Normative Encounters in International Order(s)

The UN's monopoly and primacy in the justification, authorization and conduct of peace operations is contested. Though the United Nations (UN) Charter sets out provisions regarding the role of regional security organizations (RSOs) in maintaining international peace and security (Chapter VIII), RSOs have formulated their own understandings of international and/or regional security order and act accordingly. Some RSOs have taken on responsibilities without UN consent or against UN norms (e.g. when the use of force is justified) while others seek the UN's logistical support. But even in this latter category, RSOs have not always aligned themselves with the UN normatively. This questions the coherence of the international order, in particular as security threats and violent conflict have led to a persistent demand for peace operations. This paper takes a first stab at looking at these global-regional inter-organizational relationships theoretically and conceptually. To grasp how Chapter VIII is practiced, i.e. how the UN and RSOs relate to one another and with what consequences, I propose to introduce insights from International Law and Sociology of Law to the study of international organizations and comparative regionalism. I argue that one needs to grasp the normative foundations of international organizations to understand the opportunities and constraints of inter-organizational relations. (Socio-)legal studies have conceptualized normative encounters and ambiguities, which opens up the conceptual and theoretical space to analyze the many normative demands that might confront international actors. The different interpretations of order across organizational dyads constitute distinctive types of international fragmentation, which explain different relations between the UN and RSOs. This again has implications for what we usually call "international order." These conceptual and theoretical elaborations will be illustrated with the help of primary data and secondary sources of the UN's relations with the Organization of America States, the Union of South American Nations, as well as the Collective Security Treaty Organization.