State cartel theory is a new concept in the field of international relations theory (IR) and belongs to the group of institutionalist approaches. Up to now the theory has mainly been specified with regard to the European Union (EU), but could be made much more general. Hence state cartel theory should consider all international governmental organizations (IGOs) as cartels made up by states.
Terminology
The term cartel in state cartel theory means – in very short words – an alliance of rivals. It is used in a neutral, strictly analytical way, not as a degradation. The terminology has been predominantly adopted from the old historical cartel theory of pre-World War II Europe. But additionally these terms have been checked and sometimes adjusted in their meanings to be able to incorporate political and governmental functions as cartel functions of the combined states.
Methodical base and scientific background
State cartel theory is a hybrid design made up of two or more theories, assembled in an adequate way.
The method of theory creation consists of three steps: The starting material of a state cartel theory is the intellectual corpus of a broad existing theory of international relations. For instance the following theories might be adaptable: the realism, the neofunctionalist Europe-science, or even a Marxist imperialism theory. Their statements on the relationships between the industrialized nation states are called into question as these are thought to be ideologically biased and therefore these are marked up for revision and change. The losses and vacancies are now to be refilled by another theory, the classical cartel theory of economic enterprises. This theory, made up mainly in Germany, was authoritative in Europe till the end of World War II and was pushed aside globally by the American anti-trust policy up to the 1960s. The classical cartel theory comprised an elaborate organizational theory of the cartel institution. Its knowledge of the relationships among the cartelized enterprises and between them and the common cartel institutions are now to be applied. Hence, the classical economic cartel theory serves as a tool kit for repairing the ideological deformations and corruptions of the existing theories of IR. In a third step the transfer results were rechecked in the light of available facts of international relations and they were stated more precisely and with greater differentiation.
In the final outcome a theory gets built, which – like the cartel theory of economic enterprises – based on the utilitarian image of man. Thus, state cartel theory is strictly determined by socio-economic factors. Since this approach prevents ideological influences it is not – neither evidently nor in a hidden or subtle manner – connected with the interests of any existing great power.
The philosophical precondition of the specified knowledge transfer from cartel theory is the – one century old – insight, that there are striking analogies between combinations of states and combinations of economic enterprises (i.e. the cartels formerly legal and of a great number in Europe). These analogies are both institutionally and functionally adept.
History of the state cartel conception
The conception of international relations as potential cartel phenomena has a long tradition: John Atkinson Hobson, a left-liberal British economist, suggested between 1902 and 1938, imperial antagonisms could be pacified in a system of 'inter-imperialism', if the great powers would "learn the art of combination" ('combination' or 'combine' were at those times used to designate cartels). Karl Kautsky, the leading theoretician of social democracy before World War I, hoped since 1912, the great powers – beginning with the British Empire and the Deutsche Reich – would unite into a 'state cartel' giving them organization and reconciliation within an ultra-imperialism – an idea, that was an illusion at that time. Early Commentators of the European unification described the organizational system of the Schuman Plan in 1950 as 'cartel-like'; the Corriere della Sera, a respected Italian newspaper, understood the aim of the proposal as to build a cartello anticartello, i.e., a states’ cartel to eliminate the private cartels in the coal and steel sectors. The cartel concept for closer forms of inter-state cooperation was counteracted by just a range of actors: by Leninism, American anti-trust policy and European federalists (e.g., Jean Monnet). This conception was first blamed, then ignored, and by the 1960s increasingly forgotten.