International Organization

After World War II, there was a vast expansion in the number, scope, and complexity of international organizations. Over time, formal institutions like the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the International Monetary Fund, and later the G7, G20 and other informal institutions came to play important governing roles across a wide range of policy arenas. Why have formal and informal international organizations proliferated, expanded, and in some cases suddenly contracted? How do such organizations shape the international system? Why do states sometimes conduct foreign policy through international organizations? Why do some international organizations evolve over time, while others resist change? What are some of the pathologies and problems of contemporary international organizations? We will examine such questions through reference to historical and analytical scholarship as well as through empirical examination of the functions and operations of specific international organizations.