Gov. 261

Basic Information

Location- Hubbard Hall Conference Room West
Times- TTh 2:00-3:30
Office- Hubbard Hall Tower
Office Hours- Th 11-12, MW 2-3:30
Phone- 725-3294
E-mail: aspringe@.bowdoin.edu

Introduction

Government 261 is designed to introduce students to the role of international organizations in the international system: why international organizations are established, the processes by which they operate, and how they attempt to realize the expectations of the states that create them. After a brief theoretical and historical introduction, the course will examine the development of the United Nations and a number of its affiliated Specialized Agencies, including the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Particular attention will be paid to the way in which each organization performs such basic functions as rule-making, dispute settlement, and rule enforcement. The course will then focus on two substantive areas of organizational concern: controlling armed conflict and protecting

Students who have had any Level A Government course are eligible. Government 261 is limited to 50 students.

Readings

The required text for Government 261 is Frederic L. Kirgis, Jr.’s, International Organizations in Their Legal Setting (2nd ed., St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1993). The Kirgis volume has an accompanying set of “Selected Documents” (also the 2nd edition), which you may or may not purchase, since most of the documents will be available on the course web page. Copies of the supplement will be found on reserve in the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library. There is also a packet of readings which, like the Kirgis volumes, is available for purchase from the Smith Union Bookstore. Readings from the course packet are designated (P). Additional web-based readings are labelled (W). All of the readings listed on the syllabus are required. Assignments are given on a daily basis. Unless I tell you otherwise, you are expected to complete the assigned readings by the date given next to each sub-heading.

Requirements

Students are required to take two exams: a 1-1/2 hour, in-class midterm scheduled for March 9 and a comprehensive final scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 17. There are also two required 5-7 page papers. (Specific topics will be assigned later.)

* Paper #1- due March 17- analysis of an important issue facing a major intergovernmental organization
* Paper #2- due April 22- international control of armed conflict

The approximate contribution of each of these requirements toward your final grade is:

Midterm exam- 20%

Paper- 20% each

Final exam- 40%

Syllabus

I. Introduction

A. Course Introduction---1/25

B. International Organization: Theoretical and Political Perspectives---1/27

Kirgis, International Organizations, pp. v-ix.
Robert Keohane, “International Institutions: Can Interdependence Work?” Foreign Policy (Spring 1998), No. 110, pp. 82-96 (P)
Jesse Helms, "Fixing the UN," Foreign Affairs (September/October 1996), Vol. 75, No. 5, pp. 2-7 (P)
Michael Hirsh, “The Fall Guy: Washington’s Self-Defeating Assault on the U.N.,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 1999), Vol. 78, No.6, pp. 2-8 (P)
Stephen Schlesinger, “Can the United Nations Reform?” World Policy Journal (Fall 1997), Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 47 52 (P)

Additional:

Jesse Helms, speech to UN Security Council, Jan. 21, 2000

II. The Development and Legal Status of International Organizations

A. Pre-United Nations---2/1

Kirgis, International Organizations, pp. 1-6.
Inis L. Claude, Jr., Swords into Plowshares: The Problems and Progress of International Organization (4th ed., New York: Random House, 1971), pp. 21-56 (P)
“The Abyssinian Affair,” in Ruth Henig, ed., The League of Nations (New York: Harper and Row, 1973),
pp. 117-152 (P)

Documents:

League of Nations Covenant- esp. Arts. 1-5, 7-8. 10-16, 18, 21-23
<http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/leagcov.htm>

B. The United Nations System

1. Origins and Basic Structures---2/3

Inis L. Claude, Jr., Swords into Plowshares: The Problems and Progress of International Organization (4th ed., New York: Random House, 1971), pp. 57-80 (P)
Abba Eban, “The U.N. Idea Revisited,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 74 (September/October 1995), pp. 39-55 (P)

Documents:

United Nations Charter (June 26, 1945) - skim entire, see especially Arts 1-2, 7-32, 55-72, 92-101 <http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 11-36]
United Nations, Office of Public Information, “The UN in Brief”
<http://www.un.org/Overview/brief.html>

