  Given two groups $A$ and $B$, the Kaluzhnin--Krasner universal embedding
theorem states that the wreath product $A\wr B$ acts as a universal receptacle
for extensions from $A$ to $B$. For a split extension, this embedding is
compatible with the canonical splitting of the wreath product, which is further
universal in a precise sense. This result was recently extended to Lie algebras
and to cocommutative Hopf algebras.
  The aim of the present article is to explore the feasibility of adapting the
theorem to other types of algebraic structures. By explaining the underlying
unity of the three known cases, our analysis gives necessary and sufficient
conditions for this to happen.
  From those we may for instance conclude that a version for crossed modules
can indeed be attained, while the theorem cannot be adapted to, say,
associative algebras, Jordan algebras or Leibniz algebras, when working over an
infinite field: we prove that then, amongst non-associative algebras, only Lie
algebras admit a universal Kaluzhnin--Krasner embedding theorem.
