Emergency Powers of International Organizations: Between Normalization and Containment by Christian Kreuder-Sonnen

Date01 March 2021
Published date01 March 2021
DOI10.1177/0020702021994674
Subject MatterBook Reviews
Christian Kreuder-Sonnen
Emergency Powers of International Organizations: Between Normalization and Containment.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. 272pp. $93.50 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-0-19-883293-5
Reviewed by: Michael P. A. Murphy (MichaelPA.Murphy@uOttawa.ca),University of Ottawa,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Christian Kreuder-Sonnen’s Emergency Powers of International Organizations:
Between Normalization and Containment balances sophisticated (yet clear) theoret-
ical innovation with detailed empirical material to explain and explore the devel-
opment of exceptionalism as a practice in international institutions. Speaking
directly to scholars of international organizations (IOs), political and legal
theory, and International Relations (IR) theory, Kreuder-Sonnen’s book is also
a timely intervention that sheds light on the complex invocation of emergency
powers in world politics at a critical juncture. It marks a signif‌icant contribution
to the f‌ields addressed, and will also be of use to practitioners interacting with IOs
seeking a greater understanding of the operation of rhetorical power and legitima-
tion of emergency powers in these contexts.
Following the introductory discussion of the research design, the book proceeds
through a conceptual section, an empirical section, and a conclusion that assesses
the theoretical model and its normative implications. The def‌initional work in
chapter 2 categorizes different forms of exceptionalism based on the mechanism
by which emergency powers are invoked, the intrusiveness of those powers, and the
reach (33). It also sets the stage for analysis of the two core outcomes of post-
emergency politics—ratcheting effects, which seek to extend the emergency
powers, and rollbacks, which seek to curtail them (43–47). The broader theoretical
framework—Kreuder-Sonnen’s “proportionality theory”—is constructed of
precisely these def‌initions, drawing structural inspiration from Just War Theory.
This framework, presented in chapter 3, sets out a contest between the pro-ratchet
and pro-rollback positions, where “the pro-rachet coalition will try to argue that
the assumption and exercise of IO emergency powers was necessary, functional,
and involving a bearable amount of costs” (63). These positions can be aided by
other factors, such as the strength of the coalitions within the institution and the
intensity of the crisis in public perception, which are further outlined in the third
chapter. These two chapters draw operationalizable and manageable def‌initions
and causal mechanisms from a complex and contested literature, but what makes
the proportionality theory particularly compelling is its deployment through the
empirical chapters.
Kreuder-Sonnen discusses six total case studies across three institutions—the
World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Security Council
Book Reviews 171

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