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"Regional organizations have taken an increasingly prominent role in international efforts to deal with international security. The book highlights the complex interaction between the regional and sub-regional organizations, on the one hand, and their relations with the United Nations, on the other. Thus, the general issues of UN and its authority are scrutinized from legal, practical and geopolitical perspectives. Taking on a broad geographical focus on Africa, the Arab world and Europe, the book also provides an extensive range of case studies, with detailed analysis of particular situations, organizations and armed conflicts. The authors scrutinise the heterogeneous relationship between the different organizations as well as the challenges to them: political resources, legal standing, financial assets, capabilities and organizational set up. Moreover, they investigate whether regional organizations, as compared to the UN, are better suited to deal with today's intra-state conflicts. The book also aims to dissect the evolution of these institutions historically - in relation to Chapter VIII of the UN Charter which mentions the resort to 'regional arrangements' for conflict management - as well as more generally in relation to the principles of international law and UN principles of peacemaking. This book, written by a mixture of established scholars, diplomats and high-level policymakers, will be of great interest to students as well as practitioners in the field of peace and conflict studies, regional security, international organisations, conflict management and IR in general"--

"Regional organizations have taken an increasingly prominent role in international efforts to deal with international security. The book highlights the complex interaction between the regional and sub-regional organizations, on the one hand, and their relations with the United Nations, on the other. Thus, the general issues of UN and its authority are scrutinized from legal, practical and geopolitical perspectives. Taking on a broad geographical focus on Africa, the Arab world and Europe, the book also provides an extensive range of case studies, with detailed analysis of particular situations, organizations and armed conflicts. The authors scrutinise the heterogeneous relationship between the different organizations as well as the challenges to them: political resources, legal standing, financial assets, capabilities and organizational set up. Moreover, they investigate whether regional organizations, as compared to the UN, are better suited to deal with today's intra-state conflicts. The book also aims to dissect the evolution of these institutions historically - in relation to Chapter VIII of the UN Charter which mentions the resort to 'regional arrangements' for conflict management - as well as more generally in relation to the principles of international law and UN principles of peacemaking. This book, written by a mixture of established scholars, diplomats and high-level policymakers, will be of great interest to students as well as practitioners in the field of peace and conflict studies, regional security, international organisations, conflict management and IR in general"--

The regional organizations are becoming more and more the necessity of modern times. On vertically approaches the regional diplomacy and organizations are between international and national level of governmental institutions worldwide. Being in between global national levels the regional organizations are very interesting players to bring both above mentioned actors closer to each- other and to harmonize some time their contradictory approaches and interests. On horizontal approaches the regional organizations are located and operate in the common valuable areas with more or less the same or similar situations, in the common political landscape, in the same geography, geo-strategy, culture and markets. Therefore, they share the achievements and challenges together. That is why the increasing role of multilateral diplomacy through evolving regional organizations is very important facilitating mechanism to shift from old fashion bilateral oriented diplomacy toward globalization trends.

The United Nations organization was planned to be established as a single universal system of collective security. Major efforts were supposed to be taken by the UN Security Council. Regional organizations were introduced into the system as a subordinate subsidiary means – elements of the system. Over the course of the time it has, however, appeared that the UN Security Council was not able to act in the way prescribed by the UN Charter in suppressing newly emerged threats and challenges in the sphere of security. In the contrary, the role of regional organizations has increased substantially. They do the majority of tasks in the sphere of maintenance of international peace and security, often without authorization or even informing the UN Security Council, although the legality of some of these actions may be dubious. As a result, the Council itself transfers the accent in relations between the UN and regional organizations from subsidiarity to complementarity or even partnership. It is thus necessary to re-check the meaning of the concepts of complementarity and subsidiarity as well as the UN Charter provisions in the changed circumstances and to specify principles of the new system.

AbstractWhile scholars have argued that membership in Regional Organizations (ROs) can increase the likelihood of democratization, we see many autocratic regimes surviving in power albeit being members of several ROs. This article argues that this is the case because these regimes are often members in "Clubs of Autocrats" that supply material and ideational resources to strengthen domestic survival politics and shield members from external interference during moments of political turmoil. The argument is supported by survival analysis testing the effect of membership in autocratic ROs on regime survival between 1946 to 2010. It finds that membership in ROs composed of more autocratic member states does in fact raise the likelihood of regime survival by protecting incumbents against democratic challenges such as civil unrest or political dissent. However, autocratic RO membership does not help to prevent regime breakdown due to autocratic challenges like military coups, potentially because these types of threats are less likely to diffuse to other member states. The article thereby adds to our understanding of the limits of democratization and potential reverse effects of international cooperation, and contributes to the literature addressing interdependences of international and domestic politics in autocratic regimes.

