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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > International relations > International institutions > United Nations & UN agencies
This is the personal story of Dame Margaret Anstee's experiences as Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN for Angola and Head of the UN peacekeeping mission there from February 1992 to June 1993. Formerly a colony of Portugal, Angola was awarded independence following the democratization of Portugal in 1975. After independence, disagreement emerged between Angola's main ethno-political groups which resulted in one of the most bloody civil wars the world has known. The author, the first woman to head a peacekeeping mission, intersperses personal experiences with events as they unfold, describing the horrendous sufferings of the Angolan people and analyses the reasons for the collapse of the process and the lessons for UN peacekeeping generally.
Casualties of the New World Order contends that the high rate of failure among post-Cold War UN missions are attributable to common weaknesses which are vulnerable to civil war dynamics. These mission weaknesses derive from the high level of control over the missions' mandates and operations wielded by combinations of self-interested and distracted UN member-states. The effects of these weaknesses are examined in the failed missions in Bosnia, Somalia, and Angola, while their absence is observed in the successful missions to El Salvador, Mozambique, and Cambodia.
The security concerns of the United Nations today extend far beyond what the writers of the 1945 Charter could have imagined. As a result, the UN has been compelled to reconsider the parameters of what constitutes a threat to international peace and security, and what it means to be safe and secure in the twenty-first century. This text critically assesses the capacity of the UN to evolve in response to changing notions of security, and examines the complex history of people, places and politics that have helped shape this important global actor.
It was hoped that by paying forest dependent peoples and countries for their 'service' of conserving their forests, REDD+ would lead to a reduction in deforestation greenhouse gases. The complexities have, however, left some ambiguities. It was never agreed who would pay for the programme, and it has been criticised as ignoring the root causes of forest loss. Considering the motivations of those who promoted REDD+ this book proposes remedies to its shortfalls and recommends more efficient, equitable and effective conservation policies. Describing REDD+ from an agency perspective, this book provides a first-hand account of how individuals and institutions influenced international negotiations. It offers a comparative analysis of REDD+ as a forest conservation regime and of the way it was incorporated into the 2015 Paris agreements. In doing so, this book shows how contextual inequalities and power imbalances can result in international regimes which favour the economically powerful, and proposes providing greater roles for the assumed beneficiaries of environmental agreements in negotiations. This is an excellent introduction to REDD+, its background and execution, and will be a vital resource for students of international environmental governance, as well as for academics and researchers working on REDD+, forest policy and international governance in general.
Japan has consistently been pursuing the goal of a permanent UN Security Council seat for 30 years. The book investigates the motives for this ambition, and how it has been pursued domestically and internationally. It is therefore a study of the inner workings of the Japanese Foreign Ministry as well as of the country's underdeveloped multinational diplomacy.
Karem is eminently qualified to write on the role of Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones (NWFZs) in the processes of averting nuclear weapons proliferation, arresting the nuclear arms race, and eliminating the scourge of nuclear weapons. Karem's well-written, extensively documented, and cogent argument for a NWFZ in the Middle East reflects his scholarly and professional expertise on the technical and political issues surrounding such a proposal. . . . This is an important and much needed contribution to the literature on peace studies, arms limitation, disarmament, and world order studies. It should be part of every library collection. Choice It is clear that the proliferation of nuclear weapons among the nations of the Middle East would pose grave problems for that politically explosive region and throughout the world. In this thoughful study, Dr Karem examines the possiblility of avoiding such a situation and reducing tensions generally by implementing United Nations resolutions calling for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East. Arguing that the NWFZ approach is a viable solution, he suggests how to implement it and how diplomatic obstacles facing such an agreement can be overcome.
