▪ Abstract  This article reviews three recent developments in international cooperation theory: the introduction of nonstate actors, the study of norms and ideas, and increased examination of the effectiveness, or impact, of international cooperation. Through the lens of the agent-structure debate, we critique the literature that addresses these themes. We argue, first, for a view of structure that goes beyond material properties; second, that more attention could be paid to what distinguishes agency in actors; and third, that this would provide insights into how reflexivity and learning, as well as preference and identity formation, contribute to structural transformation in the international system through iterated processes of cooperation. We also develop ways of applying the agent-structure debate to empirical as well as metatheoretical questions. The article concludes by discussing directions for further research.

This review analyzes the methods being used and developed in global environmental governance (GEG), an applied field that employs insights and tools from a variety of disciplines both to understand pressing environmental problems and to determine how to address them collectively. We find that methods are often underspecified in GEG research. We undertake a critical review of data collection and analysis in three categories: qualitative, quantitative, and modeling and scenario building. We include examples and references from recent studies to show when and how best to utilize these different methods to conduct problem-driven research. GEG problems are often characterized by institutional and issue complexity, linkages, and multiscalarity that pose challenges for many conventional methodological approaches. As a result, given the large methodological toolbox available to applied researchers, we recommend they adopt a reflective, pluralist, and often collaborative approach when choosing methods appropriate to these challenges.

The environment and international relations The Environment and International Relations examines the relevance of the theoretical approaches currently used in international relations to the study of the global environment. Rather than following the usual case-study approach, this book covers both theoretical issues and a range of key international processes. The opening chapters deal with the neorealism-liberal institutionalism debate that has dominated the study of international environmental cooperation; they also bring a variety of other perspectives-from normative theory through gender studies to international political economy-to bear on such issues as environmental security and global environmental change. In the second part of the book, the emphasis shifts towards the organisations and processes involved in the formulation of global environmental policy. Here the contributors discuss the monitoring and implementation of environmental agreements, the relations between science, power and policy, and the role of trade interests and ideology in international negotiations on the environment. The critical importance of environmental issues for international relations is now well established. This is a book that no student of international relations or environmental policy can afford to ignore.

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When most people think of hazardous waste trading, they think of egregious dumping by U.S. and European firms on poor countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. But over 80 percent of the waste trade takes place between industrialized nations and is legal by domestic and international standards. In Waste Trading among Rich Nations, Kate O'Neill asks why some industrialized nations voluntarily import such wastes in the absence of pressing economic need. She focuses on Britain as an importer and Germany as an exporter and also looks at France, Australia, and Japan. According to O'Neill, most important in determining whether an industrialized democracy imports waste are two aspects of its regulatory system. The first is the structure of the regulatory process—how powers and responsibilities are allocated among different agencies and levels of government—and the structure of the hazardous waste disposal industry. The second is what O'Neill calls the "style" of environmental regulation, in particular access to the policy process and mode of implementation. Hazardous waste management is in crisis in most industrialized countries and is becoming increasingly controversial in international negotiations. O'Neill not only examines waste trading empirically but also develops a theoretical model of comparative regulation that can be used to establish links between domestic and international environmental politics.