Non-state actors

Running head: NON-STATE ACTORS
Non-state actors
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

NON-STATE ACTORS
1
Introduction
The end of the Second World War in the middle of the twentieth century brought about
significant changes in the larger international order. The two devastating world wars that were
fought in the twentieth century made the state leaders realize the need for maintaining peace and
harmony in the world (Klímová-Alexander, 2017). In this regard, the state leaders during the last
days of the Second World War decided to establish a non-governmental organization which
would have the main primary objective of upholding world peace and stability. The aim was to
ensure that no further disastrous war would break out among the nation states as this would have
a far greater devastating effect on the civilized population due to the advances in the weapons of
destruction (Nasiritousi, Hjerpe & Linnér, 2016). However, in the contemporary world order,
certain non-state actors have emerged who pose a threat to this aspect of maintenance of stability
and peace. This essay aims to understand the significant position occupied by the non-state
actors in the field of international relations and the challenges posed by them to the very ideals of
stability and the order of the sovereign nations.
Non-state actors
The human civilization grew and developed and slowly it divided in to different
communities. A group of individuals within such societies attempted to seize the political power
for themselves with the objective of being responsible for the maintenance of the welfare of the
other people living in such societies (Noortmann, Reinisch & Ryngaert, 2015). The introduction
of such nation states did not mean that they were sovereign. It was much late till the middle of
the twentieth century when all the nation states of the world were given the official recognition
of being sovereign entities.

NON-STATE ACTORS
2
It was during this time that the non-state actors also began to emerge. Several of these
non-state actors had the main objective of upholding the peace and harmony within the world
order with the idea that it would prevent the outbreak of any more devastating wars (Reinalda,
2016). The term ‘non-state actors’ found existence within the Cotonou Agreement. Article 6 of
this Agreement stated that the non-state actors would include the various civil societies in all of
their diversities, the private sector and the social and the economic partners in the international
sphere (Hakimi, 2015). In this respect, it is important to note that the ‘non-state’ actor is an
umbrella term and it includes within itself many different kinds of actors.
Challenge posed by the non-state actors on the state entities
The changes that were brought about in the international sphere after the end of the
Second World War in the twentieth century had significant implications for the nature and order
of the state entities (Gentry, 2016). The position occupied by the state actors was now challenged
by the rise in significance of the non-state actors. One of the most important non-state actor that
came in to being with the end of the Second World War was that of the United Nations
Organization. The United Nations was formed in the year of 1945 with the responsibility that it
had to ensure the maintenance of the peace and stability in the world. Most of the nations of the
world were members of the United Nations and hence, the character of this non-state actor is
mainly intergovernmental in orientation (Ssenyonjo, 2017).
In the contemporary world order, the United Nations has come to occupy a more
predominating position in the world when compared to the nation states of the globe. For
instance, the Charter of the United Nations explicitly forbids the countries from encroaching
upon the territorial boundaries of another sovereign nation of the world (Brunnée & Toope,