Regime Analysis and International Organizations: Unctad and International Shipping

Abstract

<p>This thesis examines the role of international organizations in the shipping industry, and specifically the role of UNCTAD's committee on shipping. By using the concept of regime analysis the thesis aims to establish how international agencies have reflected and challenged the structures and principles of the industry relative to other factors either specific to the sector or of a broader economic or political origin.</p> <p>Regime analysis is an outcome of the debate within international theory about the relevant focus for the study of international relations and the significance of international institutions. It seeks to establish the structure and dynamics of particular areas of the international system, or international political economy, and looks at the roles of states, and other actors, whether they be non governmental or international, in shaping the regime. It also examines the principles and norms which govern a regime and how these manifest themselves in practice. Within this context it becomes possible to assess how far international organizations are autonomous actors within that regime and how far they merely reflect its structure and principles.</p> <p>Using this analysis the thesis proceeds to examine the structures and principles of the international shipping regime. It surveys the progress of the regime from statism to a self-regulation and back again and looks at the factors behind these changes. It then looks at the role of international ,organizations in that regime and especially of UNCTAD. The development of the Shipping Committee is dealt with in the fourth chapter as is the evolution of the Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences. The conclusion assesses the significance of UNCTAD within international shipping and at the relevance of the case for regime analysis and theories of international relations.</p>