Common Heritage or Common Burden? contains a comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the US role in the negotiations on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and particularly in the negotiations on one of the remaining commons, the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction. The author first examines the US view of the lawfulness of deep seabed mining under international law. He reviews the bureaucratic struggles, within the US Administration and the Congress, concerning the options to be pursued at the Conference; analyses the US position in the seabed negotiations from 1974 to 1980; and casts a fresh look both on the Reagan Administration's `policy review' of 1981-1982 which threatened the Conference's outcome, and current US oceans policy which remains an impediment to the Convention's early entry into force. The study suggests that despite significant compromises negotiated between the US and developing countries at the Conference up to 1980, the emerging seabed regime was not as widely endorsed by US officials as is generally assumed. Drawing on material collected from interviews with many key negotiators, the study contributes to a better understanding of domestic and international decision-making procedures and the dynamics of international negotiations.
The history of United Nations peacekeeping is largely one of failure. This book puts a case for augmenting "ad hoc" peacekeepers with competent contract labour; and within the constraints of a new legal regime, supporting future operations with well-trained contractors who might subdue by force those who inflict gross human rights abuses on others.
This is a study of the principal negotiating processes and law-making tools through which contemporary international law is made. It does not seek to give an account of the traditional - and untraditional - sources and theories of international law, but rather to identify the processes, participants and instruments employed in the making of international law. It accordingly examines some of the mechanisms and procedures whereby new rules of law are created or old rules are amended or abrogated. It concentrates on the UN, other international organisations, diplomatic conferences, codification bodies, NGOs, and courts. Every society perceives the need to differentiate between its legal norms and other norms controlling social, economic and political behaviour. But unlike domestic legal systems where this distinction is typically determined by constitutional provisions, the decentralised nature of the international legal system makes this a complex and contested issue. Moreover, contemporary international law is often the product of a subtle and evolving interplay of law-making instruments, both binding and non-binding, and of customary law and general principles. Only in this broader context can the significance of so-called 'soft law' and multilateral treaties be fully appreciated. An important question posed by any examination of international law-making structures is the extent to which we can or should make judgments about their legitimacy and coherence, and if so in what terms. Put simply, a law-making process perceived to be illegitimate or incoherent is more likely to be an ineffective process. From this perspective, the assumption of law-making power by the UN Security Council offers unique advantages of speed and universality, but it also poses a particular challenge to the development of a more open and participatory process observable in other international law-making bodies.
"United Nations Global Conferences "discusses the origins, meaning,
purposes, trends and controversies concerning the convening and
impacts of United Nations global conferences.
The book traces the end of hostilities and the often acrimonious, sometimes naive, but always laboured negotiations towards peace and elections in Mozambique. There is careful examination of the many international factors involved from the covert intervention of South Africa, the reaction of one African state, the role of the United Nations and that of humanitarian and religious groups. The lessons for conflict resolution and peacekeeping for Africa and beyond are discussed.
Opposite pages bear duplicate numbering
The book examines selected faith-based organisations (FBOs) and their attempts to seek to influence debate and decision-making at the United Nations (UN). Increasing attention on FBOs in this context has followed what is widely understood as a widespread, post-Cold War "religious resurgence." The bibliography is available digitally at the end of sample chapter, which can be downloaded on this page.
In accordance with Article 102 of the Charter and the relevant General Assembly Resolutions, every treaty and international agreement registered or filed and recorded with the Secretariat since 1946 is published in the United Nations Treaty Series. At present, the collection includes about 30,000 treaties reproduced in their authentic languages, together with translations into English and French, as necessary. Conformement a l'article 102 de la Charte et aux resolutions pertinentes de l'Assemblee generale, tous les traites et accords internationaux enregistres ou classes aupres du Secretariat depuis 1946 sont publies dans le Recueil des traites. Actuellement, la collection comprend environ 30.000 traites reproduits dans leur langue d'origine, avec des traductions en anglais et en francais, si necessaire.