Corresponding to the global proliferation of inter-state activities at the regional level since the end of the Cold War, Eurasia has experienced a surge of regional agreements and organizations. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, more than 29 regional organizations (ROs) with significant membership and agenda overlap have emerged. These organizations differ significantly in terms of institutional design. Organizations that were created in the 1990s and early 2000s display very limited or no pooling of authority and low to moderate delegation. Regional organizations that were established during the past decade show pronounced delegation and median pooling. A mapping based on formal treaty analysis shows a general deepening of regional integration over time. It also reveals three phases of Eurasian regionalism with distinct integration dynamics and goals. Especially the third phase is surprising, as we do not only witness the increase of political authority of ROs, but also a more consequent implementation of agreements and the introduction of supranational elements. This deepening of regionalism is puzzling in light of 1) the rather recent independence of the Eurasian states and their colonial past under Russian domination, 2) the level of autocracy in the region, and 3) the presence of a regional hegemon, which has moreover recently experienced an authoritarian backlash. Relying on the concept of political authority, the first part of this paper gives an overview of the development of formal regional integration in Eurasia during the past 25 years. The second part of the paper asks why Russia and the smaller Eurasian states go along with increasing authority transfers to ROs. Based on a series of elite interviews conducted in Russian in February and March 2017, potential drivers of Eurasian regionalism are explained, with particular attention to Russian motives. The paper concludes with an outlook on avenues for future research.

Recent scholarship has argued that there has been an opening up of international and regional organizations toward transnational actors since the end of the Cold War, as a result of increased democratization, which is generally considered as a positive contribution to the legitimacy of these organizations. Yet it remains unclear how generalized the opening up has been in terms of regions and category of actors. The role of legislators, particularly outside the European Union, remains understudied even though their presence in regional organizations has increased over the past three decades. This article seeks to fill this void partially by way of a comparative analysis of the role of legislators using the Organization of American States and the Southern Common Market as case studies. The first part of the article offers an overview of the literature and presents our research design. We then proceed with a comparative analysis of the role of legislators at the input, throughput, and output stages of the legitimation process. We conclude with a general assessment of the contribution of legislators as dispensers of legitimacy for regional organizations in the Americas.

Corresponding to the global proliferation of inter-state activities at the regional level since the end of the Cold War, Eurasia has experienced a surge of regional agreements and organizations. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, more than 29 regional organizations (ROs) with significant membership and agenda overlap have emerged. These organizations differ significantly in terms of institutional design. Organizations that were created in the 1990s and early 2000s display very limited or no pooling of authority and low to moderate delegation. Regional organizations that were established during the past decade show pronounced delegation and median pooling. A mapping based on formal treaty analysis shows a general deepening of regional integration over time. It also reveals three phases of Eurasian regionalism with distinct integration dynamics and goals. Especially the third phase is surprising, as we do not only witness the increase of political authority of ROs, but also a more consequent implementation of agreements and the introduction of supranational elements. This deepening of regionalism is puzzling in light of 1) the rather recent independence of the Eurasian states and their colonial past under Russian domination, 2) the
level of autocracy in the region, and 3) the presence of a regional hegemon, which has moreover recently experienced an authoritarian backlash. Relying on the concept of political authority, the first part of this paper gives an overview of the development of formal regional integration in Eurasia during the past 25 years. The second part of the paper asks why Russia and the smaller Eurasian states go along with increasing authority transfers to ROs. Based on a series of elite interviews conducted in Russian in February and March 2017, potential drivers of Eurasian regionalism are explained, with particular attention to Russian
motives. The paper concludes with an outlook on avenues for future research.

Organized rape in armed conflict is one of the most serious violations of human rights, which creates a clear crisis in the identity of the other party and solidifies the sense of bitterness of defeat. Rape in armed conflicts is thus different from that of others, which can have a negative impact on social and international peace and security. Conservative and racially conservative societies are also affected by systematic organized gang rape, which occurs systematically from parties to a non-international armed conflict or within the policy of the aggressor State in the event of an international armed conflict. In contrast to the efforts made by the United Nations to curb organized rape, regional organizations have made little effort in this direction. The role of regional organizations in the framework of Chapter VIII of the UN. Charter in reducing armed conflicts and protecting human rights, and in cooperation of the United Nations and the Security Council in the task of maintaining international peace and security. The European Convention on Human Rights has established a mechanism to monitor the extent to which individuals enjoy their rights and freedoms and the extent to which States parties respect them. The US Convention on Human Rights followed the same approach as the European Convention, but through the regulatory body of the American Commission on Human Rights and the American Court of Human Rights. Although women and children suffered systematic rape as a result of armed conflict on the African continent, the African Charter on Human Rights did not provide the necessary mechanisms to curb crimes of sexual violence, and the Arab Charter on Human Rights did not play a role in the face of organized rape. We therefore considered the adequacy of the provisions of the International Bill and the mechanisms of action of regional organizations in curbing the crimes of sexual violence, organized rape in particular in places of non-international armed conflict, and whether organized rape can be considered a violation of personal liberty and dignity. Or is it a crime against humanity? And other questions that can be raised, which we will try to answer in the context of this research.