ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on metaphors that scholars use to give meaning to the origins and nature of international cooperation. Given space limitations, the analysis focuses on two prominent areas of study, international regimes, and metaphors of European integration. The framing of international cooperation by the language of "governance" supplies conceptual metaphors to the narrative by which analyses of international cooperation are undertaken. Governance is used metaphorically to describe relations among international actors characterized less by formal governance and more by informal conventions, regularized expectations, and habituated compliance. Metaphors of governance establishes an ontological basis for scholarship just as the metaphor of anarchy provides a starting point for theorizing about international security. Metaphors serve as common framing devices in international relations (IR) theory. The "regime" metaphor implies a system of governance involved with processes of international cooperation. Regimes are conceptualized as sets of governing principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures that mimic the ideational and institutional arrangements found in formal government.
