IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/glopol/v15y2024is2p135-147.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Personnel power shift? Unpacking China's attempts to enter the UN civil service

Author

Listed:
  • Shing‐hon Lam
  • Courtney J. Fung

Abstract

The People's Republic of China views dispatching Chinese talent to international organisations as a key global governance contribution and a means to shape these institutions from within. International posts are competitive to secure, requiring China's concerted effort to place candidates for entry‐level professional staff positions. However, less is known about how China is preparing to compete for these international civil service positions. This article examines United Nations (UN) staffing data, as well as Chinese‐language academic, policy and media reports to address this research gap and thereby understand better how China is attempting to facilitate an increase in its staffing levels within UN entities. We find China's efforts emphasise preparation of ‘patriots’ who can bring ‘Chinese wisdom’ into the UN, but that efforts to increase staff numbers are still in development. We also note that deploying patriots in the UN civil service is potentially to the detriment of securing posts: patriotism may not translate into bureaucratic skill or expertise and also attracts the attention of other states willing to counter China's staffing efforts. It remains to be seen whether staffing power shifts will be successful and, if so, the extent to which increased representation will benefit China's interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Shing‐hon Lam & Courtney J. Fung, 2024. "Personnel power shift? Unpacking China's attempts to enter the UN civil service," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(S2), pages 135-147, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:15:y:2024:i:s2:p:135-147
    DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.13371
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13371
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1758-5899.13371?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barnett, Michael & Duvall, Raymond, 2005. "Power in International Politics," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 39-75, January.
    2. Paul Novosad & Eric Werker, 2019. "Who runs the international system? Nationality and leadership in the United Nations Secretariat," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-33, March.
    3. Barnett, Michael N. & Finnemore, Martha, 1999. "The Politics, Power, and Pathologies of International Organizations," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(4), pages 699-732, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Duncan Snidal & Thomas Hale & Emily Jones & Claas Mertens & Karolina Milewicz, 2024. "The power of the “weak” and international organizations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 385-409, September.
    2. Paul Novosad & Eric Werker, 2019. "Who runs the international system? Nationality and leadership in the United Nations Secretariat," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-33, March.
    3. Naseemullah, Adnan, 2023. "The political economy of national development: A research agenda after neoliberal reform?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Max‐Otto Baumann & Sebastian Haug & Silke Weinlich, 2024. "From developing country to superpower? China, power shifts and the United Nations development pillar," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(S2), pages 51-61, May.
    5. Mengi-Dinçer, H. & Ediger, V.Ş. & Yesevi, Ç.G., 2021. "Evaluating the International Renewable Energy Agency through the lens of social constructivism," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    6. Cheche Duan & Yicheng Zhou & Dehong Shen & Shengqiao Lin & Wei Gong & József Popp & Judit Oláh, 2021. "The Misunderstanding of China’s Investment, and a Clarification: “Faustian Bargain” or “Good Bargain”? On the OFDI Data of Central and Eastern Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-25, September.
    7. Adela Toscano-Valle & Antonio Sianes & Francisco Santos-Carrillo & Luis A. Fernández-Portillo, 2022. "Can the Rational Design of International Institutions Solve Cooperation Problems? Insights from a Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, June.
    8. Julia C. Morse & Bridget Coggins, 2024. "Your silence speaks volumes: Weak states and strategic absence in the UN General Assembly," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 515-544, September.
    9. Cynthia Couette, 2024. "Epistemic competition in global governance: The case of pharmaceutical patents," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(3), pages 516-527, June.
    10. Frank Biermann, 2005. "Between the USA and the South: strategic choices for European climate policy," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(3), pages 273-290, May.
    11. Stutzer Alois & Frey Bruno S., 2006. "Making International Organizations More Democratic," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 305-330, January.
    12. Christopher Pallas & Johannes Urpelainen, 2012. "NGO monitoring and the legitimacy of international cooperation: A strategic analysis," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-32, March.
    13. Yiping Cai, 2024. "Between co‐optation and emancipation: Chinese women's NGOs and power shifts at the United Nations," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(S2), pages 148-158, May.
    14. Simon Hartmann & Thomas Lindner & Jakob Müllner & Jonas Puck, 2022. "Beyond the nation-state: Anchoring supranational institutions in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(6), pages 1282-1306, August.
    15. Avidan Kent, 2014. "Implementing the principle of policy integration: institutional interplay and the role of international organizations," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 203-224, September.
    16. J. C. Sharman, 2007. "Rationalist and Constructivist Perspectives on Reputation," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 55(1), pages 20-37, March.
    17. Sigrid Quack & Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic, 2005. "Adaptation, Recombination and Reinforcement," Post-Print hal-01892003, HAL.
    18. Barnes Kelsey M. & Wilmarth Arthur E., 2016. "Explaining Variations in Bailout Policies: A Review of Cornelia Woll’s The Power of Inaction," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 5-30, March.
    19. Vaclav Vlcek, 2023. "Who cares about the UN General Assembly? National delegations size from 1993 to 2016," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(2), pages 349-360, May.
    20. Thiemann Matthias, 2016. "The Power of Inaction or Elite Failure? A Comment on Woll’s “The Power of Inaction”," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 31-45, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:15:y:2024:i:s2:p:135-147. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.