Multinational Rapid Response Mechanisms

The track record of military rapid response mechanisms, troops on standby, ready to be deployed to a crisis within a short time frame by intergovernmental organizations, remains disappointing. Yet, many of the obstacles to multinational actors launching a rapid and effective military response in times of crisis are largely similar. This book is the first comprehensive and comparative contribution to explore and identify the key factors that hamper and enable the development and deployment of multinational rapid response mechanisms. Examining lessons from deployments by the AU, the EU, NATO, and the UN in the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia and counter-piracy in the Horn of Africa, the contributors focus upon the following questions: Was there a rapid response to the crises? By whom? If not, what were the major obstacles to rapid response? Did inter-organizational competition hinder responsiveness? Or did cooperation facilitate responsiveness? Bringing together leading scholars working in this area offers a unique opportunity to analyze and develop lessons for policy-makers and for theorists of inter-organizational relations. This work will be of interest to scholars and students of peacebuilding, peacekeeping, legitimacy and international relations.

This book reviews development co-operation efforts of Norway over the past five years. It examines both policy and implementation and takes an integrated, system-wide perspective on Norway's development co-operation and humanitarian assistance activities.

This book discusses the interaction between and the impact of overlapping actions by regional organizations while dealing with critical events. It compares all the sub-regions in South America and Africa from this perspective and creates new knowledge through cross-regional gleanings. The book analyses types of institutional interaction among regional organizations and the effects of overlapping actions on the coexistence or fracturing of regional processes. It examines and compares the dynamics of these interactions in both South America and Africa. The book contributes to the study of comparative regionalism by providing generalization and institutional learning based on a cross-regional approach. It gives to students, researchers and interested readers an understanding of the complexity of regional affairs in multi-organizational environments.

This completely revised edition of Global Think Tanks: Policy Networks and Governance provides a clear description of, and context for, the global proliferation of think tanks. It explores the origins, development, and diversity of think tanks and policy networks, discusses past and current issues facing transnational think tanks, and considers the possible future challenges and developments. The updated content reflects recent trends such as globalization, digitalization, diversity, populism, and disinformation; and it also includes a new chapter on the impact of emerging technologies on global think tanks and governance. The book: identifies, maps, and analyzes these phenomena of proliferation, expansion, and networking; provides a primer and a roadmap for global public policy practitioners, participants, and the interested public; illustrates the global growth of think tanks that the world has experienced over the past eight years; analyzes the impact and emerging potential of new technologies and increasing diversity; and considers how global think tanks and policy networks can continue to improve their impact and overall reach. This volume will be of great interest to all students of international relations and international organizations, alongside policy professionals working at think tanks around the world.

Analyzing the role and impact of Diaspora Organizations (DOs) in International Relations (IR), this interdisciplinary volume provides empirical accounts of their work across Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. Over the last three decades, DOs have increased in number, spread to new regions, and addressed an ever-widening array of global problems, yet they have not received sufficient attention in IR in spite of the inter- and transnational nature of their involvements. Contributions explore important topics such as: The role of DOs in cooperation and conflict and in change and stability; DOs as transnational organizations and their degree of autonomy and power within the networks in which they operate; and The changing roles of DOs vis-à-vis states, regimes, and international organizations, when dealing with issues as diverse as peace, conflict, migration, integration, development, humanitarian action, human rights, religion, and economic growth. Demonstrating how IR can benefit from a stronger focus on DOs, this book will also help other disciplines gain insights into DOs and will prove useful to those in the fields of international relations, sociology, geography and anthropology.

Providing a comprehensive overview of two centuries of international civil servants and international secretariats, this book reveals how international secretariats have emerged and evolved, focusing on both structures (international public administrations) and the practitioners (international civil servants). Reinalda explores the history and development of international secretariats and international civil servants, starting with the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815), when the first international organization was established in the form of a river commission for the navigation of the Rhine. Charting the development of international secretariats through the nineteenth century – the League of Nations, the United Nations, and the United Nations System with its many specialized agencies, the author explains why NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) have strong, rather than weak, international secretariats, and shines a light on the registries of international courts and tribunals. The book fills a gap in the literature by exploring the full evolution of international secretariats, covering global and continental developments as well as regional integration practices around the world. Secretariats have become the leading actors in multilateral diplomacy particularly for dealing with complex issues, and this book will be of interest to all scholars of global governance and practitioners working for a range of international organizations.

This peer reviews assess the performance of Italy, covering not just development co-operation agency, but also policy and implementation. It takes an integrated, system-wide perspective on the development co-operation and humanitarian assistance activities Italy.