Global Watchdogs: Adapting Roles to Realities (World Politics Review Features)

As conceptions of sovereignty have evolved, global watchdog institutions have assumed broader oversight roles in international affairs. But they still must operate in an environment constrained by states' prerogatives and political realities. For the IAEA, that means balancing competing agendas among member states. The ICC must find ways to pursue its mandate while remaining dependent on states' cooperation to carry it out. And NGOs, though increasingly an integral part of the global governance system, nevertheless struggle with questions of legitimacy and formal status.