The Law and Politics of International Organizations

The overarching theme of this collection is the degree to which the activities and even the law of international organizations are embedded in politics. This is demonstrated by episodes such as Security Council authorizations for the use of military force and in activities such as admission of members, financing, voting and civil society participation. In his original introduction, Kenneth W. Abbott illuminates the deep entanglement of law and politics in the structures and activities of international organizations and provides a comprehensive overview of his selection of important articles. These influential scholarly articles address the prinicipal legal and political issues and episodes; they also explore analytical perspectives from law and politics. Spanning the period from 1944 to 2014, they enable the reader to trace legal, political and scholarly developments over time, and provide an entry point into the work of classic authors, such as Hans Kelsen, Quincy Wright and Inis L. Claude, Jr.