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Katherine Beall, lecturer in the Department of Political Science, has published a new book examining the rise of regional organizations as key actors in human rights and global governance.

“New Regional Authorities – Self-Determination and the Global South” (Cambridge University Press, January 2026) explores how the idea of regions as legitimate authorities in international politics was not inevitable, but strategically constructed by leaders in the Global South. Beall chronicles shifts in the norms and practice of international interference during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when leaders in Latin America and Africa began empowering regional organizations to enforce human rights.

According to Beall, this shift allowed states to maintain a stronger voice in global decision-making while managing, though not entirely preventing, outside intervention. The development marked both a form of quiet resistance to externally imposed human rights enforcement and an evolution in broader struggles for self-determination.

“Beall offers a novel and compelling argument about the uneven development of international law and institutions across the globe,” writes Erik Voeten, Peter F. Krogh Professor of Geopolitics and Justice in World Affairs at Georgetown University. “This masterfully written book should be required reading for anyone interested in human rights and international institutions as well as for those interested in how Global South leaders helped shape the current international system.”

“New Regional Authorities” is available from Cambridge University Press. The code BEALL2025 can be applied to take 20% off the book’s price at checkout.