Donald Trump and the survival strategies of international organisations: when can institutional actors counter existential challenges?

Dijkstra, H., von Allwörden, L., Schuette, L. A. and Zaccaria, G. (2022) Donald Trump and the survival strategies of international organisations: when can institutional actors counter existential challenges? Cambridge Review of International Affairs, (doi: 10.1080/09557571.2022.2136566) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

The Trump administration posed an unprecedented challenge to many international organisations (IOs). This article analyses the ability of IOs to respond and explains variation in the survival strategies pursued by their institutional actors. It argues that leadership, organisational structure, competences and external networks affect whether institutional actors can formulate and implement responses to existential challenges. Providing evidence from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and World Trade Organisation (WTO), this article shows how institutional actors varied in their ability to pursue survival strategies toward Trump. NATO officials publicly leveraged the Trump challenge on burden-sharing while quietly shielding the alliance from Trump on Russia policy. UNFCCC officials considered United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement to be inevitable and focused on preventing further withdrawals through coalitions with non-state actors. WTO officials lacked the leadership and organisational structure to formulate a strategic response.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This article is part of a project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 802568).
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Zaccaria, Dr Giuseppe
• Authors: Dijkstra, H., von Allwörden, L., Schuette, L. A., and Zaccaria, G.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Cambridge Review of International Affairs
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0955-7571
• ISSN (Online): 1474-449X
• Published Online: 19 December 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Author(s)
• First Published: First published in Cambridge Review of International Affairs 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license