How have women used global institutions and the networking possible through them to assure women's emergence on the world stage? How successful have women been at the United Nations and at international conferences over the years in their pressures for equality and for a full partnership with men? To what extent have women gained a foothold in the political arena internationally, and have they been able to exert their influence and to improve their situation? Expert participants and scholars give varying perspectives and insights about the history of women's worldwide efforts through governmental and nongovernmental organizations. They trace the role of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. They analyze the politics of the three world women's conferences in the 1970s and the 1980s, the evolution of institutions set up as catalysts to resolve key issues in developing countries, and the changing conditions for women in the UN Secretariat and specialized agencies. These unusual appraisals and a lengthy bibliography are for interdisciplinary audiences of women and men around the world--essential background to understanding the 1995 UN conference in Beijing.
The UN's capacity as an administrative decision-maker that affects the rights of individuals is a largely overlooked aspect of its role in international affairs. Administrative Justice in the UN explores the potential for a model of administrative justice that might act as a benchmark to which global decision-makers could develop procedural standards. Niamh Kinchin adeptly explores accountability in the context of decision-making within the UN and examines whether its administrative decisions, affecting the rights and obligations of individuals and groups, contain sufficient procedural protections. It is suggested that 'global administrative justice' requires two fundamental elements; administrative decisions made according to law, and to values communities accept as just, which are identified as rationality, fairness, transparency and participation. This model is applied to the UN's Investigations Divisions of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Security Council and the Internal Formal Justice System in order to measure procedural protections, identify gaps and make recommendations for reform. This insightful book will be vital reading for academics and students of human rights, constitutional, public international, and administrative law. UN-affiliated personnel, as well as those involved in diplomatic departments, will find this book an engaging read.
Conflict resolution and peacekeeping are not only closely related conceptually, they were also "inventions" of the same historical period. Peacekeeping was first defined under the Hammarskjold Principles of 1956, while we can date the formal institutionalization of conflict resolution to the founding of the "Journal of Conflict Resolution" in 1957. However, it is in the 1990s that conflict resolution theorists turned to the perspectives of conflict theory in an effort to develop more effective practices of peacekeeping. This book is about the ways in which conflict resolution theory has become relevant to the various challenges faced by the United Nations peacekeeping forces as efforts are made to learn from the traumatic and devastating impact of the many civil wars that have erupted in the 1990s.
Conflict resolution and peacekeeping are not only closely related conceptually, they were also "inventions" of the same historical period. Peacekeeping was first defined under the Hammarskjold Principles of 1956, while we can date the formal institutionalization of conflict resolution to the founding of the "Journal of Conflict Resolution" in 1957. However, it is in the 1990s that conflict resolution theorists turned to the perspectives of conflict theory in an effort to develop more effective practices of peacekeeping. This book is about the ways in which conflict resolution theory has become relevant to the various challenges faced by the United Nations peacekeeping forces as efforts are made to learn from the traumatic and devastating impact of the many civil wars that have erupted in the 1990s.
The United Nations Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) offers a bold new agenda for handling the issue of ageing in the 21st-century. It focuses on three priority areas: older persons and development; advancing health and well-being into old age; and ensuring enabling and supportive environments. This book brings together global perspectives on the MIPAA and focusses on and assesses the success and failures of governments to implement its recommendations. Despite its pivotal importance in international ageing policy, the MIPAA has been relatively neglected by academics in their writings and studies. This book mitigates this analytical and empirical cavity. Each chapter focuses on one specific geographical region and addresses five key themes: National ageing situation; Twenty years of MIPAA; Ensuring ageing with dignity; Healthy and active ageing in a sustainable world; and Priorities for the future. It presents an overall summary of the findings, future challenges and opportunities related to ageing, recommendations for future actions to be taken, and policy adjustments needed. The authors also present lessons that were learnt from managing the impact of COVID-19 on older people, together with an outlook on the most immediate priorities for the future so that the recommendations in the MIPAA are achieved in post-COVID-19 and sustainable ethical scenarios. An important contribution towards the advancement of ageing policy, the book will be indispensable to students and researchers of gerontology, ageing, and health. It will also be of interest to policy makers, geriatricians, dementia care specialists, social policy makers responsible for ensuring active and healthy ageing, and all public sector departments which have specific responsibilities towards improving the quality of life of older adults.
