International anarchy is balanced by world order—rules and institutions through which states cooperate for mutual benefit.
World order has always been grounded in power, but order mediates raw power by establishing norms and habits that govern interactions among states.
States follow the rules—both moral norms and formal international laws—much more often than not.
International rules operate through institutions (IOs), with the UN at the center of the institutional network.
The UN embodies a tension between state sovereignty and supranational authority. In its Charter and history, the UN has made sovereignty the more important principle. This has limited the UN's power.
The UN particularly defers to the sovereignty of great powers, five of whom as permanent Security Council members can each block any security-related resolution binding on UN member states.
In part because of its deference to state sovereignty, the UN has attracted virtually universal membership of the world's states, including all the great powers.
Voting patterns and coalitions in the UN have changed over the years with the expanding membership and changing conditions. Currently U.S.-UN relations are tense because of conflicts over Iraq.
The Security Council has ten rotating member states and five permanent members: the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France.
UN peacekeeping forces are deployed in regional conflicts, and their main role is to monitor compliance with agreements such as cease-fires, disarmament plans, and fair election rules.
UN peacekeepers operate under UN command and flag. Sometimes national troops operate under their own flag and command to carry out UN resolutions.
The UN is administered by international civil servants in the Secretariat, headed by the secretary-general.
Each of the 192 UN member states has one vote in the General Assembly, which serves mainly as a world forum and an umbrella organization for social and economic development efforts.
IOs include UN programs (mostly on economic and social issues), autonomous UN agencies, and organizations with no formal tie to the UN. This institutional network helps to strengthen and stabilize the rules of IR.
International law, the formal body of rules for state relations, derives from treaties (most importantly), custom, general principles, and legal scholarship—not from legislation passed by any government.
International law is difficult to enforce and is enforced in practice by national power, international coalitions, and the practice of reciprocity.
The World Court hears grievances of one state against another but cannot infringe on state sovereignty in most cases. It is an increasingly useful avenue for arbitrating relatively minor conflicts.
Most cases involving international relations are tried in national courts, where a state can enforce judgments within its own territory.
In international law, the rights of diplomats have long had special status. Embassies are considered to be the territory of their home country.
Wars of aggression violate norms of just war—one waged only to repel or punish aggression. It is sometimes, but not always, difficult to identify the aggressor in a violent international conflict.
International norms concerning human rights are becoming stronger and more widely accepted. However, human rights law is problematic because it entails interference by one state in another's internal affairs.
Both IGOs (UN) and NGOs (Amnesty International) take an interest in enforcing international human rights covenants.
Laws of war are also long-standing and well established. They distinguish combatants from civilians, giving each certain rights and responsibilities. Guerrilla wars and ethnic conflicts have blurred these distinctions.
A permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) began operations in 2003 and will hear cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
