Translations of policy templates by international organizations’ country offices:a common strategic framework in the United Arab Emirates

Research on International Organizations (IOs) has yet to examine policy template translations closely. These are documents routinely produced by IO country offices to compile templates coming from headquarters. The article asks how country offices shape the translation of templates and when a translation fails. It conceptualizes country offices as organizations in a field and proposes the case of the Common Strategic Framework as a failed template translation defended by the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in the United Arab Emirates between 2016 and 2018. Through direct observations, interviews and text analysis, the article argues, first, that template translations carry the fingerprints of the dispositions and positions of the country office in charge. Second, a translation fails when the office in charge is uncomfortable in its organizational field. The office finds itself adopting incoherent positiontakings or stances through the text and may abandon the document altogether. By proposing a methodological solution to analyse template translations in their context and taking country offices seriously, the article sheds light on the adaptation and success of IO policy advice, including in countries traditionally at the margins of multilateralism.