International Organizations (IO's) are the manifest institutions within the international political system (IPS). To think of IO's though as the end-all and be-all of of IPS study is a fatal mistake not just for research but also for the practical applications of political science and international relations. The phenomenon of a political system be it internal/national or external/international is both composed of matter and form. This way of viewing the political world can be attributed to Aristotle cf. Cohen (2002) and Miller (2011) who applied his medical metaphysics to politics.
These matter and form of the international political system are 1) international principles, customs, and protocol, and 2) international institutions respectively. As social power allows a persons to exert his or her will in any given environment even in the presence of an opposed will, then both matter and form help shape how this power is exercised. Let's say for example a particular international actor wants higher income from their foreign trade by lessening the economic barriers such tariffs and quotas on their goods. Such actor will have to resort to two possible institutions: one will be an IO with an economic mandate (whether it be global or regional), another institution can be an international legal instrument such a bilateral or multilateral treaty regulating trade.
To view the system only through this lens incapacitates international actors. The second aspect must be considered to provide a holistic view if one means to come up with a truly practical foreign policy. There exists possible international principles, customs and protocol that will have an impact on any international actor's agenda. If institutions constitute the "form" (since they are structured), then principles, customs, and protocol compose the "matter" of the system. "Formal" international laws, the codified treaties and charters are actual "forms", principles, customs, and protocol are non-codified, hence they are material rather than formal. Unwritten and unpublished they may be, these matters of the international system can confine political action, sometimes manifesting a force even stronger than law.
The Principle of Par in parem non habet imperium (trans "an equal has no power over an equal) elucidates the idea of non-intervention and external sovereignty of states. Human Rights, on the other hand, are values that IO's incorporate into practice by codifying them in order to promote a new set of principles in the relations among states.
For your class output, each student of IPS must post a comment providing 2-4 "matters" in the international political system, and provide a short application for each (e.g. how does such matter shape the exercise of power in the international political system?). Some of these can be found from your readings. Incorporate research to supplement this task and enrich your post. Do not forget to use appropriate source citations.
Sources:
Cohen, M. (2002). Aristotle on Substance, Matter
and Form. Retrieved 2012, from Washington University:
http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/zeta17.htm#text1
Miller, F. (2011). Aristotle's Political Theory.
Retrieved 2012, from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/
Photo Credit:
Rlineurope. (2012). Flying Buttress Ceiling in Mont. St. Michel. Retrieved 2012, from Travelpod: http://www.google.com.ph/imgres?start=281&num=10&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=4Ur&tbo=d&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1600&bih=742&tbm=isch&tbnid=S1P1xFpnj7NqQM:&imgrefurl=http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/slideshow-photo/flying-buttress-celing-in-mont-st-
Photo Credit:
Rlineurope. (2012). Flying Buttress Ceiling in Mont. St. Michel. Retrieved 2012, from Travelpod: http://www.google.com.ph/imgres?start=281&num=10&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=4Ur&tbo=d&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1600&bih=742&tbm=isch&tbnid=S1P1xFpnj7NqQM:&imgrefurl=http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/slideshow-photo/flying-buttress-celing-in-mont-st-