International organizations and the depoliticization of the world

Debates on the (in)uselessness of international organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic such as the war in Ukraine recall the expectations that weigh on these institutions which nevertheless claim to "not do politics". This work takes this claim seriously and studies how very diverse international organizations put it into practice to "depoliticize the world". How do they go about it? Based on different case studies ranging from the management of the environmental crisis to the reform of the UN Security Council, this work analyzes the practices of expertise, the claims to neutrality and the play on the temporality of negotiations as markers of depoliticization. What leads an international organization to depoliticize the world? The work reveals three main logics of depoliticization which are part of a pragmatic posture, legitimation strategies and attempts to avoid responsibility. This book demonstrates that international organizations cannot be reduced to apolitical mechanisms established solely to facilitate international cooperation.