Abstract

‘Non-state actors’ (NSAs) is a term used frequently in both International Relations scholarship and public discourse, yet the term encompasses a dizzying array of types of non-state actors, from private companies such as Microsoft or Shell oil company, to regional organisations such as the European Union or the African Union, from NGOs such as Amnesty International to militia or fundamentalist groups such as the Taliban. There is a lively debate on what kind of influence NSAs might have on states and international relations. How do NSAs interact with other states and NSAs, and how do they affect processes and outcomes in international politics?

Mapping Non-State Actors in International Relations helps students and scholars to cut through the throng of NSAs, by providing a typology of NSAs and an overview of the role that they can play in International Relations. It does by taking a holistic view and looking at the interaction between state and non-state actors, and between different categories of non-state actors. The typology and overview then provide the backdrop for chapters on empirical cases within specific regions of the world. The book thus shows us more about how international relations actually unfolds in a given region, which then has implications for our understanding of how our theories of International Relations can be revisited, revised and enhanced. The case studies focus on particular types of NSAs: intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations; the irregular military and militia groups; fundamentalist groups; ethnic groups; and ‘states-to-be’ (those groups aiming to form a state). The cases in this volume should thus be of interest not only to IR scholars in general as well as Foreign Policy Analysts, but also to those working on regional studies.