Intergovernmental Organisation (IGOs) — Features & Role

The United Nations, NATO and OPEC could not be more different in purpose, yet all three share the one feature that defines this topic: none of them exists except because a group of sovereign states signed a treaty agreeing to create it. Take the states away, and the organisation disappears with them — which is exactly why an IGO, however powerful it looks, is still classed as a non-state actor rather than a state itself.

In two minutes

An intergovernmental organisation (IGO) is an entity formed by treaty between two or more sovereign states to pursue common interests, with member states — represented by their own diplomats and officials — remaining the ultimate source of its authority and existence.

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