Asian countries) for half a century have greatly influenced changes in price proportions in the global energy market. Accordingly, the stability of world economic development largely depends on the actions of the transnational energy business.

Obviously, non-state actors have a great influence on the state of the global environment of military-political and economic security and, accordingly, on the solution of global problems. Modern non-state actors have become firmly established in the system of world politics. They have a significant impact on world political processes, compete with national states in the struggle for political power and the right to shape the international agenda. Some may take over political functions that previously belonged exclusively to national states, and seek recognition of their special international legal status. Some non-state actors can create conflicts between states. Due to the open nature of the Internet, a large part of cyber-attacks are initiated by non-state actors such as hackers, cyber-criminal organizations, commercial companies, cyber terrorists, and insurgents.

Non-state actors penetrate in local and global contexts while mobilizing their state, national, and universal public outlook. Since non-state actors can remain active in more than one state, they are likely to exploit various states.⁴ The non-state actors utilize their employees’ connections through hiring political leaders and former bureaucrats. First, non-state actors have complicated international relations and made it more problematic. Hence, it has been attributed to a declined relevance of political links within the international system.

Some of them have acted as portents of global security and peace, as others have advocated for neo-colonialism and reliance on the under-developed nations⁵. It has been attributed to the development of internationalism and attenuation of nationalism in the errand of internationalism. However, it has been useful in the rise of various strong peaceful, ecological and developmental movements. Institutionalizing trans-national relations through various inter-government and non-state organizations serves as a critical factor in international relations. Hence, non-state actors are likely to maintain or advance into stouter actors in national concerns.

The nation-states’ guidelines, choices, and actions are currently bearing an intensified influence of the non-state actors. The outcomes serve as powerful economic, commercial, cultural, non-political, or trading actors within the international environment. Similarly, non-state actors currently seek their interests away from the direct control of nation-states. Nonetheless, the rise of non-state actors has the crucial function of encouraging international cooperation and collaborations. The non-state actors of international relations are vital in a nation despite them being root causes of tensions and conflicts⁶.

For instance, multinational corporations promote the neo-colonial governance of the rich over the poor. Currently, the world nations the roles of MNCs (Multinational Corporations). Nevertheless, non-governmental organizations based in various parts of the world tend to participate in characteristically contradictory and competitive practices. In the process, the non-state actors have created significant alterations in the nation-state systems. They have also influenced the position of a nation-state in international relations. Thus, the rise of non-state actors has increased international relations and interdependence.

Additionally, the rise of non-state actors has also led to the development of a new international system. For instance, non-state actors are the outcomes of the space age, the nuclear age, the age of transportation and communication revolution, globalization, and internationalism, which has consequently been the nation-state system’s results⁷. Most non-state actors have risen and are functional due to the acceptance of their utility by nation-states.⁸ International and intergovernmental organizations like a host of some international agencies and the United Nations thrive based on the nation-state wishes. The nation-state emphasizes the utilization of coercive power within the global system.

In conclusion, non-state actors encompass NGOs, armed resistance groups, paramilitary, private financial organizations, and corporations. The rise of non-state actors translates to significant influence on the international system. For instance, it has led to a new complexity in international relations, led to change in the concepts of sovereignty and nationalism, critical role in promoting international cooperation and collaborations, communication, and transportation revolution.

Bibliography

Breslin, Shaun, and Helen ES Nesadurai. “Who governs and how? Non-state actors and transnational governance in Southeast Asia.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 48, no. 2 (2018): 187-203.

Charountaki, Marianna. “State and non-state interactions in International Relations: an alternative theoretical outlook.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 45, no. 4 (2018): 528-542.

Hale, Thomas. “The role of sub-state and non-state actors in international climate processes.” Londres: Chatham House (2018).

Kamel, Lorenzo, ed. The frailty of authority: Borders, Non-state actors and power vacuums in the changing Middle East. Edizioni Nuova Cultura, 2017.

Kuyper, Jonathan W., Björn‐Ola Linnér, and Heike Schroeder. “Non‐state actors in hybrid global climate governance: justice, legitimacy, and effectiveness in a post‐Paris era.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 9, no. 1 (2018): e497.

Moschetti, Mauro, Marc Martínez Pons, Eloísa Bordoli, and Pablo Martinis. “The increasing role of non-State actors in education policy-making. Evidence from Uruguay.” Journal of Education Policy 35, no. 3 (2020): 367-393.

Footnotes

1. Hale, Thomas. “The role of sub-state and non-state actors in international climate processes.” Londres: Chatham House (2018).
2. Breslin, Shaun, and Helen ES Nesadurai. “Who governs and how? Non-state actors and transnational governance in Southeast Asia.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 48, no. 2 (2018): 187-203.
3. Breslin, Shaun, and Helen ES Nesadurai. “Who governs and how? Non-state actors and transnational governance in Southeast Asia.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 48, no. 2 (2018): 187-203.
4. Charountaki, Marianna. “State and non-state interactions in International Relations: an alternative theoretical outlook.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 45, no. 4 (2018): 528-542.
5. Kamel, Lorenzo, ed. The frailty of authority: Borders, Non-state actors and power vacuums in the changing Middle East. Edizioni Nuova Cultura, 2017.
6. Breslin, Shaun, and Helen ES Nesadurai. “Who governs and how? Non-state actors and transnational governance in Southeast Asia.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 48, no. 2 (2018): 187-203.
7. Kuyper, Jonathan W., Björn‐Ola Linnér, and Heike Schroeder. “Non‐state actors in hybrid global climate governance: justice, legitimacy, and effectiveness in a post‐Paris era.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 9, no. 1 (2018): e497.
8. Moschetti, Mauro, Marc Martínez Pons, Eloísa Bordoli, and Pablo Martinis. “The increasing role of non-State actors in education policy-making. Evidence from Uruguay.” Journal of Education Policy 35, no. 3 (2020): 367-393.

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