The CERN Community; A Mechanism for Effective Global Collaboration?
| Date | 01 February 2019 |
| Author | Mark Robinson |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12608 |
| Published date | 01 February 2019 |
The CERN Community; A Mechanism for
Effective Global Collaboration?
Mark Robinson
Durham University
Abstract
Gridlock is a term to describe the breakdown in cooperation of countries in international institutions to address policy prob-
lems that span borders; it refers both to deadlock in existing organisations and the difficulty of countries to come to new
agreements as issues arise. Global science mega-projects and their communities have seemingly been remarkably effective in
evolving complex processes and mechanisms to enable collaboration. Previous research into CERN has focused on recounting
the stories of CERN’s scientific feats and technical innovations. This research has investigated the reasons behind these tri-
umphs from a social sciences’perspective to see why it is an exemplar of organisational success. The CERN communities’gov-
ernance and leadership regimes are examined. Extensive field work has added insights into two themes that emerge from the
literature: the primacy of the state and the employment of combined routes through and beyond gridlock. Through exercising
consensual governance with its Member States to manage multi-polarity and using a light leadership approach with collabora-
tive partners and international staff, CERN consistently achieves outstanding results. This research contributes to the global
gridlock debate by being part of the examination of pathways and mechanisms in successful international collaborations.
Policy Implications
•Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO) should examine the extent that successful global science mega-projects like CERN
provide a model of consensual governance by employing combinations of pathway enabling mechanisms to actively,
effectively and consistently manage multi-polarity with their Member States.
•IGOs should examine how CERN’s leadership utilise a light approach with their international collaborative partners and
staff; multi-disciplinary teams are managed by exercising inclusiveness and consensus decision making.
•International relations scholars should explore whether the applicability of the new beyond gridlock pathway of ‘innova-
tive funding’, that the research reveals, applies to other domains.
•International relations scholars should consider this research as a contribution to the global gridlock debate by being part
of the examination of pathways and mechanisms in successful international collaborations.
Collaboration at the global level has always been a challenge
and Robert Keohane (1984) in After Hegemony points out that
even when common interests exist cooperation often fails.
More recently there are those who argue, such as Hale et al.
(2017) in Beyond Gridlock, that the complexity, interdependen-
cies and interconnectivity of the modern world create new
and grave global challenges that demand innovative collabo-
rative solutions. They define gridlock as the inability of coun-
tries to cooperate via international institutions to address
policy problems that span borders; it refers both to deadlock
or dysfunctionality in existing organisations and the inability
of countries to come to new agreements as issues arise. This
overall diagnosis of gridlock is accepted, and in this context, it
is interesting to consider global science mega-project commu-
nities that have seemingly been remarkably effective in work-
ing against the gridlock trend. Examples include the ITER
Nuclear Fusion Project, the International Space Station and
the subject of this paper: CERN.
Global gridlock research has never just been about
describing the problems; many academics explore solutions
and invite debate on proposals. The Beyond Gridlock authors
describe the multifaceted relationships and processes
required to reach effective governance in each of their spe-
cialist areas. Their research is analytically sound, is based on
robust reasoning and leads to recommendations on policy
solutions that are operationalisable. Seven pathways through
and beyond gridlock and their mechanisms are explored: (1)
shifts in major powers’core interests; (2) autonomous and
adaptive international institutions; (3) technical groups with
effective and legitimate processes; (4) multiple diverse
organisations and institutions coalesce around common
goals/norms; (5) Mobilisation of domestic constituencies for
cooperation and compliance; (6) Civil society coalitions with
reformist states; and (7) innovative leadership as a reaction
to gridlock.
During this research a further pathway has emerged. The
widespread modus operandi of science mega-projects is
that they rely on Members’in-kind contributions as well as
cash payments. The in-kind contributions system has several
advantages to the Members, including keeping the majority
Global Policy (2019) 10:1 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12608 ©2018 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Global Policy Volume 10 . Issue 1 . February 2019 41
Research Article
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