The Causes and Consequences of Loving International Organizations: A Reply to Jean D’Aspremont

Abstract In observing a pervasive love for international organizations and prompting readers to notice and to interrogate its causes and consequences, Jean d’Aspremont makes an important and urgent contribution. This essay raises doubts about some of the drivers of love that d’Aspremont identifies while acknowledging that the community of scholars and practitioners whose work focuses on international organizations does seem to share such an affection. D’Aspremont observes that we temper and confine our critcisms of international organizations, seeking reform and incremental change rather than radical disruption. He labels this particular kind of “criticability” of international organizations a driver of love for them. But it is better characterised as a consequence of love—and an important one, because it highlights questions we’re not asking and possibilities we’re not considering. As members of a professional community, we must continuously ask ourselves what we’re assuming, what we’re resisting, and what we’re missing—and make sure that we constitute our professional community in a way that corrects for our individual blind spots instead of replicating them.