International Organization Initiatives : How and Why Organizations Adapt and Change

Provides an innovative exploration of how International Organizations respond to crises, internal impulses, and external demands. Through theoretical frameworks and case studies, the book shows how IOs, their secretariats, and executive heads initiate novel activities to meet new challenges.

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.