Institutions for the Common Good: International Protection Regimes in International Society

The protection of domestic populations by international institutions is both an anomaly and an enduring practice in international relations. It is an anomaly because in a system of sovereign states, the welfare of individuals and groups falls outside traditional definitions of state interest. Yet since the evolution of the nation-state system, collectivities of states have sought to protect religious minorities, dynastic families, national minorities, ethnic communities, individual citizens and refugees. Cronin explains this phenomenon by developing a theory that links international stability with the progress of a cohesive international order.