A Quest for Authority and Autonomy

Abstract

The relationships between international organisations and their host cities and states are multifarious and complex. Since the 1870s, when Scottish law professor James Lorimer discussed the ‘want of an international locality’ which would belong ‘to all nations and to none’ in particular and which would serve as a ‘centre of international life’, the study of IOs’ location and status has been pursued from several perspectives by legal experts, international relations scholars and economists.1 Some authors referred to the incentives of states to create ‘internationalised zones’ and attract IOs to their national territory, which would provide host states with economic and political advantages. Others have looked at the interests of IOs, as their agents negotiate headquarters agreements guaranteeing a large degree of independence for their secretariat and staff, together with privileges and immunities for the organisation and its employees. Not least of all, local authorities are significant actors in