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5 - Case Studies

Three Withdrawals

from Part II - Withdrawal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2025

Inken von Borzyskowski
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Felicity Vabulas
Affiliation:
Pepperdine University, Malibu
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Summary

Chapter 5 traces the dynamics of our argument about the causes and consequences of IO withdrawal with three qualitative case studies: the US’ withdrawal from the ILO from 1977–1980, Japan’s withdrawal from the IWC in 2019, and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU in 2020. The cases show how states often think of withdrawal as a negotiation tool and highlight states’ long-term striving for “better” institutional arrangements through other mechanisms of “voice” before exit. In each case, we use archival research and media sources to document that the desire for IO change prompted exit, that states used withdrawal threats for negotiation, and that negotiation prior to withdrawal happened but fell short of the state’s goals, leading to withdrawal. In the cases of the ILO and IWC, negotiation continued while the state was a non-member and led to its return in the case of the ILO. The case studies also underscore the effects of withdrawal: Each of the withdrawing states suffered negative reputational and cooperative consequences and sometimes material consequences from withdrawal. International actors chastised withdrawing states, and the withdrawers then engaged in rhetorical stigma management to try to lessen the impact.

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Chapter
Information
Exit from International Organizations
Costly Negotiation for Institutional Change
, pp. 138 - 182
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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