ABSTRACT
This chapter examines international institution-building in the form of both international law and international organization. The average person equates international organizations with intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) in general and the United Nations (UN) in particular. International organizations can be classified according to at least three criteria: membership type, membership scope, and functional scope. Other international organizations, labeled nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are generally composed of private individuals or groups. The chapter focuses on two specific IGOs that are among the most important in world affairs, the United Nations at the global level and the European Union at the regional level. In order to provide an overall assessment of the degree of success the UN has experienced in peace and security matters, it is helpful to utilize as a conceptual framework the spectrum of conflict management roles identified by former UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in his 1992 Agenda for Peace report to the Security Council.