2. The “Legal Personality” of the UN in International and U.S. Law---2/8

Kirgis, International Organizations:

7-14 (Reparations Case)
14-21, 21-26 (IRO v. Rep. S.S. Corp.]
26-39
39-42 (Lutcher SA v. Inter-American Development Bank)
42-43, 43-51 (Mendaro v. World Bank)

Documents:

UN Charter, Arts. 104-105
<http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 34-35]

3. Legal Status of Persons and Premises Associated with International Organizations---2/10

Kirgis, International Organizations:

54-61, 62-68 (767 Third Avenue Associates v. Permanent Mission of Zaire)
68-70 (Foxworth v. Permanent Mission of Uganda)
84-86, 86-92 (Mazilu Case)
92-98 (Dinh Ba Thi Expulsion)
104-105, 105-113 (U.S. v. PLO)
113-121 (U.S. Denial of Arafat Visa)
121-123, 123-132 (Chinese Translators Case), 132-135

Documents:

Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the UN (Feb. 13, 1946)- esp. Sections 1-4, 11-12, 14, 18-20
<http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/decade/decad035.htm> [Doc. Supp. 196-202]
UN Headquarters Agreement (June 26, 1947)- esp. Sections 7-13, 15
<http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/decade/decad036.htm> [Doc. Supp.,203-212]
U.S., International Organizations Immunities Act (Dec. 9, 1945)- see esp. Sections 288, 288a, 288d
<http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/decade/decad034.htm> [Doc. Supp. 213-215]

4. UN Leadership: The Political Reality---2/15

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, "Global Leadership After the Cold War," Foreign Affairs (March/April 1996), Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 86-98 (P)
Fouad Ajami, "The Mark of Bosnia," Foreign Affairs (May/June 1996), Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 162-164 (P)
Brian Urquhart, "Selecting the World's CEO: Remembering the Secretaries-General," Foreign Affairs (May/June 1995), Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 21-27 (P)

III. The Process of International Organization

A. Membership and Representation---2/17

Kirgis, International Organizations:

137-139, 140-143 (Conditions for Membership Case)
143-150, 153-158 (Namibian Application to the ILO)
158-164 (Palestinian Application to the WHO)
166-176 (PLO Observer Status)
176-181 (Chinese Representation)
181-184 (Cambodian Representation)
238-246 (Indonesian Withdrawal from UN)
258-268 (U.S. Withdrawal from the ILO and UNESCO)

Documents

UN Charter, Arts. 3-6
<http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 13]
ILO Constitution- see esp. Art. 2, paragraphs 2, 3 and 4;
<http://www.ilo.org/public/english/about/iloconst.htm> [Doc. Supp. 114-129]
UNESCO Constitution (Nov. 16, 1945)- see esp. Art. 2
<http://www.unesco.org/general/eng/about/constitution/index.html> [Doc. Supp. 164-171]
WHO Constitution (July 22, 1945)- see esp. Arts. 3-8
<http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/decade/decad051.htm> [Doc. Supp. 172-183]

B. Decision-Making Procedures and the Problem of the UN Budget---2/22

Kirgis, International Organizations:

188-195, 195-202 (France and the Comoros Islands)
206-211 (Changing the Security Council Structure?)
211-217, 217-222 (UNCLOS Negotiations)
233-235 (UN Budget Process)
235-238, 247-248, 248-254 (Certain Expenses Case I)

Ruben P. Mendez, "Paying for Peace and Development," Foreign Policy (Fall 1995), No. 100, pp. 19-31 (P)
Frederic L. Kirgis, “United States Dues Arrearages in the United Nations and Possible Loss of Vote in the UN General Assembly, ASIL Insight (July 1998) (W)
<http://www.asil.org/insigh21.htm>

Documents:

UN Charter, Arts. 17-19 and 27
<http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 16, 18]

C. Rule-Making Process---2/24

Kirgis, International Organizations:

302-318 (ICAO Rule-Making)
333-351, 351-357 (Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources), 357-360 (TOPCO/Calasiatic v. Libya)
360-365 (Shared Natural Resources), 365-372 (Partition of Palestine)

