| By conducting an analysis of human rights and environmental regimes (landmines, global warming/climate control, and child soldiers), it is argued in this thesis that there are certain roles that international actors can fulfill, which contribute to the most effective regimes. The thesis makes the distinction between the regime formation and regime maintenance phases. International organizations and powerful individuals are most important in the regime formation and implementation phase because they contribute to the social construction of regimes by bringing together commonly-held international values. They are limited in their ability to maintain a regime by monitoring its standards because they lack the characteristics of states. The hegemon, the U.S., plays an important role in monitoring regimes, and has an effect on the ultimate effectiveness of the regimes discussed in this thesis because of its significant involvement in the issues at hand and because of its potential to influence other actors. |
