New Regional Authorities

The idea that regional organizations rightly occupy a central place in human rights, global governance, and international intervention has come to be taken-for-granted in international politics. Yet, the idea of regions as authorities is not a natural feature of the international system. Instead, it was strategically constructed by the leaders in the Global South as a way of maintaining their voice in global decision-making and managing (though not preventing) outside interference. Katherine M. Beall explores changes in the norms and practice of international interference in late 1970s and early 1980s, a time when Latin American and African leaders began to empower their regional organizations to enforce human rights. This change represented a form of quiet resistance to the imposition of human rights enforcement and a transformation in the ongoing struggle for self-determination. This book will appeal to scholars of international relations, international history, and human rights.

Katherine M. Beall is a Lecturer at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and has previously worked at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the US Embassy in Croatia. Her research has received awards from multiple American Political Science Association sections.