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International Organization Initiatives: How and Why Organizations Adapt and Change

International Organization Initiatives: How and Why Organizations Adapt and Change

Author: Gabrielle Marceau; Henner Gott
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780197803295
Published In: October 2025
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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How do changes in international organizations (IOs) come about? How do IOs adapt to respond to crises and unforeseen needs of their members, and what roles do the secretariats, and their heads play in this process? International Organization Initiatives deals with these questions and shows how IOs, their secretariats and executive heads launch and implement innovative activities. It sheds light on both proactive and reactive approaches to institutional evolution.

Bringing together distinguished scholars of international organizations and experienced practitioners, this volume showcases and investigates IOs' adaptive capacity, their achievements, and limitations. "Through case studies and conceptual frameworks, the book explores a largely uncharted world of IO evolution to which international secretariats contribute significantly. The collection of chapters brings to light the mechanisms used in the past by IOs to adapt to what were, on each occasion, new challenges to their efforts to assist and respond to unprecedented needs of their members faced with new realities.

International Organization Initiatives is a valuable resource for both scholars and practitioners interested in IOs and their capacity for change in response to global crises, members' demands, internal impulses or interactions with the outside world. Providing an in-depth look at governance model transformations and institutional innovations, it offers a collective wealth of knowledge and insights, along with lessons for future global governance.

Introduction: Why Should We Care About IO Initiatives in Response to Needs?

PART I. THEORETICAL AND LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF IO INITIATIVES

1:Change in International Organizations

2:IO Initiatives, Ideology, and the Imaginaries of Liberal Reform

3:From Functionalism to Constitutionalism: Translating Theories on IO Powers into Practice

4:The Evolution of IO Powers and Activities: A Legal Framework

5:Interpreting Constituent Instruments to Justify the Evolving Powers of International Organizations

PART II. THE ROLE OF SECRETARIATS IN INITIATING IO CHANGE

6:IO Secretariats as Knowledge Actors

7:The Establishment of the UN Criminal Tribunals: The Role of the UN Secretariat

8:The World Bank's Evolution Towards Environmental and Social Responsibilities

9:WHO's Reactions to COVID- 19: Between Politics and Managerialism

10:Fossil Fuel Subsidies at the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development

11:The African Union Commission's Endeavour with the International Court of Justice for Achieving the Complete Decolonization of Mauritius: The Case of the Chagos Archipelago

12:Concluding Commentary: Secretariats as Innovators

PART III. THE ROLE OF HEADS OF SECRETARIATS IN INITIATING IO CHANGE: FUNCTIONAL FORMALISM AND PLURALISM

13:The Role of Heads of Secretariats in Initiating Change: Functional Formalism and Pluralism

14:The Evolution of UN Secretary- General Initiatives to Respond to Violent and Non- Violent Threats to International Peace and Security

15:The Financial Action Task Force: Coming of Age: Becoming an International Organization

16:UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (2021): A Case Study in Intergovernmental Leadership and Consensus Building

17:Is Too Much Vision a Handicap for an Executive Head? Some Thoughts on W Jenks' Curtailed Mandate as ILO Director- General

18:Taking Initiatives in the WTO: The Role of an Executive Head in Steering Change

19:The International Energy Agency at 50: The Astounding Environmental Shift from an Organization Focused on Fossil Energy Supply to a Clean Energy Authority

20:The Driving Role of the Heads of International Organizations: A Case Study Around the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development

21:Concluding Commentary: Reflections on IO Leaders' Approaches

PART IV. INTERACTION WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD AND IO CHANGE

22:Interactions with the Outside World as a Factor for IO Initiatives

23:International Organization Interactions with Multi- stakeholder Initiatives: The International Labour Organization Experience

24:How Do External Factors Shape Institutional, Legal, Strategic, or Policy Change in International Organizations: Review of Selected Examples in World Bank Practice

25:IMF's Responses to New Challenges in the Global Economy: Recent Reforms of Its Financing Toolkit

26:Interactions with the 'Outside World' and the Work of the World Health Organization in Revising the Global Health Architecture for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response

27:The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria: Partnerships, Collaborations, and Initiatives with International Organizations

28:IOs' Initiatives: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

29:The Role of Outside Experts in Anchoring Sustainable Development and Climate Protection in ECLAC's Work

30:Concluding Remarks: Silence

Conclusion: Adaptation, Change, and International Organizations: An Inside- Outside Perspective