Theoretical Approaches to Explaining Changes in International Regimes

In the previous chapter, changes in international regimes governing North-South economic relations were identified. In this chapter, various general approaches to explaining regime changes will be discussed, using the cases of regime changes identified in the previous chapter to determine the potential utility of these approaches. The three main types of explanation of regime change emphasize power, interests, and cognitions, respectively. Changes in the distribution of power, in the configuration of (primarily domestic) interests, and in the beliefs of key policy-makers are the main explanatory variables of these approaches. Here it will be argued that while shifts in the distribution of power undoubtedly occurred during the 1974–7 period and that these shifts provide partial explanations of why regimes changed during the period, nevertheless the exact nature of that change cannot be explained without reference to interests and beliefs.