This book examines conflict resolution efforts in Latin America by the Organization of American States (OAS) over the past fifty years by exploring the relationship of the United States with other member states within the context of the OAS. The book focuses on the impact of institutional factors on the influence that member states are able to wield within the organization. This innovative theoretical approach yields general insights into organizational behaviour and interstate relations within an international organization. The examination of thirty-one cases provides a wealth of empirical data and facilitates cross case comparisons.

Autorentext

CAROLYN M. SHAW is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wichita State University, USA. She has published articles in the International Journal of World Peace, The Journal of Conflict Studies, International Studies Perspectives, and Latin American Politics and Society.

Zusammenfassung
Institutional rules - procedural, structural, and normative - are held to play important roles in affecting strategies and outcomes. Their influence is widely recognized in domestic politics, but their role in international politics remains relatively underdeveloped. In this close examination of how institutional rules have affected the relative influence and power of members of the Organization of American States, Shaw demonstrates the importance of rules where they are often considered to be least effective: shaping the behavior of a hegemon, the United States. Four factors are considered important in analyzing the effects of institutional rules: the level of consensus among Latin American members, the extent of threat to regional stability, the amount of resources needed to address an issue, and the reliance on norms, including non-intervention and state sovereignty. Tracing their interaction, Shaw finds that the rules affected state and organizational decisions in the highly germane area of conflict resolution. By demonstrating the importance of organizational rules where they might be expected to be least effective, this is an important contribution to the study of international relations.

Inhalt

US Foreign Policy and Institutional Relationship in the Western Hemisphere Developing Theories of International Organizations Cooperation: Historic Hemispheric Relations and the Formation of the OAS The OAS and Conflict Resolution 1948-1989 Conflict: The Ebb and Flow of US Dominance Consensus and Compromise: Cooperation between Member States Change and Continuity: Hemispheric Relations in the 1990s and the New Millenium Conclusions and Future Prospects for the OAS