Ben Christian

The far right and international organizations: How the far right in government affects foreign aid funding - The Review of International Organizations The far right is on the rise, winning elections, entering governments globally, and politicizing international cooperation. Existing research finds only very limited effects of far-right governments on international organizations (IOs), however.. We argue that the far right in government undermines IOs by systematically reducing their earmarked funding, as it cannot fully align its anti-migration agenda with the liberal mandates and purposes of most IOs. Using new data on earmarked funding to IOs from 37 OECD donor states between 1990 and 2020, we examine how far-right participation in government affects IO funding. Expanding the data on far-right parties beyond Western Europe, we employ three-way fixed effects and dynamic balancing weights to address both static and dynamic confounding with marginal structural models. Our results show that governments with far-right parties reduce earmarked funding contributions to IOs by almost 30%, without affecting bilateral aid commitments. This suggests that the far right not only politicizes IOs but also attempts to directly undermine their operation when IOs cannot be aligned with their anti-migration agenda.

UN funding is under pressure. In a new article @the-peio.bsky.social, my colleagues Alex Tokhi and Lisbeth Zimmermann (@goetheuni.bsky.social) show that the participation of far-right parties in government has significant negative effects on the funding of IOs.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Tokhi & Zimmermann argue that the far right in government does so because it cannot fully align its anti-migration agenda with the liberal mandates and purposes of most IOs.

Have a look at this very cool paper, it's open access!
#UN80 #Trump #EarmarkedFunding #FarRight

Tokhi & Zimmermann demonstrate that governments with far-right parties reduce earmarked funding contributions to IOs by almost 30%, yet they do not alter bilateral aid commitments.

The far right and international organizations: How the far right in government affects foreign aid funding - The Review of International Organizations The far right is on the rise, winning elections, entering governments globally, and politicizing international cooperation. Existing research finds only very limited effects of far-right governments on international organizations (IOs), however.. We argue that the far right in government undermines IOs by systematically reducing their earmarked funding, as it cannot fully align its anti-migration agenda with the liberal mandates and purposes of most IOs. Using new data on earmarked funding to IOs from 37 OECD donor states between 1990 and 2020, we examine how far-right participation in government affects IO funding. Expanding the data on far-right parties beyond Western Europe, we employ three-way fixed effects and dynamic balancing weights to address both static and dynamic confounding with marginal structural models. Our results show that governments with far-right parties reduce earmarked funding contributions to IOs by almost 30%, without affecting bilateral aid commitments. This suggests that the far right not only politicizes IOs but also attempts to directly undermine their operation when IOs cannot be aligned with their anti-migration agenda.

UN funding is under pressure. In a new article @the-peio.bsky.social, my colleagues Alex Tokhi and Lisbeth Zimmermann (@goetheuni.bsky.social) show that the participation of far-right parties in government has significant negative effects on the funding of IOs.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

📢 Our biannual #EarlyCareer #IR conference in beautiful Tutzing will take place in late February 2026! @dvpw.bsky.social @apbtutzing.bsky.social

Check out the #CfP and apply until 30 Sep! Feel free to share in your networks ✨
⬇️⬇️⬇️

Interested in International Political Sociology? Join us today at 2 pm! :)

@holgerniemann.bsky.social @luisaue.bsky.social @katharinakrause.bsky.social

Book Launch: Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology

Interested in all things IPS? Join us for our online book launch featuring Co-Editor Ole Jacob Sending and Discussant Ingvild Bode on June 16 at 2 pm (CEST).

Details for the @dvpw.bsky.social event: www.dvpw.de/gliederung/a...

📢 Job announcement – 1 PhD researcher in my "Global Sustainability Governance" research group

Please share this opportunity within your networks and encourage suitable candidates to apply (or consider applying yourself)! Happy to answer questions!

Deadline: 4 June 👇
www.uni-due.de/karriere/ste...

Great to see @reformworks.bsky.social featuring findings from my ISQ article on internal criticism and organizational learning in IOs. In light of the recent developments, Katja asks: Will the UN Ever Learn to Reform? #UN80

Despite a professionalized learning architecture, the #UN struggles to learn. What is the missing piece? A culture of criticism.

