ABSTRACT
At the risk of simple-mindedness, there are two schools of thought regarding the relationship between international organizations (IOs) and the diffusion of power. One school suggests that IOs are conservative organizations that are designed to freeze existing configurations of power. The other is that IOs are expected to pluralize power. The chapter offers one way of thinking about how IOs might be simultaneously reform-minded and defenders of the status quo. It discusses several prominent theories of international organizations and their depiction of the role that IO plays in the global order. IOs are valued to the extent that they operate with efficiency, impartiality, and objectivity, values that are prized in all modern organizations. The chapter explores the different analytical dimensions (actions and structure; direct and diffuse) to generate four concepts of power: compulsory, institutional, structural, and productive. It focuses on compulsory and institutional power, arguably the most important forms through which IOs affect the diffusion or concentration of power.
