The Politics of International Organizations: Views from insiders

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of illustrations -- List of contributors -- Acknowledgments -- List of abbreviations -- Understanding the governance of international organizations -- Understanding IOs -- Our approach -- Understanding players -- The contributions in this volume -- 1. The World Trade Organization as an institution -- Status of the WTO -- Membership of the WTO -- Structure of the WTO -- Structure of the WTO Secretariat -- Secretariat staff -- Selection of the Director-General -- Organizational issues raised by expanding WTO membership -- Appellate Body and secretariat -- History and culture: from GATT to WTO -- The WTO from 1995 to 2013 -- Interaction between main groups of players -- Decision making -- What fears/expectations have been raised? Have these materialized? -- Conclusion: an organization that needs rebalancing? -- 1.2. Weak organization, strong institution: Comment -- Strong institution? -- 2. Reform at the World Bank -- Opening up the Bank -- Structural adjustment lending and economic policy reform -- The Wapenhans Report and project quality -- The Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative -- IDA grants -- Decentralization -- Conclusion -- 2.1. The World Bank: Comment -- 2.2. The World Bank-plus ça change?: Comment -- 3. Governance at work at the International Monetary Fund -- Governance structure -- Effectiveness: the IMF's hallmark -- Vote and voice: the quest for increased legitimacy -- Consensus building and ownership: why they matter -- Ministerial engagement increasingly indispensible -- Strategic oversight and accountability -- Conclusion: governance reform-too slow, too incremental? -- 3.1. IMF governance and decision-making processes: Comment -- Obligations of IMF members -- Ownership is vital -- Concerns about legitimacy reduce the IMF's effectiveness.

"International organisations (IOs) often receive a bad press, seen as intrusive, domineering and unresponsive to the needs of the people and countries they are meant to serve. They are also seen as sclerotic bureaucracies, unable to move fast or to solve the intractable problems of the countries that need their assistance. The best way to understand the operation of these international organisations is to bring together those who represent their countries at IOs and those who have been working at IOs at various capacities and then to listen to their experiences. The book will set the scene through a theoretical introduction to ask the questions, and then features chapters on each IO from experts, with comments and additional insights from experienced practitioners or observers, and a conclusion that explicitly draws out the comparative lessons and contrasts the insights of practitioners from those of external observers. It seeks to develop an alternative approach to the analysis of IOs that takes account of all those involved, whether state representatives, IO leaders and members of the secretariat. Providing a well informed, innovative and consistently structured analysis of IOs this work will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, international organizations and global governance. "--