David Mitrany

David Mitrany was a Romanian-born British scholar most closely associated with the functional approach to international organizations. This approach advocates for international cooperation on scientific, humanitarian, social, and economic issues, believing that mutual trust develops through sharing discrete public-sector responsibilities rather than through sensitive political matters.1

Mitrany, influenced by the U.S. New Deal programs and wartime collaboration plans, proposed creating technical and scientific agencies with global reach, organized on a functional rather than territorial basis. This concept, aiming to build a "working peace system," involves gradually transferring programs to functional agencies, expanding their mandates and competence, which in turn creates a network of interdependent relationships. Examples of this approach include specialized agencies of the United Nations like the World Health Organization (WHO).1