The European as a Blueprint for International Organisations? A Global History View

Today, it is above all international organisations (IOs) that are expected to tackle the challenges and problems of “globalisation” in an “effective” way, while the very nature of these institutions has remained rather uncontested. In this article, I aspire to provide an overview on various subjects that promise to approach the question of to what extent a constructed “European” has been a blueprint for the conception of IOs, as well as a standard addressee of the latter’s policies. To operationalise this enormous endeavour, I will present a working definition of the term Homo Europaeus, which shall reflect the imagined European that has been constructed in different areas and in different historical periods. Then, I will outline my three major questions, followed by a short overview on the historiography on international organisations. A brief history of international organisations shall place these institutions in global history. Subsequently, I will address some features in this regard, namely the dimension of international law, bureaucracy and standardisation for the prevailing image of man in IOs as well as the policy areas of human rights and medicine.