The Dynamics of Non-Governmental Organizations in International Affairs

Non-governmental organizations are voluntary organizations formed by individuals to achieve a common purpose, usually for the public benefit. Today, non-governmental actors have increased in number and are very diverse. There are NGOs that have reached universal dimensions as well as regional. NGOs do not have military or police forces and must rely on soft power due to economic limitations. NGOs can convey the problems of closed societies or the problems of the citizens of the governments that do not listen to their people to other states and societies through the developing media and networks and can put pressure on the states and ensure that the problems are corrected. In doing so, they use the factors of agenda setting, negotiating results, providing legitimacy and implementing solutions. NGOs can use their networks to actively mobilize people, raise awareness of issues, and lobby for government policy decisions. NGOs are part of the international system of 193 sovereign states. Although they are not sovereign, they play an active role in taking action on many important issues for humanity, such as the Campaign to Ban Landmines.

There are also many NGOs connections in the United Nations system. The role of emerging NGOs is explained in Article 71. 1200 NGOs attended and made presentations at the San Francisco Conference, where it was decided to establish the United Nations. In the post-Cold War era, the agendas of NGOs have expanded further. For example, Oxfam not only provides emergency assistance in food crises but also works on long-term development, helping Asian fishermen manage their water resources and coastal environments. Apart from this, NGOs are active in supporting women's right to vote and be elected. It has the effect of resurrecting ignored events through the media and other means. By using symbolic politics, they influence the resolution of events by dramatizing them. By demonstrating the belief that individuals can make a difference, they increase their influence by employing sophisticated political resources through the creative use of knowledge. While doing all this, they have some resources and tools to use their powers. For example, in the case of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), more than 600 organizations, including international organizations such as Amnesty International, and Friends of the Earth, created a network, including the internet, to spread the message that landmines have an indiscriminate and devastating effect on civilians. Many electronic media tools have been used. Landmines cause the death of many civilians and children. For this reason, people who no longer needed shoes were referred to people who died due to landmines and were tried to be influenced. Thus, it became a vehicle for the signing of the Ottawa Convention. Apart from this, tools such as letter-writing campaigns and petitions were used in the same incident.

Thanks to technological developments, developments are seen in their professionalism and activities along with globalization. For internationally oriented NGOs, federations and networking are very important. Their most important tool is information sharing. Small local NGOs relay events to larger ones and may become important. Human rights campaigns focus on specific rights violations such as torture, genocide, violence against women, child soldiers and slavery, or on specific countries such as Argentina and South Africa, and use it as a force. Because the more the circle of interest increases, the greater the impact will be. When looking at the roles of NGOs from a theoretical perspective, there is primarily a power-based approach from the realist tradition. Realists speak through a state-centered world. States always try to maximize their power. Therefore, in the presence of anything that threatens their existence, they can either destroy it or impose restrictions.

NGOs are also subject to the laws and rules of the state they are in, like multinational corporations, but some states, such as Myanmar, have banned non-governmental organizations. In places such as Russia and the People's Republic of China, these organizations are under strict state control as they grow. For example, it provides great support in terms of announcing the campaigns of NGOs in the decolonization processes of small states. However, in the power-based approach, the big states do not want to lose their colonies because they always want to increase their power. In the Mavi Marmara incident, IHH played a major role in changing the state's policy. NGOs such as Save The Children played an active role in the UN's Peacekeeping Operations in Africa in 2000. The International Committee Of The Red Cross (ICRC) protects the wounded during war and the rights of prisoners. In the interest-based approach, the area of ​​interest and interests are important. Knowledge is important to neoliberals. Professionals among NGOs, lawyers, and people close to politics play an important role in obtaining and sharing information. Information also plays an important role in the activities of states. Organizations such as ECOSOC within the United Nations are also tools to persuade other states.

In this respect, many NGOs have played a role in the development of human rights in the United Nations. In the case of 1990-91, states thought it would be in their interests to support US action. In the knowledge-based approach, the informative approach is exhibited. They perceive international organizations as their agents. Their interests and ideas are not static. They can persuade states that it is in their interest, as in the case of the Ban on Landmines. They are not passive in events, they play an active role and thus influence international politics. In doing so, they use different power tools. Therefore, they can build networks of knowledge-based experts. ECOSOC and Ban on Landmines military experts can be examples of this approach.