International Cooperation and Integration: A Deep Dive
International Cooperation and Integration
Cooperation is the other side of the coin from conflict. Interests are shared when the actors are able to share objectives. Conflict and cooperation can coexist perfectly, and actors can cooperate to freeze a conflict. There are actors who are in conflict, yet are cooperating in other areas or even in the same area to resolve it. For example, Spain has a dispute relating to the sovereignty of Gibraltar and yet cooperates with England. The goal of cooperation with the environment is one clear example of existing cooperation to address pollution of the seas and is to be met by all States. Therefore, in certain matters, the States alone would be ineffective. From idealistic theories, it is argued that we must choose cooperation, trying to find a unanimous objective. War is a failure of politics. When there are more democracies in the world, there will likely be fewer wars. Cooperation is a political rapprochement of continuous positions. There is an effort required to adapt the way to the agreement, sometimes through agreements or treaties, creating an institutionalized cooperation structure and formalized through a treaty. Nothing excludes cooperation. After the conflict and its extreme form, war, it is now the turn of the partnership, whose extreme form is defined as integration, to understand that the latter is based on a logic that supersedes the intensity of states. The cooperation system can range from diplomacy to creating an organization where states share sovereignty to start an integration process. There are problems considered part of the global agenda, such as the environment, terrorism, drug trafficking, AIDS, etc. In other cases, it is technical and administrative cooperation, international vaccination criteria, civil aviation, or postal services. All states have accepted the principle of international cooperation as a norm of behavior since joining the UN. By signing the charter of San Francisco, the 192 UN members are intended to cooperate in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian nature and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of race, sex, language, or religion.
Development Cooperation
It is a special model where there are 2 parts, one more developed than another, or richer, that puts some of their wealth to develop the other. It is asymmetrical cooperation. A part of the amounts invested in development cooperation is of no return, that is, it is not recovered. The richest countries proposed to allocate 0.7% of GDP to the development of underdeveloped countries. This is only met by Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
Integration
It is a sophisticated process of intense ongoing cooperation in establishing not only an institution but requires that some powers are conferred or supranational authority to these institutions, such as the EU. Integration takes from the moment States do not have responsibility themselves for the supranational institution, a model is developed like a Customs Union. After the Cold War, with the increasing regionalization processes to meet the challenges of a globalized society, geographical and cultural proximity facilitates integration projects. Today, the U.S. has made agreements with Southeast Asia. The conflict-cooperation continuum transports us from the Hobbesian state of war to the Lockean state of civil society. Overcoming the image of anarchy in international relations is in the interest of efficiency and welfare.