Documents:

UN Charter, Arts. 10 and 25
<http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 14, 18]
ICAO Convention, esp. Arts. 1, 3, 5, 6, 12, 28, 37, 38, 54 (l), 90
<> [Doc. Supp. 92-113]

D. Dispute Settlement---2/29

Kirgis, International Organizations:

431-432, 432-437 (IBRD and IMF v. All America Cables and Radio)
443-468 (ICAO and India v. Pakistan), 469-479 (ICAO and Iran Airbus Incident)
485-505 (Namibian Dispute, including Legal Consequences Case, 492-504)

Documents:

UN Charter, Arts. 33-38
<http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 14, 18]
IMF Articles of Agreement- see esp. Art. 29
<http://www.imf.int/external/pubs/ft/aa/index.htm> [Doc. Supp. 145-163]
ICAO Convention, esp. Preamble, and Arts. 1-3 bis, 44, 54, 55, 84-88, 89
<> [Doc. Supp. 92-113]

E. Enforcement Techniques---3/2, 3/7

Kirgis, International Organizations:

522-524, 533-549 (ILO: UK and the GCHQ Complaint)
554-575, 583-585, 585-597 (South African Credentials)
600-603 (Yugoslavian Representation)
620-638 (Rhodesian Sanctions, including Diggs v. Shultz, 631-633)
689-699 (Yugoslavian Sanctions)
701-706, 707-708 (Libya and the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie), 708-713

Documents:

UN Charter, Arts. 5, 19, 39-50
<http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 13, 16, 20-23]
ILO Constitution- see esp. Arts. 19, 22-34
<http://www.ilo.org/public/english/about/iloconst.htm> [Doc. Supp. 114-129]

MIDTERM EXAM---March 9

IV. Maintaining International Peace and Security

A. The Charter System---3/14

Stephen Schlesinger, “FDR’s Five Policemen” World Policy Journal (Fall 1994), Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 88-93 (P)

Documents:

UN Charter, Arts. 10-12, 14, 24-25, 35-54
<http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 14-15, 17-24]

B. The UN Reality and the Development of Peacekeeping: Suez and the Congo---3/16, 4/4

Kirgis, International Organizations:

716-723, 731-745 (UNEF I Background)
745-757 (ONUC Background), 757-764 (Certain Expenses Case II)
764-773 (UNEF Withdrawal)
773-785 (Hammarskjöld and the Congo)

UN Peacekeeping Operations- review UN website describing 50 years of UN peacekeeping operations
<http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/>

C. UN Action Against Iraq: Collective Security Revived?---4/6

Kirgis, International Organizations:

642-689 (UN Action Against Iraq)

D. Humanitarian Intervention---4/11

Kirgis, International Organizations:

852-857 (Iraq and the Kurds)
857-867, 867--875 (Bosnia-Hercegovina)
699-701, 875-881 (Somalia)

Walter Clarke and Jeffrey Herbst, “Somalia and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention,”Foreign Affairs (March/April 1996), Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 70-85 (P)
“Report of the Secretary-General Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 33/35: The Fall of Srebenica,” Nov. 15, 1999 (Doc. A/54/549) (W)- skim
<http://www.un.org/peace/srebrenica.pdf>

D. Peacekeeping----------Peace Enforcement---4/13

Kirgis, International Organizations:

785-799 (UN and the former Yugoslavia)
799-803 (Liberia and Somalia), 881-890

E. For the Future---4/18

David Rieff, “The Illusions of Peacekeeping” World Policy Journal (Fall 1994), Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 1-18 (P)
Richard Butler, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered: Repairing the Security Council,” Foreign Affairs (September/October 1999), Vol. 78, No. 5, pp. 9-12 (P)
Jose Alvarez, “The Once and Future Security Council,” Washington Quarterly (Spring 1995), Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 5 20 (P)
Edward N. Luttwak, “Give War A Chance,” Foreign Affairs (July/August 1999), Vol. 78, No. 4, pp. 36-44 (P)
Michael Glennon, “The New Interventionism: The Search for a Just International Law,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 1999), Vol. 78, No. 3, pp. 2-7 (P)

