Several factors are responsible for the growing clout of the INGOs. The United Nations Organization has granted recognition and given a consultative status to numerous NGOs. The ongoing process of globalization has questioned the supremacy of the nation-state and created greater space for non-state actors. Consequently, there has been a significant rise in the potential of INGOs to promote world peace through a multiplicity of modalities. The present dissertation seeks to explore this potential by focusing on the following major INGOs: Red Cross and Red Crescent, Amnesty International, and Greenpeace. The broad conceptual framework of the inquiry is derived from the theory of complex interdependence.
The above-mentioned organizations have been chosen because of their differences rather than their similarities. Though Red Cross and Red Crescent societies form part of the same movement, they function in diverse religious and cultural contexts. Each INGO comes from a different region of the world, and has distinctive aims and capabilities. Every organization has a unique relationship with the international community. The age, size, resource pool and scope of these INGOs are unequal. Furthermore, they offer different but complementary components of a long-term and viable peace strategy which is the central concern of this inquiry.