QUESTION: The international bureaucracies of the United Nations, NATO and the European Union play a crucial role in the planning and conduct of military operations. I will investigate why sovereign states delegate such important functions in the field of security and under which conditions these bureaucracies exert agency.INNOVATION: Using insights from international political economy, I innovatively expand the research domain on delegation/agency in international organisations to security issues. I will take a distinctive comparative approach looking at delegation/agency in the United Nations, NATO and the European Union.METHOD: For these organisations, I will analyse instances of delegation and non-delegation in the post-Cold War period to understand the reasons why states delegate tasks. I will use case studies to get an insight into the conditions for agency during the agenda-setting, planning and conduct of military operations. In terms of data, the emphasis is on official documents and semi-structured interviews.HOST UNIVERSITY: I will carry out the proposed research at Oxford University, which has strong expertise in delegation/agency theory and international organisations. Prof. Duncan Snidal is the scientist in charge. He is an internationally-recognized leading scholar in the study of international organisations.OUTPUT: My project will result in a research monograph and an international peer-reviewed journal article.