Abstract
International organisations (IOs) play a central role in contemporary International Relations (IR). Since their emergence in the mid-19th century, the evolution of IOs has been closely tied to broader developments in international relations. IOs can serve as a forum for states to meet and for other processes to play out, but IOs and their representatives can also participate in and shape such processes. This chapter examines scholarship on IOs both as forums and actors within Historical IR and related disciplines. It identifies five areas of debate in contemporary research related to (i) the genesis of IOs; (ii) internationalism, world government, and transnational society; (iii) IOs as actors and the development of an independent International Civil Service; (iv) neglected actors and sources of agency; and (v) IOs and imperialism. The chapter ends by highlighting how IR scholarship can make a unique contribution to the understanding of IOs as parts of broader patterns and their role in the constitution of international order.
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