An Uneasy Relationship: States’ Efforts to Control International Organizations

Abstract

International organizations (IOs) possess elements of independent authority, but they are also bodies created and maintained by states. To survive, they must secure their continued support. Especially the most powerful states seek to control the IOs formally and informally. However, such efforts often conflict with the functional and broader legitimation needs of the IOs. IOs and their member states live in an uneasy relationship. This habilitation thesis presents the results of my research into this tension between the desire of powerful states to control IOs and the functional and legitimation needs of IOs. The series of five published scholarly articles explores how the general problem of the control of IOs by states is manifested in different areas of IOs’ work. These include country-level operations of IOs in policy implementation, the composition of IO secretariats, state control over IOs’ decision-making, and control exercised by states through strategic action across institutions. Introductory chapter (a commentary) presents a common theoretical framework and the broader research agenda to which the five articles chapters of the thesis contribute.