Linking pins as drivers of interagency cooperation: humanitarian NGOs and security networks

Abstract

ABSTRACT Scholars in the field of International Relations increasingly pay attention to interorganizational cooperation. Currently we know, however, more about why international organizations cooperate with one another and have only a rudimentary understanding of the ways in which this cooperation is established. To shed light on this ‘blind spot’ in the literature, we draw on the linking pin concept, which originated in organizational studies and has more recently been applied to International Relations where its definition and value-added remain nonetheless unclear. Based on an analysis of security-related cooperation among humanitarian NGOs, we illustrate the merit of this concept and further refine it. We show that the different roles that linking pins play and the interplay between them and their organization are key in the initiation of interagency cooperation.