SYSTEM AND SOCIETY IN WORLD AFFAIRS - IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL-ORGANIZATIONS

This essay compares and contrasts systems analysis and the analysis of international society as modes of reasoning about the roles that inte rnational organizations play in world affairs. Systems analysis, stres sing material conditions as driving forces at the international level, emphasizes the role of international organizations as vehicles for th e pursuit of great power objectives and as facilitators or conflict ma nagers in great power relations. The analysis of international society , by contrast, treats international organizations as arenas for confer ence diplomacy, as mechanisms for the pursuit of common goals, and as players in the creation and operation of regulatory regimes. Recent ch anges in the international system are likely to alter the content but not the character of the roles played by international organizations a s we move away from the era of decolonization and East-West tension. F or their part, changes in international society could have more profou nd consequences for international organizations by enhancing the roles of non-state actors at the international level or redefining constitu tive rules that guide interactions among the members of international society.