What Should We Ask Reputation to Do?

Abstract

Kristina Daugirdas's important new article prompts two kinds of responses. By providing a sophisticated analysis of the role of reputation in influencing the behavior of international actors, it invites further thoughts about what we might think reputation is and does. By taking a moral position—the UN should do more to reduce sexual abuse by UN-sponsored peacekeepers in conflict zones—she provokes us to consider how to optimize institutional design in light of particular goals. In this essay, I don't quarrel with anything she says. Rather, I will respond to her prompting. I will discuss methodological issues first, then normative ones.