Since the 19th century, but especially after 1945, nations have multiplied their international organizations (the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, etc.). Today, no issue escapes their purview: peace, security, human rights, economic development, the environment, migration, finance, commerce, etc.
In addition to placing the development of these organizations in a historical context, this book proposes an interdisciplinary analysis of the major questions they raise: what to make of their proliferation since the mid-20th century as well as their dynamics of change and networking? What purposes do they serve in an international system? What power do they possess in comparison to states? How is their legitimacy established? What is their contribution to peace, the international defense of human rights, and the regulation of globalization?
Franck Petiteville is a professor of political science at the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies and a researcher at the PACTE Laboratory (Laboratory for Public Policy, Political Action, and Territories).