Abstract
National governments frequently pull strings to get their citizens appointed to senior positions in international institutions. We examine, over a 60 year period, the nationalities of the most senior positions in the United Nations Secretariat, ostensibly the world's most representative international institution. The results indicate which nations are successful in this zero-sum game, and what national characteristics correlate with power in international institutions. The most overrepresented countries are small, rich democracies like the Nordic countries. Statistically, democracy, investment in diplomacy, and economic/military power are predictors of senior positions -- even after controlling for the U.N. staffing mandate of competence and integrity. National control over the United Nations is remarkably sticky; however the in influence of the United States has diminished as US ideology has shifted away from its early allies. In spite of the decline in US influence, the Secretariat remains pro-American relative to the world at large.
Highlights
This paper examines the nationality of the most senior officials in the United Nations Secretariat over the last sixty years, with the goal of understanding which nations have been successful in controlling this institution, and what factors have allowed them to do so
We find that the share of Americans in senior positions has been declining since the 1960s
It is perhaps no accident that the bureaucratic arms of the United Nations tend toward an ideology that is not dissilimar to that of the Nordic nations
Summary
This paper examines the nationality of the most senior officials in the United Nations Secretariat over the last sixty years, with the goal of understanding which nations have been successful in controlling this institution, and what factors have allowed them to do so. This dataset allows us to analyze how positions are allocated, and to use the allocation of positions as a window into the influence, or power, of states in the international system. By our measures, the ideologies of the United States and its 1950 allies have diverged, especially since the 1980s, so the placement of old allies in former U.S positions has led to a substantial loss in American influence at the United Nations These findings both reinforce and add nuance to Keohane’s 1984 notion that international it is the most commonly used proxy for the large set of indicators highly correlated with GDP.
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