Introduction

This book tells the history of international organizations since 1815. Thus far a comprehensive account of this actor in international relations has been lacking. Accounts available are restricted in time, often have an inventory character (Lyons 1963; Charnovitz 1997) or discuss specific topics (Reinsch 1911; Van der Linden 1987; Murphy 1994). The realist vision of international relations regards nation-states as the main actors and international organizations as insufficiently interesting, because the great powers dictate the game. This vision’s dominance caused international organizations to be neglected, both theoretically and empirically. However, in theoretical debates during the past 25 years, more attention has been paid to cooperation between states and contributions of international organizations to international relations. This applies to the debate on international regimes, which confirmed that even distrustful states may cooperate on a long-term basis through decision-making approaches and social-constructivism, which stressed the relevance of new ideas, expertise and authority. These debates gradually entailed greater empirical attention. Recently some international organizations have started ‘intellectual history projects’, but these often restrict themselves to one organization or are limited by the organization’s vision of its past and its position. The historical overview presented in this book is inspired by political science and attempts to cover the full genesis and evolution of international organizations, taking into account the entire period (from 1815 to the summer of 2008, when the war between Georgia and Russia troubled the balance of power), all policy fields (security, economics and humanity), and both intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (IGOs and NGOs).