Ethics & International Affairs

Table of Contents - 2012 - Volume 26, Issue 01  

Essay

Almost Saving Whales: The Ambiguity of Success at the International Whaling Commission

Ian Hurd

The international regulation of whaling has been a tremendous success. It has reduced whale hunting dramatically from its peak in the 1960s and brought almost all species of whales out of danger of extinction. Today, whaling conservation stands as a—or perhaps the—paradigm of a successful international regime. Yet the international organization responsible for this success is itself in such crisis that it may not survive.

Ian Hurd is Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University, and in 2010–2011 was a Fellow at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He is the author of many works on international organizations, international relations, and international law, including After Anarchy: Legitimacy & Power in the United Nations Security Council (2007) and International Organizations: Politics, Law, Practice (2011), as well as articles in Inter-national Organization, Foreign Affairs, Global Governance, and other journals. ianhurd@northwestern.edu

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