International organizations : politics and processes of global governance

When Lynne Rienner calls and invites you to write a book, the invitation is hard to resist, particularly when it comes with passion, enthusiasm, and encouragement. Lynne has been patient through several delays and fore bearing as this project grew beyond our collective anticipation. We wish to thank her for the opportunity she provided.

The politics and processes of global governance have become increas ingly complex in recent years as the pieces and actors multiplied and chal lenges mounted. Many of the ideas we have tried to express here have had a long period of Thus, while work on the book has consumed four years of our lives, it is actually the product of many more years of work. Throughout, we have been inspired by two scholars who have con tributed significantly to the study of international organizations, Inis L. Claude Jr. and the late Harold K. Jacobson. It is to them that we dedicate this book, with gratitude for their continuing inspiration.

In the earliest stages of work on this project, we were greatly aided by the lively discussion and feedback from a group of people whom Lynne. Rienner helped us convene: Vicki Golich. Valerie Assetto, Paul Wapner. Mary Durfee, Alynna Lyon, and Richard Robyn. Thanks as well to Paul Diehl and Thomas Weiss for insightful suggestions and to two anonymous reviewers who read the manuscript in record time and provided excellent comments and concrete proposals for revisions. To all those who partici pated in of our ideas but are not named here, we also say thanks.

We have incurred a debt to our students who tested pieces of the book and ideas, gave us feedback on what worked and what did not. To several students we owe special acknowledgement for contributing case material and other pieces, including Laura Rivera, Jason Enia, Jill Marie Gerschutz, Renee Michel, Peter Pergola, Natalie Florea, and Edward Petronzio. Also, special thanks to Jean Poindexter in the Department of Political Science at the University of Dayton and Tony Miller at the Patterson School of Diplomacy, University of Kentucky, for their technical assistance. Finally, no project like this is possible without the support of families who bear the burden of long hours, weeks, and months of concentrated labor. We are grateful to our husbands, Ralph Johnston and Rober Stauffer, for all the love and encouragement they provided, as well as to Ginger and Brett Stauffer who kept inquiring is it done yet? They, along with Paul and Anna Karms, represent the next generations that must sustain efforts to enhance the pieces of global governance.