This book examines the role of the international community in the handover of the Dutch colony of West Papua/Irian Jaya to Indonesia in the 1960s and questions whether or not the West Papuan people ever genuinely exercised the right to self-determination guaranteed to them in the UN-brokered Dutch/Indonesian agreement of 1962. Indonesian, Dutch, US, Soviet, Australian and British involvement is discussed, but particular emphasis is given to the central part played by the United Nations in the implementation of this agreement. As guarantor, the UN temporarily took over the territory's administration from the Dutch before transferring control to Indonesia in 1963. After five years of Indonesian rule, a UN team returned to West Papua to monitor and endorse a controversial act of self-determination that resulted in a unanimous vote by 1022 Papuan 'representatives' to reject independence. Despite this, the issue is still very much alive today as a crisis-hit Indonesia faces continued armed rebellion and growing calls for freedom in West Papua.

This unique work by the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa, tracks the progress Africa has made in achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since 2000. Thirteen analytical chapters written by scholars and practitioners with expertise in the various areas covered by the eight MDGs are organized around the larger themes of political economy, structural issues, sustainable goals, and human development goals. They critically assess the progress that Africa has made towards the achievement of the MDGs, discuss how to accelerate that progress, and offer alternatives and recommendations in support of institutions in Africa that are engaged in promoting the achievement of sustainable development. Throughout, they examine the role of various actors (including the African Union; Africa's regional economic communities, the United Nations, the European Union, etc.), civil society, and other external development partners in light of their contributions, shortfalls, and viable options in shaping the continent's development agenda. Together they provide a unique assessment from experts on the ground of whether the goals were a success and what remains to be done to achieve sustainable economic and human development in Africa.

"I swear by all that's Holy, I will never come anywhere near the Palestine problem once I liberate myself from this trap." Ralph Bunche wrote these lines to his wife in 1949, during the armistice talks on Rhodes. A year later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his success in ending the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Ralph Bunche and the Arab-Israeli Conflict provides a comprehensive study of Ralph Bunche's diplomatic activities on the Palestine question. Bunche was at the centre of the story from the referral of the issue to the United Nations in 1947 until the signing of the armistice agreements that ended the war. He began as advisor to UNSCOP and then headed the secretariat of the commission tasked with implementing partition. Later, after serving as the senior aide to UN mediator Folke Bernadotte, he was appointed to replace the Count after the latter's assassination. Using extensive archival materials (some of it revealed here for the first time), this book addresses central questions, such as the relationship between Bunche's African American identity and his diplomatic endeavours, and the complexities of his outlook on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Through research and careful analysis, it uncovers how Ralph Bunche managed to bridge the gaps between Israel and Arab states. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Middle Eastern History, particularly Israeli History, as well as Political Science and Diplomacy.

In 2015, Singapore marks the 50th anniversary of its independence, and the United Nations (UN) the 70th anniversary of its founding. This book celebrates 50 years of a mutually beneficial relationship between Singapore and the UN.In the early years of Singapore's independence, the UN system provided Singapore with many benefits which were helpful in Singapore's journey from the Third World to the First. As Singapore has made progress in its developmental journey, it is now able to give back to the international community through programmes such as the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), under which officials from developing countries are offered training in areas which are beneficial to their countries. Singapore has actively contributed to improving global governance and strengthening institutions that are important to the management of global issues at the UN, IMF, World Bank, IMO, etc. The Singapore Government has also sent its soldiers and police officers to participate in UN's peace-keeping and peace-making operations.This volume brings together 45 essays by Singaporeans who have made or are making important contributions to the work of the UN system. The reader will be able to learn about the UN as seen through the eyes of Singaporeans who have served as Ambassadors to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, the World Trade Organization, or as professional staff in the various specialised agencies, programmes and funds that are part of the UN. We hope that the life stories and experiences shared by the essayists will remind readers that although Singapore is a very small country, we are a good global citizen and have tried to make this a better world.

