The Enforcement Power of International Agents

Abstract

Even IR scholars who believe international institutions can have independent effects upon state behavior generally dismiss the possibility that international organizations (IOs) possess independent enforcement power because they do not trade, cannot tax, and are unable to conscript militaries. I argue an IO can contribute to enforcing compliance with international norms and rules if it has some autonomy from its state masters and the capacity to punish noncompliance or reward compliance on their behalf. A study of enforcement of the nuclear nonproliferation regime against North Korea by the international community is used to illustrate that the International Atomic Energy Agency independently contributed to international enforcement when it was authorized to do so. This finding has clear policy implications for states seeking to strengthen international cooperation in areas experiencing problems with compliance.

Keywords: international organizations, IOs, enforcement, nuclear, nonproliferation, IAEA