Measuring the speed of international organizations during crises: why would it matter?

Yf Reykers (Maastricht University)

Speed is a relevant, but thus far underappreciated indicator for the performance of international organizations (IOs) in times of crisis. Armed conflicts, pandemics or natural disasters often require rapid, coordinated responses to avoid escalation, loss of lives or damage to critical infrastructures. Although IOs have a key role to play as global crisis managers, we know little about the speed of IOs. The few studies that address IO speed focus either on a single policy domain, or a single type of IO response or output. Meanwhile, many IOs have repeatedly been criticised for being too slow in their crisis response, while (few) others have been praised for offering rapid frontline responses. Without a consistent conceptual understanding of the speed of IOs, it is difficult to compare them and identify root causes of slowness or obstacles to rapid action in global crisis governance. As a result, we also lack the knowledge to make IOs faster. This paper introduces a novel, multi-dimensional operationalization of the speed of IO crisis response that differentiates between the time IOs need to (a) recognize a crisis, (b) take a decision, and (c) implement a policy measure. It illustrates the need for this new multi-dimensional approach with insights from the international response to the 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa. A better understanding and measurement of the speed of IOs is essential in a time wherein crises with global dimensions follow each other in quick succession.

Discussants: Eduard Xia and Thomas Laloux.

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