ocus is strictly on national issues. For the World Bank, the inclusion of such organizations in the definition of NGOs is appropriate, because economic development and environmental protection action need not necessarily be transnational in character. Some issues, such as human rights, however, are more effectively addressed in an international environment (Barnaby, 1988). Thus, depending upon the issues involved, the exclusion of nationally oriented organizations from the definition of NGOs is appropriate (Hellinger, 1988).
For this current examination, a broader definition of NGOs than that of the World Bank is used; however, some restrictions are also applied. First, to be considered as an NGO for the purposes of this examination, an organization must function in a transnational environment. Otherwise, an organization could not be expected to have a role in the conduct of international relations. Thus, organizations which are strictly national in character are not considered in this examination. Second, to be considered, an organization should be non commercial. Although transnational corporations are private organizations, their operations are often closely associated with governments and governmental policies (Lopez and Stohl, 1989). Such associations are particularly relevant with respect to arms producers; however, such associations also develop with respect to transnational agricultural corporations, pharmaceutical corporations, automobile manufacturers, and even cigarette manufacturers. Therefore, for purposes of this examination, all commercial organizations were excluded from the definition of NGOs.
International relations is most often considered in terms of relations among nations (Aron, 1973). The concepts of nationality and sovereignty, therefore, come into play in this conventional perception of international relations (Tolley, 1989). Although its acceptance is far from universal, and is actively resis...