The Survival of International Organizations: Institutional Responses to Existential Challenges

While international organizations (IOs) have played a central role in global governance in the post-Cold War period, during the last decade many have struggled. Due to the rise of populism, the Trump Presidency, and the renewed assertiveness of the emerging powers, various IOs have been challenged in ways that put their ability to perform core functions at risk.

The Survival of International Organizations studies the responses of IOs to such existential challenges. It focuses on the central institutional actors inside IOs - IO leaders and their bureaucracies - that have a strong interest in the survival and well-being of their organizations. Presenting six case studies and drawing on more than 100 interviews, this book highlights the variation in the way in which these institutional actors try to cope with and counter existential challenges: Some fight tooth and nail to keep their IOs relevant, while other institutional actors are more circumspect in their actions.

The Survival of International Organizations examines the IOs themselves as well as both those who lead IOs at the top and the desk officers who keep the machinery running. This behind-the-scenes view uncovers important processes about the survival of IOs and international institutions. It demonstrates that institutional actors try to tailor their responses to the specific types of existential challenges, but that their ability to do so depends on the quality of their leadership, organizational structure, and embeddedness in external networks.