With member states stressing that #UN80 be informed by lessons from past reforms, we explore new research that shows how learning can really happen.

👉 bit.ly/UNlearns

Establishing trust and distrust when states leave international organisations: the case of Brexit Although EU and UK participants in Brexit negotiations emphasise the role that trust and distrust played for them, existing Brexit research has largely disregarded this factor. From a trust perspec...

▶️ @benchristian.bsky.social and Dirk Peters examine how trust and distrust define the post-Brexit relationship between the EU and the UK.

Abstract of the article

How can trust be rebuilt when states leave international organizations? #Brexit

Happy to see that Dirk Peters @prif.org and my article on this question has been assigned to the new issue @jeppjournal.bsky.social.

Thread below, open access article here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

This not only sheds light on an under-researched dimension of the Brexit process. It also contributes to trust research, which has yet to fully acknowledge both the significance of signals of trustworthiness & leadership transitions in creating windows of opportunity for changes in trust dynamics.

Rishi Sunak’s government countered the signals sent by its predecessor. By demonstrating its integrity and benevolence, it succeeded in rebuilding trust and facilitated the conclusion of the ‘Windsor Framework’.

Our analysis shows that during Boris Johnson’s premiership, the EU lost trust in the UK government’s benevolence and integrity, mainly because the UK repeatedly failed to honour previous commitments.

Building on insights from trust research in International Relations, we argue that the former partners gauge whether the other side can be trusted based on two types of signals: signals of benevolence and of integrity.

In a nutshell, we argue that from a trust perspective, withdrawals from IOs are highly significant events. When states leave a common institution and their relationship with each other is deprived of previous institutional certainties, trust becomes both necessary & precarious.

Using the case of #Brexit, we examine how trust was lost and later rebuilt during the exit negotiations between the #UK and the #EU

Abstract of the article

How can trust be rebuilt when states leave international organizations? #Brexit

Happy to see that Dirk Peters @prif.org and my article on this question has been assigned to the new issue @jeppjournal.bsky.social.

Thread below, open access article here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Wichtiges Symposium in Frankfurt, Anmeldungen sind weiterhin möglich. @dominikherold.bsky.social und ich organisieren einen Workshop zur Wissenschaftsfreiheit, kommt vorbei! :)

Wichtiges Symposium in Frankfurt, Anmeldungen sind weiterhin möglich. @dominikherold.bsky.social und ich organisieren einen Workshop zur Wissenschaftsfreiheit, kommt vorbei! :)

Other contributions come from great colleagues like @tobiaswille.bsky.social @bendassler.bsky.social @simonkoschut.bsky.social @ksailormoon.bsky.social @audreyalejandro.bsky.social @maxlesch.bsky.social @marielreiss.bsky.social @felixanderl.bsky.social Jonas Wolff @prif.org and many more...

I contributed a brief chapter on 𝗖𝘆𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺, which was a lot of fun to write.

You can find my chapter here (let me know if you don’t have access…): www.elgaronline.com/display/book...

Beate Jahn & Sebastian Schindler have compiled a fantastic “Elgar Encyclopedia of International Relations." What makes it special is that it not only covers well-known IR concepts but also many less-established ones—such as art, failure, friendship, or post-truth. A great resource! 🙏
lmy.de/mjCbh

🏆 I feel deeply honored to receive the Chadwick Alger Prize for the best book on multilateral cooperation and international organization for "Global Governance on the Ground".

Have a look at the book here academic.oup.com/book/59022 and let me know if you can't access it.

Why do many IOs struggle to learn despite a plethora of formal learning processes and tools?

In my new ISQ article, I argue that the criticism culture—the way IOs deal with criticism from their employees—is an overlooked but crucial variable to explain (the lack of) learning in IOs. 🧵

lmy.de/DsCjm

Thank you, Deepak!! :)

🚨Why do IOs struggle to learn?
Interesting new article showing how the « criticism culture ». This is insightful for understanding #safeguards and #accountability struggles—when critical voices are silenced and reports are polished, unintended harms may go unchecked.
#InternationalOrganizations

Thank you very much, Eugene!! :)