Transparency and access to records at intergovernmental organizations: IAEA and NATO

Abstract

Archives of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have not been the subject of systematic inquiry in the archival literature despite the central role IGOs have played in the history of 20th century international relations and governance. It is therefore essential that the records of these institutions, as well as the institutional archives that facilitate access to them, are properly understood. Historically though, access to records of IGOs, especially those concerned with national security information, such as the IAEA and NATO, has been a privilege afforded only to internal staff and not to external researchers. This thesis aims to address this gap, in part, by examining the challenges that archives in IGOs face in providing access to their corporate records, balancing the need to safeguard sensitive information with the responsibility to be transparent in their operations by providing access to their institutional archives. I argue that the Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information, otherwise known as the Tshwane Principles, provide a useful framework for analyzing this balancing act in IGOs. I examine these challenges through case studies of two IGO archives: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).