New award-winning book by DPIR alumnus Michael W Manulak focuses on how we get significant change to international institutions.

In Change in Global Environmental Politics, DPIR alumnus Dr Michael W Manulak (DPhil in International Relations, 2014) develops a theoretical explanation for transformational change in international institutions. 

Dr Manulak, Assistant Professor of International Affairs at Carleton University, explains how core institutions of global governance, such as those of the United Nations system, can in fact be transformed through resolving a set of coordination dilemmas that play out across time.

He emphasises the particular urgency of addressing this in the environmental space, where humanity now faces a decisive decade for combatting climate change and protecting nature.

The book is based on Dr Manulak’s DPhil project under the supervision of Duncan Snidal and recently won the International Studies Association's Chadwick F Alger Prize for best book on international organisations and multilateralism.

Another key finding of the book, published by Cambridge University Press, is the significance of conspicuous moments in time in resolving coordination problems and bringing about change. He terms these moments 'Temporal Focal Points'.

Dr Manulak said: “While readers have tended to focus on the theoretical aspects of the book, the part of the research and writing that I enjoyed most perhaps was the historical element.

“I consulted tens of thousands of pages of diplomatic documents—eight archives in five countries—and interviewed many of the key actors to provide a highly detailed analysis of the political history of United Nations environmental cooperation.

“That history is colourful and, I hope, interesting to read.”