In 2015, Singapore marks the 50th anniversary of its independence, and the United Nations (UN) the 70th anniversary of its founding. This book celebrates 50 years of a mutually beneficial relationship between Singapore and the UN.In the early years of Singapore's independence, the UN system provided Singapore with many benefits which were helpful in Singapore's journey from the Third World to the First. As Singapore has made progress in its developmental journey, it is now able to give back to the international community through programmes such as the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), under which officials from developing countries are offered training in areas which are beneficial to their countries. Singapore has actively contributed to improving global governance and strengthening institutions that are important to the management of global issues at the UN, IMF, World Bank, IMO, etc. The Singapore Government has also sent its soldiers and police officers to participate in UN's peace-keeping and peace-making operations.This volume brings together 45 essays by Singaporeans who have made or are making important contributions to the work of the UN system. The reader will be able to learn about the UN as seen through the eyes of Singaporeans who have served as Ambassadors to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, the World Trade Organization, or as professional staff in the various specialised agencies, programmes and funds that are part of the UN. We hope that the life stories and experiences shared by the essayists will remind readers that although Singapore is a very small country, we are a good global citizen and have tried to make this a better world.

China has emerged in the 21st century as a sophisticated, and sometimes contentious, actor in the United Nations Security Council. This is evident in a range of issues, from negotiations on Iran's nuclear program to efforts to bring peace to Darfur. Yet China's role as a veto-holding member of the Council has been left unexamined. How does it formulate its positions? What interests does it seek to protect? How can the international community encourage China to be a contributor, and not a spoiler? This book is the first to address China's role and influence in the Security Council. It develops a picture of a state struggling to find a way between the need to protect its stakes in a number of 'rogue regimes', on one hand, and its image as a responsible rising power on the world stage, on the other. Negotiating this careful balancing act has mixed implications, and means that whilst China can be a useful ally in collective security, it also faces serious constraints. Providing a window not only into China's behaviour, but into the complex world of decision-making at the UNSC in general, the book covers a number of important cases, including North Korea, Iran, Darfur, Burma, Zimbabwe, Libya and Syria. Drawing on extensive interviews with participants from China, the US and elsewhere, this book considers not only how the world affects China, but how China impacts the world through its behaviour in a key international institution. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars working in the fields of Chinese politics and Chinese international relations, as well as politics, international relations, international institutions and diplomacy more broadly.

"Crucial lessons for the immediate future"-Noam Chomsky At a time when the international community is imposing sanctions and discussing no-fly zones, A Different Kind of War delivers a frightening parallel and a heart-rending accounting of suffering in Iraq among locals who bore the brunt of the 13-year sanctions from 1990 until 2003. H. C. von Sponeck, the former "UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq," explores the UN's sanction policies against Iraq, their consequences, and the domestic conditions during this period. His extensive research is based on previously unpublished internal UN documents and discussions with UN decision makers (such as General Secretary Kofi Annan), Iraqi officials and politicians (including Saddam Hussein), and ordinary Iraqis. The author's findings question who really benefited from the program, what role the UN Security Council and its various member states played, and whether there were then and are today alternatives to the UN's Iraq policies. Chapter 1. The Oil for Food Programme: An Adequate Humanitarian Exemption? Chapter 2. The UN Compensation Commission: Benefit for Some, Deprivation for Others Chapter 3. The No-Fly Zones: Zones of Protection and Zones of Confrontation? Chapter 4. The United Nations Special Commission and the UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq: Two Units of the Same Organisation? Chapter 5. The Government of Iraq, its People and their Rights Chapter 6. The UN Sanctions Structure: Confrontation, Fragmentation, Conclusions What customers are saying: 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent expose Reviewed in the United States Verified Purchase excellent expose from someone who knew all the details how the US government uses sanctions to wage war 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book Reviewed in the United Kingdom Verified Purchase This is an excellent book, so well written and the amount of detailed research that has gone in is amazing to say the least - hard work to write I'm sure but so easy to read - it flows beautifly. I left Iraq as a child a few months after the first Gulf war - it has been emotionally challenging to read this at times at the same time it is written in such a logical way as to keep the reader engaged.

