International organizations and the North-South conflict: The nature of governance in the new world order

The meta-hypothesis that international organizations behave as great power directorates is examined quantitatively to assess the nature of international governance in the post-Cold War world. Is international governance a great power concert masked by international organizations or is it based on relatively autonomous institutions reflecting the international collective interest? This study examines the behavior of the World Bank and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and finds that international governance of the North-South conflict is a mixture of both. Variables representing the geo-strategic and economic interests of the great powers were regressed against the expenditures of the World Bank and the UNHCR during selected years in the 1980s and early 1990s. The interests of the great powers in containing communism, rewarding allies, and ensuring access to oil were significant determinants of development aid, but not of refugee assistance. The World Bank and its regional counterparts appear to be susceptible to great power manipulation, while the UNHCR is not utilized by the great powers to serve narrow and expediential interests. The implications of these findings in terms of governance of the North-South conflict are three-fold. First, multilateral development institutions are likely to undergo changes in focus and scope because of the diminished Soviet threat and the resulting change in great power interests. Second, the cohesiveness that resulted in the North from the recognition of a common enemy and the acceptance of a common economic philosophy has diminished. The deterioration of the South\u27s bargaining position due to the disappearance of the socialist alternative is counterbalanced by declining Northern unity on security and development issues. Third, the increasingly important role played by the UNHCR suggests that multilateralism remains an important aspect of international relations relating to global social problems