V. Protecting Human Rights

A. UN System---4/20, 4/25

Kirgis, International Organizations:

891-912, 912-915 (Letter from Argentina), 915-917, 917-921 (General Comment No. 3)
921-929, 930-937 (Kelly v. Jamaica), 937-940
940-945 (Zwaan-de Vries v. the Netherlands), 945-946, 946-953 (Delgado Páez v. Colombia)
953-966, 966-969 (General Comment No. 19, Concerning Article 23), 969-974

Peter J. Spiro, “New Global Communities: Nongovernmental Organizations in International Decision-Making Institutions,” Washington Quarterly (Winter 1995), Vol. 18, No.1, pp. 45-56 (P)

Documents:

UN Charter, Arts. 1, 55-56
<http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/ibasictext/ibasicunchart.htm> [Doc. Supp. 11-12, 48]
Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (Dec. 10, 1948)- skim entire
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b1udhr.htm> [Doc. Supp. 261-266]
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Dec. 16, 1966)- esp. Arts. 1-5, 9, 16-22
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b2esc.htm> [Doc. Supp. 267-275]
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Dec.19, 1966)- esp. Arts. 1-7, 9, 14, 18-20, 23, 25 26, 28-42
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b3ccpr.htm> [Doc. Supp. 276-291]
First Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Dec. 19, 1966)- esp. Arts. 1-6
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/b4ccprp1.htm> [Doc. Supp. 291-292]
ECOSOC, Res. 1503 (May 27, 1970)
<> [Doc. Supp. 295-297]
Sub-Commission Resolution 1
<> [Doc. Supp. 296-297]

B. Inter-American System---4/27, 5/2

Kirgis, International Organizations:

975-983, 983-987 (Case No. 10,031- U.S.), 987-993
993-995, 995-1001 (Restrictions to the Death Penalty), 1001-1007
1007-1028 (Velásquez Rodríguez Case), 1029-1030

Documents:

American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (May 2, 1948)- skim entire
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/oasinstr/zoas2dec.htm> [Doc. Supp. 300-303]
American Convention on Human Rights (Nov. 22, 1969)- esp. Arts. 1-2, 4-5, 7, 26-27, 33-37, 41-57, 61 64, 66-68
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/oasinstr/zoas3con.htm> [Doc. Supp. 304-323]
Statute of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (October 1979)- esp. Arts. 1-3, 18-20
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/oasinstr/zoas4cms.htm> [Doc. Supp. 334-336]
Regulations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (April 1980, as modified in Jne 1987)- esp. Arts. 26, 32, 35, 37, 39, 41-42, 45-53, 60-63, 76
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/oasinstr/zoas5cmr.htm> [Doc. Supp. 337-348]

C. European System---5/4, 5/9

Kirgis, International Organizations:

1030-1041, 1041-1049 (Berberich v. Germany)
1049-1051 (X, Y, and Z v. Austria)
1051-1053, 1053-1062 (Chrysostomos v. Turkey)
1062-1064 (An v. Cyprus)
1065-1070, 1070-1080 (Oberschlick v. Austria)
1081-1085 (Ringeisen v. Austria)
1085-1090, 1090-1092 (A.M. v. Denmark), 1092-1100

Documents:

European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Nov. 4, 1950)- esp. Arts.1-3, 5-6, 10, 13-15, 18, 20-21, 23-32, 38-40, 44-50, 52-53, 57, 63-64
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/z17euroco.html> [Doc. Supp. 349-363]
Protocol No. 4 (Sept. 16, 1963)- skim entire, esp. Art. 2
<http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/euro/z23prot4.html> [Doc. Supp. 366-367]

FINAL EXAM- Wednesday May 17, 9:00 a.m.

Web Resources

I plan to communicate with the class (e.g. update you on class assignments, answer questions) via electronic mail. You should read your e-mail on a daily basis and you are responsible for being aware of any e-mail message I send out! You may either contact just me via email (at my address above) or the entire class (simply by typing 'gov261' at the mail prompt).

Exams

Midterm Exam 2000 (Answers)