Description:

Please join the International Relations Speaker Series as they host Judith Kelley, Terry Sanford Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science at Duke University, for a presentation titled, "The Future of International Organizations".

We live in unusual times. The pervasive instability currently facing global governance has serious implications for the international organizational system. This prompts several vital questions: First, how unique is this challenge, and how should we diagnose our current moment? Second, what have international relations scholars learned from decades of research that can help us think about what the future may look like and how to navigate it? Which elements of our scholarship can provide practical advice to organizations and policymakers? Furthermore, for citizens who may know little about international organizations, or even policy makers who may not appreciate the nature of the work done by IOs, what can we communicate about their usefulness? Is the system something they should value and support—and if so, which parts of it? This topic stems from an ongoing book project; however, the focus here is not a traditional empirical paper but an invitation to debate these questions. By offering a perspective on our current predicament, drawing insights from existing IR work, and considering emerging research on IO performance, this session aims to stimulate input on how we should conceptualize the future of international organizations. 

Judith Kelley is the Terry Sanford Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science at Duke University. She served as the Dean of the Duke Sanford School from 2018-2024, and before that as the senior associate dean since 2014. Kelley researches how international actors can promote democratic and human rights reforms. In 2012, Kelley was inducted into the Bass Society of Fellows at Duke, which recognizes faculty for excellence in both teaching and scholarship. Kelley has also been awarded the Susan E. Tifft Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring Award, and she was the 2016 inaugural recipient of the Brownell-Whetten Award for Diversity and Inclusion. Kelley is also a senior fellow with the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. In 2009-2010 she was a visiting fellow at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. Kelley serves on several boards. She Chaired and still serves on the Editorial Board of International Organization, as well as other journal boards. She also serves or has served on the boards of the Hunt Institute, the Government Accountability Office Board of Academic Advisors, the Electoral Integrity project, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the Nicholas Institute, and on the advisory board of the 2023 United Nations Human Development Report. She has served as a consultant to the World Bank and other organizations. Kelley's work focuses on how states, international organizations, and NGOs can promote domestic political reforms in problem states, and how international norms, laws and other governance tools influence state behavior. Her work addresses human rights and democracy, international election observation, and human trafficking.