Legitimating International Organizations

ISBN-13: 9780199672097 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 248 str.

Dominik Zaum

Opis

The legitimacy of international and regional organisations and their actions is frequently asserted and challenged by states and commentators alike. Their authorisations or conduct of military interventions, their structures of decision-making, and their involvement into what states deem to be domestic matters have all raised questions of legitimacy. As international organisations lack the coercive powers of states, legitimacy is also considered central to their ability to attain compliance with their decisions.
Despite the prominence of legitimacy talk around international organisations, little attention has been paid to the practices and processes through which such organisations and their member states justify the authority these organisations exercise - how they legitimise themselves both vis-a-vis their own members and external audiences. This book addresses this gap by comparing and evaluating the legitimation practices of a range of international and regional organisations. It examines the practices through which such organisations justify and communicate their legitimacy claims, and how these practices differ between organisations. In exploring the specific legitimation practices of international organisations, this book analyses the extent to which such practices are shaped by the structure of the different organisations, by the distinct normative environments within which they operate, and by the character of the audiences of their legitimacy claims. It also considers the implications of this analysis for global and regional governance.

Recenzje

As the role of non-state actors (NGOs, new media, etc.) in influencing international relations has increased, the perceived legitimacy of international organizations has become a battle-ground. Even regional courts today criticize the decisions of the UN Security Council, whose remit in the UN Charter once seemed beyond challenge. Thus, while the legitimacy of international institutions today remains critical, in most cases it is in flux. Dominik Zaum and his highly qualified chapter authors do a terrific job of analysing the current state of play and suggesting strategies that international organizations would be wise to consider in seeking to buttress their credibility and to reinforce their sometimes faltering legitimacy. They play a key role in ordering international relations and in encouraging new forms of international cooperation. As citizens, we would be at much greater risk without them.

O autorze

Dominik Zaum is Reader in International Relations at the University of Reading, and a Senior Research Fellow in Conflict and Fragility at the UK's Department for International Development (DFID). His research focuses on the politics of international organisations, especially the UN, and on the political economy of international peace- and statebuilding efforts. His publications include The Sovereignty Paradox: The Norms and Politics of International Statebuilding (OUP, 2007), The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice Since 1945 (OUP, 2008), and Political Economy of Statebuilding: Power after Peace (Routledge, 2012).