With the fall of communism and the appearance of a new world order, it is hoped that the United Nations will become the principle organisation for the regulation of relations between states as well as for the settlement of conflict. The recent crises over Iraq and the continued bloodshed in the former Yugoslavia have ensured a higher profile for the United Nations but have at the same time placed great pressure on that organisation to resolve conflict and organise relations between states in a manner that is acceptable to the international community. The essays collected in this volume are published in conjunction with the International Law Group. Providing valuable statements of the fundamentals of international law from leading authorities, they re-examine the Declaration of Principles of International Law Governing Friendly Relations Between States. The Declaration is the nearest thing that states have to an international constitution and embodies the fundamental values of the international legal system. The great changes in the international system since 1989 hold out the prospect of the reinvigoration of the Charter, perhaps for a new system of international legal relations, and make the reconsideration of the Declaration particularly timely.

This volume explores the implementation of key gender policies in international peace and security, following the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 1325 in October 2000, the first thematic resolution on Women, Peace and Security. How should we understand women's participation in peace processes and in peace operations? And what forms of gendered security dynamics are present in armed conflict and international interventions? These questions represent central themes of protection and participation that the international community has to address in order to implement UNSCR 1325. Thus far, the implementation has often employed varying approaches related to gender mainstreaming, a third theme of the resolution. Yet, there is a dearth of systematic data which until recently has restricted the ability of researchers to evaluate the progress in implementation and impact of UNSCR 1325. By engaging with both empirics and critical theory, the authors of this edited volume make important contributions to the gender, peace and security agenda. They identify some of the problems of implementing UNSC 1325 and offer a sobering assessment of progress of implementation and insights into how to advance our understanding through systematic research. Many of the chapters are focused on operational aspects of UNSCR 1325, but all also engage with the theoretical underpinnings of UNSCR 1325 to bring forth central debates on more fundamental challenges to the development of knowledge in the fields of gender, peace and security. This book will be of much interest to students of gender studies, peace and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.

The Origins of UNICEF traces the history of the founding of the world's most well-known and often controversial relief aid organization for children. UNICEF modeled itself after several national organizations as well as some of the early twentieth-century transnational and international relief aid organizations, catering to a clientele that many observers claimed would be impossible to resist or ignore. In only a few years, UNICEF's programs provided relief aid to millions of children in locations around the globe, but the atmosphere of post-war cooperation, quickly supplanted by Cold War tensions, caused UNICEF's efforts to be scrutinized lest they be too closely aligned with either the United States or the Soviet Bloc. UNICEF remains one of the most highly regarded and effective child relief-aid organizations in the world. The story of its founding and its first years as an aid organization provide insight into how an international, apolitical, philanthropic organization must maneuver through political and cultural tensions in order to achieve its goal of mitigating human suffering.

The institutional procedures for the UN's decision-making on issues of global peace and security, first and foremost the Security Council (SC), were conceived with the objective of enabling a swift but internationally coordinated response to irregular situations of crises. Today, however, the UN is constantly involved in situations of conflict and has expanded its range of activities. This book offers a concrete and practically applicable answer to the question of how to reform the UN and increase the legitimacy of the UN's decision-making procedures on issues of global peace and security. In order to provide this answer, it connects the minutia of institutional design with the abstract principals of democratic theory in a systematic and reproducible method, thereby enabling a clear normative evaluation of even the smallest technical detail of reform. This evaluation demonstrates that there is a range of feasible proposals for reform that could improve the SC's accountability both to the General Assembly and to the general public, that could increase the opportunities for effective input from the UN membership and NGOs. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of the United Nations, International Organizations and regional governance.

This book highlights how temporary international civil servants play a crucial role in initiating processes of legal and institutional change in the United Nations system. These individuals are the "missing" creative elements needed to fully understand the emergence and initial spread of UN ideas such as human development, sovereignty as responsibility, and multifunctional peacekeeping. The book: Shows that that temporary UN officials are an actor category which is empirically crucial, yet usually neglected in analytical studies of the UN system. Focussing on these particular individual actors therefore allows for a better understanding of complex UN decision-making. Demonstrates how these civil servants matter, looking at what their agency is based on. Offering a new and distinctive model, Bode seeks to move towards a comprehensive conceptualisation of individual agency, which is currently conspicuous for its absence in many theoretical approaches that address policy change Uses three key case studies of international civil servants (Francis Deng, Mahbub ul Haq and Marrack Goulding) to explore the possibilities of this specific group of UN individuals to act as agents of change and thereby test the prevailing notion that international bureaucrats can only act as agents of the status quo. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international organizations and the United Nations.

