The Emergence of the Ozone Regime. An Explanation in the Light of International Relation Theories

Term Paper (Advanced seminar) , 2012 , 19 Pages , Grade: 1,3

Politics - Environmental Policy

This paper analyses why all of the major ODC-producing countries, as well as several developing countries dependent on ODCs for domestic development, “decided to sign the treaty after many had opposed a regulatory ozone treaty for over a decade”. Because the United States (US) and the member states of the European Community (EC) had seemingly irreconcilable differences at the beginning of the negotiations, I will focus on these two major actors. While acknowledging that Japan and the former Soviet Union played also a crucial role.

This paper tries to explain the emergence of the ozone regime by using the neoliberalism and neorealism theory of international relations. The key variable for explaining the emergence of the ozone regime is interest in neoliberal terms and power in the neorealist school. Due to the fact that three schools of thought have shaped the discussion of regimes, I will also examine the constructivist approach to explain the ozone regime formation, because the other approaches neglect the influence of causal and social knowledge for the decision making of actors.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

Historical evolution of the stratospheric ozone regime
Problem of the stratospheric ozone depletion
Regime formation
The ozone regime
The neorealist approach
State coordination for the ozone regime formation in terms of neo-realism

The neoliberal approach
How the neoliberal approach explains the emergence of the ozone regime
The free- riding problem

The constructivist approach

The ozone regime explained in terms of the weak cognitive approach

Conclusion

References

• College: Ewha Womans University
• Grade: 1,3
• Author: Maximilian Eibel (Author)
• Publication Year: 2012
• Pages: 19
• Catalog Number: V298305
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656944676
• ISBN (Book): 9783656944683
• Language: English
• Tags: emergence, ozone, regime, explanation, light, international, relation, theories