Conflicts of Interest in International Organizations: Evidence From Two United Nations Humanitarian Agencies

Abstract

The independence of international civil servants (ICSs) from their country of origin is often presumed but rarely accounted for empirically. In order to address this gap, we investigate whether ICSs face conflicts between national and international interests and which conditions are more conducive to the manifestation of this conflict in international organizations. We adopt a mixed‐methods design, including a survey with 1,400 respondents working in two United Nations humanitarian organizations, followed by semi‐structured interviews with a purposive sample of respondents. The findings show that such conflicts matter for ICSs, hierarchical grade has stronger explanatory power than the other factors, and the higher the level in the international organization, the less frequently ICSs face conflict. The qualitative analysis explains these results by pointing to the effects of socialization among ICSs but also by shedding light on a related effect: dilution of national identity, as well as on the implications of locally recruiting lower‐level staff.

Cross‐level coordination among international organizations: Dilemmas and practices

“…This study points to the importance of international civil servants as agents of change and information brokers (Trondal et al 2010;Weller and Chong 2010;Saz-Carranza 2015;Mele et al 2016) and gives voice to how they perceive their institutional and professional lives. In so doing, it addresses the call to base our understanding of the functioning of IOs on a 'frank and confidential dialogue' with the large numbers of individuals working there (Trondal et al 2010, p. 197).…”

Comparing the autonomy of international public administrations: An ideal‐type approach

“…In order to capture the capacity of the secretariat to develop distinct preferences, administrative differentiation is operationalized by taking into account the employment history of the SG and independent research capacities. The first indicator is based on a ‘post‐recruitment socialization effect’, which is found to systematically influence the identity of European (Connolly and Kassim ) and international civil servants (Mele et al ). SGs who have previously worked as civil servants in the IPA they now lead are more likely to defend the secretariat's position against undue political pressure.…”

“…The first indicator is based on a 'post-recruitment socialization effect', which is found to systematically influence the identity of European (Connolly and Kassim 2016) and international civil servants (Mele et al 2016). SGs who have previously worked as civil servants in the IPA they now lead are more likely to defend the secretariat's position against undue political pressure.…”

Stress and turnover intents in international organizations: social support and work–life balance as resources

“…They can be labeled as "internationalists" who have an open mind towards staff cultural diversity, and who have accepted mobility and expatriation requirements and their respective impact on family life, as defining traits of an international career (Toomey & Brewster, 2008). Benefitting from favorable employment conditions, they pursue a career in a highly politicized environment (Sharma & Banerjee, 2009) and experience multiple loyalties (Mele et al, 2016). These professionals, particularly ones in the the humanitarian and aid domains, often have to operate in an increasingly life-threatening context (Duffield, 2012) that can easily become detrimental to, at the very least, their mental health (De Waal, 2010;Harrell-Bond, 2002).…”