The creation of the UN system during World War II is a largely unknown or forgotten story among contemporary decision makers, international relations specialists, and policy analysts. This book aims to recover the wartime history of the United Nations and explore how the forgotten past can shed light on a possible and more desirable future. To achieve this, each chapter takes three snapshots: "Then," the imaginative and transnational thinking about solutions to post-war problems demonstrated a realization that victory in WW II required an intergovernmental "system" with enough power and competence to work-that is, the UN was not established as a liberal plaything and public relations ploy but rather as a vital necessity for post-war order and prosperity. "Now," which often seems a pale imitation of wartime thinking that nonetheless reflects a growing and widespread recognition of the fundamental disconnect between the nature of trans-boundary problems and current solutions seen as feasible by 193 UN member states. "Next steps," or the collective wisdom about the range of new thinking and new institutions that, in fact, may well have antecedents in wartime thinking and experimentation and could be labelled blue-prints for a "third generation" of intergovernmental organizations. This work will be essential reading for all students and scholars of the United Nations, International Organizations and Global Governance.

The creation of the UN system during World War II is a largely unknown or forgotten story among contemporary decision makers, international relations specialists, and policy analysts. This book aims to recover the wartime history of the United Nations and explore how the forgotten past can shed light on a possible and more desirable future. To achieve this, each chapter takes three snapshots: "Then," the imaginative and transnational thinking about solutions to post-war problems demonstrated a realization that victory in WW II required an intergovernmental "system" with enough power and competence to work-that is, the UN was not established as a liberal plaything and public relations ploy but rather as a vital necessity for post-war order and prosperity. "Now," which often seems a pale imitation of wartime thinking that nonetheless reflects a growing and widespread recognition of the fundamental disconnect between the nature of trans-boundary problems and current solutions seen as feasible by 193 UN member states. "Next steps," or the collective wisdom about the range of new thinking and new institutions that, in fact, may well have antecedents in wartime thinking and experimentation and could be labelled blue-prints for a "third generation" of intergovernmental organizations. This work will be essential reading for all students and scholars of the United Nations, International Organizations and Global Governance.

While serving in United Nations peacekeeping missions, some peacekeepers sexually exploit and abuse the local population, a fact which erupted into a scandal published by many media outlets in 2005 and 2006. This book analyzes factors which may increase the risk of such behavior as well as measures the UN has taken which may have decreased the number of incidents. Using a mixed methods design, the book argues that previous analyses have been largely undertheorized-with the exception of gender theories-and turns to criminology to look at the phenomenon of so-called "Sexual Exploitation and Abuse" (SEA) in a new light. The three risk factors found to increase the likelihood of SEAs are an environment of sexual violence in the mission's host country, the presence of internally displaced persons close to the mission, and a lack of supervised or regulated contact with the local population. In turn, the presence of an office whose purpose is to collect reports and investigate allegations, training on preventing SEAs for the incoming peacekeepers, and campaigns to empower the local population on these issues all seem to reduce the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse occurring. By using a statistical analysis followed by case studies of the UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and the Golan Heights, the author demonstrates the importance these factors have in the peacekeepers' behavior on the mission, providing a solid basis upon which future policy recommendations can be made.

This book comprehensively examines the different proposals put forward for reforming the UN Security Council by analysing their objectives and exploring whether the implementation of these proposals would actually create a representative and more effective Security Council. The book places the discussion on reform of Security Council membership in the context of the council s primary responsibility, which is at the helm of the UN collective security system. The author contends that only a Council that is adequately representative of the UN membership can claim to legitimately act on the members behalf. This book offers an inquiry into the Council s constitutional framework and how far that framework still reflects the expectations and intentions of the founding nations, whilst remaining flexible enough to satisfy today s, and possibly tomorrow s, membership. Through the use of policy-oriented jurisprudence and elements of the International Law/International Relations theory this book explores how reform can best be realised."

Reforming the UN Security Council Membership" will be of particular interest to scholars and students of International Law and International Relations."

This book analyses the new and difficult roles of regional organizations in peacemaking after the end of the Cold War and how they relate to the United Nations (UN).

