ABSTRACT
In a 1966 article, Claude observed that the function of collective legitimization in global politics is increasingly conferred on international organizations (lOs), and that the United Nations (UN) has become the primary custodian of this legitimacy. Claude argued that "the world organization has come to be regarded, and used, as a dispenser of politically significant approval and disapproval of the claims, policies, and actions of states." 1 This assertion is even more relevant now than it was in 1966. States, including the United States, have shown the willingness to
Earlier versions of this article were presented at the 2003 International Studies Association Conference, Portland, Ore., I March; the 2003 Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, 29 August; Columbia University International Politics Series, New York, 29 September 2003; and the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University, Cambridge, 6 October 2003. I thank the participants in these seminars, the editor, and anonymous referees of International Organization; and I also thank Bob Axelrod, Bruce Cronin, Michael Dark, Monica Duffy Toft, Nisha Fazal, Jim Fearon, Martha Finnemore, Page Fortna, Stacy Goddard, Macartan Humphries, Ian Hurd, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, Andrew Kydd, Edward Miller, Katia Papagianni, Rita Parhad, Holger Schmidt, Arturo Sotomayor, and Joel Westra for useful comments, suggestions, and corrections. As usual, remainiug errors are the sole responsibility of the author.
