ABSTRACT
Drawing on theories of international organizations and a polymorphous approach to power, this chapter argues that international organizations (IOs) are simultaneously reform-minded and defenders of the status quo. Modern IOs are often designed by (the most powerful) states to advance their interests, which can have the principal effect of reproducing the existing distribution of power. Yet, they also have certain qualities and characteristics that can lead them to act in ways that improve the capacity of actors to shape the conditions of their fate.