Explores how much and what the World Bank and the United Nations can really be expected to achieve. The text begins with a detailed account of the evolution of the two organizations as multilateral development institutions and then focuses on the functions that the World Bank and the UN carry out, and the governing structures that underlie their activities. The authors then go on to question what need there is for these two multilateral institutions in the next century and which tasks they can undertake in promoting world development. Both the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank have repeatedly proclaimed their solemn ambitions to improve the lot of humankind. Dinosaurs or Dynamos? explores how much, and what, they can really be expected to do. Both have extended their functions far beyond their original mandates, while their decision-making structures have remained basically unaltered despite recent adaptations on the part of the World Bank. Such expansions have created serious strains on both organizations. The UN has ambitions to perform tasks, such as the search for 'good governance' and 'sustainable development', for which it is ill equipped. The World Bank has taken on normative functions - 'the premier development institution' - that are incompatible with its traditional structures. The authors ask, what need is there for these two multilateral development institutions in the next century? Which tasks in promoting world development can they undertake that others cannot? To whom are these institutions politically accountable, who sets their agendas and are they credible given financial constraints? Dinosaurs or Dynamos? is an essential guide for those working within the international community, non-governmental organizations, governments and students of development, economics, politics and international relations.
Fully updated chapters and a new Introduction, including discussion of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. the world's response to COVID-19, and the revival of ultranationalism and great-power rivalry. New sections on the theory and practice of neoliberalism and populism, the UN's use of the "Responsibility to Protect" in the Middle East, the Arab Spring, and multifaceted roles in the developing world, with special attention to Africa. Updated analysis of twenty-first century challenges to collective security, including in Syria and, particularly, in Ukraine. Unique special section on the student Model United Nations experience. Coverage of the UN's efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals; and Resources with supportive materials and documents. Fresh descriptions of the U.S.-China relationship within the UN environment, including inventive and challenging Chinese global financial and economic policies.
This book fills a major gap in the study of inter-war British foreign policy: it is the first complete study of Austen Chamberlain's term of office as Stanley Baldwin's Foreign Secretary from 1924-29. It is argued that Chamberlain's priority was a two-stage policy in western Europe, which aimed at pacifying both France and Germany, as well as encouraging the League of Nations. Other key chapters deal with British policy in the Middle East and China and policy Towards America. Overall, Chamberlain is shown to have committed Britain to a European diplomatic role, which was opposed by Cabinet ministers who did not see a European interest to all aspects of British foreign policy. Today, in the Conservative Party, the debate is still unresolved.
The author looks at the first occasion on which the United States became involved in war while fulfilling its obligations under the United Nations Charter: the Korean episode. This book is concerned principally with the interrelation of United States policies and those of the United Nations as they developed in Korea. It attempts to explain in what fashion and to what extent American policies with respect to Korea were modified by membership in the United Nations, and conversely, how United Nations policies were affected by the fact of American membership.
The war in the Western Sahara recently entered its sixteenth year. Although progress toward peace has been made, concrete steps to a final resolution have not yet occurred. This has had serious political, social, economic, and military consequences for the countries in the region. Despite the significance of the issue, until now very few scholarly works have dealt with the regional and international dimensions of the conflict. In particular, little attention has been paid to the role of the superpowers and of the United Nations in the region and to the other related issues which are the focus of this book. The Western Sahara conflict raises serious questions about the role of international law and of the United Nations in achieving the decolonization of former colonial territories and resolving regional conflicts. Taken together, the work of the scholars, diplomats, and experts in international law who have contributed to this volume constitutes a significant contribution to our understanding of the role of outside powers in the origins and evolution of the war in the Western Sahara. Their work also casts new light on the efforts of the Maghrebi states to overcome regional divisions by themselves and on the continuing attempts by the United Nations to resolve the conflict in the Western Sahara and restore respect for international law. This work will interest specialists West African affairs and in international law and organizations. |
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