Book VI Alternative (Including Track 2) Diplomacy, 28 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Violent Non-State Actors (VNSAs)

Subject(s):

Diplomatic relations — Human rights remedies — NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) — Governments

This chapter examines both non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and violent non-state actors (VNSAs). NGOs come in many shapes and sizes. Many have a charitable base and some will have humanitarian or human rights objectives; others focus on sustainable development and aid. Often their concern will be a single issue. Their objectives are focused and invariably single-minded, less able or willing to take into account other aspects. As a result, their relationship with governments, although sometimes harmonious, may be one of tension and occasionally confrontation. VNSAs, meanwhile, represent other categories of non-state actors whose activities are at the opposite pole to those whose benign activity has been described above and where states have lost their monopoly. Their categories number warlords, militias, insurgencies, and criminal organizations, including pirates and people traffickers.