DAN XU
2600971x@student.gla.ac.uk
https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0009-0002-3944-6192
Research title: A shift in the mode of global governance? Indirect governance by informal intergovernmental organisations (IIGOs) through intermediaries
Research Summary
How do international organizations collaborate to address today’s most pressing global challenges? My research tackles this question by examining the dynamics of interaction among international organizations, with a particular focus on informal intergovernmental organizations (IIGOs) such as the G20, BRICS, and the G7.
Unlike traditional formal organizations with permanent bureaucracies, IIGOs govern indirectly. They rely on a strategy known as orchestration—working through formal institutions like multilateral development banks, OECD and UN agencies to implement their agendas. My research investigates how IIGOs select their partners, and how these cross-organizational relationships shape cooperation in critical areas like climate change and technological governance.
A key goal of my work is to develop more systematic and fair ways to assess the contributions of different international organizations within the broader global governance architecture. To do this, I employ a mixed-methods approach, combining original datasets on institutional interactions with quantitative analysis, social network analysis, and elite interviews with policymakers and practitioners.
Ultimately, I aim to advance our understanding of how international organizations collaborate across institutional boundaries—and how these collaborations can be strengthened to make global governance more effective, inclusive, and accountable.
Supervisors
Grants
- College of Social Science (COSS) PhD scholarship, Univeristy of Glasgow, £58,639
- Research Training Support Grant, University of Glasgow, £2250
- Travel Grant, Durham University, £300
- Travel funding, Heidelberg Univeristy, €400
Conferences
- International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Conference 2025, Chicago, US, 2025
- Global Policy North Workshop 2024, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK, 2024
- “Policy Making and Policy Implementation: An intermediation Perspective” Workshop, University of Heidelberg, Germany, 2024
- PGR conference “Crises, Decisions and Societies: Challenges and Recent Development”, University of Glasgow, UK, 2024
