Conclusion

Global governance actors and structures have long faced ever-increasing threats and crises, such as the growing environmental crisis, ongoing conflict and war, and mass violence in fragile states and regions. The general theme emerged from this book is that the nature and intensity of the legitimacy crisis in contemporary global governance is accepted by all contributors. The actors involved in legitimization efforts in IOs are generally not the supranational bureaucracies, but member states. The attempts to improve interoperability in NATO is another prominent example of structural legitimacy deficit and the way in which IOs try to address the legitimacy issues. The discussion on the lack of representation or decision-making mechanisms of IOs relates to the input legitimacy. Legitimacy is a result of many legitimation activities in which actors seek to generate and promote support for their roles and functions among relevant audiences.