Acknowledgments
On a spring day in 2011 I entered the office of Professor Geir Ulfstein to ask whether he would like to supervise a Master’s thesis on the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. Luckily, he said yes. One thing led to another, and soon enough I was writing a PhD thesis on the human rights accountability of international organizations. Thanks for always finding time to review my writing and for asking all the difficult questions. Thanks also for bringing Professor André Nollkaemper on board as cosupervisor, whose valuable advice and constructive criticism neatly complemented yours. Many thanks are also due to the members of my PhD adjudication committee, Niels Blokker, Kirsten Schmalenbach, and Kjetil Mujezinović Larsen for their valuable comments and questions, which are the roots of many of the improvements made when I turned my thesis into this book.
Particular thanks are also due to the participants in the interview study that I conducted as part of the PhD project. I am also grateful to the many present and former officials of international organizations who have shared their experiences with me over the years. By giving answers to my (at times naive) questions you provided an invaluable glimpse into the inner life of international organizations.
I have benefited immensely from being a member of an excellent study group of PhD fellows: Hilde K Ellingsen, Sofie A E Høgestøl, Anna Andersson, and Sondre Torp Helmersen. Thank you for engaging discussions, constructive criticism, and cheers of encouragement. I am also grateful to others that have read and commented on drafts of parts of the manuscript through the years: Jan Wouters, Christophe Hillion, Jonas Myhre, Graham Butler, Marianne Nerland, Luca Pantaleo, and Andreas Føllesdal.
The research was carried out at the Centre for European Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo. The working environment and facilities could not have been better. Thanks to my colleagues at both the centre and the institute for support, stimulating discussions, and for simply being a great group of people to be around. A special thanks is reserved for the Faculty of Law’s stellar library and librarians, and in particular Senior Librarian Inger M Hamre. Thanks also to the research assistants at the institute and the centre who helped double-check my references in the hectic few weeks before submission: Alexandra Reichelt, Knut Klever Næss, Alexander Stulien, Ivar Gullbrand Nyhus, Senad Saric, and Hanna Nicholls. Another key contributor in the final stages of the PhD writing process was Chris Saunders, who provided efficient and excellent copy-editing services.
In the final stages toward publication the people at Cambridge University Press have been very helpful. I am particularly grateful for the assistance of my editor, Tom Randall, and Senior Editorial Assistant Gemma Smith for guiding me through the publication process. I am also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my family – especially my amazing wife Anne Britt and our little Ingrid.
