Summary
Highlights
An international organization is a formal group with members from three or more states that pursue specific goals. These can be intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), like the United Nations or NATO, where members represent governments, or international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), where members do not officially represent governments. Hybrid organizations include both governmental and non-governmental members.
While often used interchangeably, 'international institution' has a broader meaning than 'international organization'. Institutions are understood as sets of rules and practices in political science that prescribe behavior, constrain activity, and shape expectations in world politics, such as international law and norms. These rules are sometimes synonymous with 'regimes'.
International regimes are defined as the principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures in a specific area of international relations. The key distinction is that organizations are institutions with 'walls and bureaucrats,' while institutions and regimes represent the overarching framework of rules.
The Bretton Woods system is an example of a regime created in 1944 to govern international monetary relations. It established rules like pegging currencies to the dollar and the dollar to gold. However, an international organization like the IMF was fundamental to implement and manage this regime.
Global governance refers to the interactions between states, international organizations, NGOs, corporations, and other actors to address global problems that no single entity can solve alone. It encompasses a set of laws, norms, policies, and institutions that define and mediate relations among citizens, society, markets, and the state internationally.