In the 21st Century, violent non-state actors continue to pose an asymmetric threat to state actors. Given the increasing proliferation of lethal technologies, growing global social connectivity, and continued occurrences of failed or failing states, the quantity of violent non-state actors posing threats in global hotspots is likely to increase. The United States, already facing strategic overreach due to conflicts in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, will face enormous difficulties in engaging militarily against a multitude of violent non-state actors. Smart power, a selective employment of hard and soft power applications, presents an opportunity to limit and deter violent non-state actors in a resource-constrained environment. Smart power, previously viewed through a largely state-on-state lens must be looked at through the paradigm of containing and engaging violent non-state actors. / Master of Arts

<p dir="ltr">This dissertation examines how partnerships between leading environmental non-governmental organizations (IENGOs) and corporations shape the agency of nonstate actors in global politics. It contributes to the growing scholarship on non-substantialist approaches to the concept of agency in International Relations (IR) by analyzing how interactions between nonstate actors can influence their ability to act and exert influence in global politics. The central concept of <i>agency reconfiguration</i> is introduced. This concept argues that IENGO-corporate partnerships can create opportunities for nonstate actors to gain new capacities and influence in global politics. However, it also acknowledges potential trade-offs associated with such partnerships. To explore this concept, the dissertation first maps the landscape of IENGO-corporate partnerships. This includes a comprehensive list of corporate partners for four leading IENGOs (Greenpeace, EDF, FoE, and WWF), how these partnerships have evolved over time, and a typology of partnership structures. Finally, a process tracing approach is used to examine a specific case: the partnership between Greenpeace and Foron, a former German appliance manufacturer. Within-case evidence is used to link the events from the formation of the partnership to Greenpeace's agency reconfiguration, which ultimately positioned Greenpeace as a central actor in ozone governance, particularly the implementation of the Montreal Protocol.</p>