Regional organizations have taken an increasingly prominent role in international efforts to deal with international security. The book highlights the complex interaction between the regional and sub-regional organizations, on the one hand, and their relations with the United Nations, on the other. Thus, the general issues of UN and its authority are scrutinized from legal, practical and geopolitical perspectives. Taking on a broad geographical focus on Africa, the Arab world and Europe, the book also provides an extensive range of case studies, with detailed analysis of particular situations, organizations and armed conflicts.

The authors scrutinise the heterogeneous relationship between the different organizations as well as the challenges to them: political resources, legal standing, financial assets, capabilities and organizational set up. Moreover, they investigate whether regional organizations, as compared to the UN, are better suited to deal with today s intra-state conflicts. The book also aims to dissect the evolution of these institutions historically in relation to Chapter VIII of the UN Charter which mentions the resort to 'regional arrangements for conflict management as well as more generally in relation to the principles of international law and UN principles of peacemaking.

This book, written by a mixture of established scholars, diplomats and high-level policymakers, will be of great interest to students as well as practitioners in the field of peace and conflict studies, regional security, international organisations, conflict management and IR in general."

In 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders agreed to the Millennium Declaration. The Declaration included development targets to be reached by 2015, which were to become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Progress has been made towards the achievement of the MDGs, but poverty remains widespread. With the terminal year approaching, the international community has begun the process of determining the goals which might follow the MDGs. While the UN is driving the process, there has been very little introspection on its own organizational capacity to help countries to meet the goals and is being increasingly sidelined by other more effective development organizations and initiatives. Based on extensive original research that has critically examined the role and functions of the organizations of the UN development system, this book seeks to capture in a single volume a comprehensive review of the UN's performance and prospects for development. The contributors each offer extensive experience and familiarity-as practitioners and researchers-with the UN and development; and the book will contribute to the urgently needed debate on the reform of the UN development system at a critical juncture. The main rationale for this book, and its timing, is the unusual opportunity provided by the 2015 threshold to re-think the UN development system and to empower it to support a new development agenda and will be of interest to students, scholars of International Organizations and development studies.

In 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders agreed to the Millennium Declaration. The Declaration included development targets to be reached by 2015, which were to become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Progress has been made towards the achievement of the MDGs, but poverty remains widespread. With the terminal year approaching, the international community has begun the process of determining the goals which might follow the MDGs. While the UN is driving the process, there has been very little introspection on its own organizational capacity to help countries to meet the goals and is being increasingly sidelined by other more effective development organizations and initiatives. Based on extensive original research that has critically examined the role and functions of the organizations of the UN development system, this book seeks to capture in a single volume a comprehensive review of the UN's performance and prospects for development. The contributors each offer extensive experience and familiarity-as practitioners and researchers-with the UN and development; and the book will contribute to the urgently needed debate on the reform of the UN development system at a critical juncture. The main rationale for this book, and its timing, is the unusual opportunity provided by the 2015 threshold to re-think the UN development system and to empower it to support a new development agenda and will be of interest to students, scholars of International Organizations and development studies.

With the rupture of the UN Security Council in March 2003 over the US spearheaded intervention in Iraq, the attempts made to subject the use of force to the rule of law had failed. Widespread Europe-US disagreement of the role of the UNSC has hindered more effective decisions for China and its European and American counterparts in the Security Council.

Iraq, China and the UN Security Council examines the role of China's policy behaviour in relation to the Iraq intervention, in order to develop a better understanding of this fast-rising power within the UN. It looks at key questions such as: What consequences may arise if China s actions are based on a set of values and national interests far removed from those of the major Western powers? Could China s attitude disrupt the traditional working and normative practice of the United Nations?

The book will be of interest to scholars and students of international relations and Chinese Politics.

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This book examines China's participation in the United Nations (UN). There are two research components. First, the author seeks to find a pattern of China's multilateral diplomatic behavior in the UN by examining China's behavior toward peacekeeping operations and arms control issues during different leadership periods under Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin respectively. Second, a model is proposed to explain this pattern of behavior. By marrying rationalism and constructivism, this model argues that the amelioration of China's external security environment changes in its projected self-image. Furthermore, China's consistently strong view of sovereignty determines its evolving pattern of behavior in the UN.

The United Nations Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. In discharging its powers it must act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the UN, and observe the rules governing voting and procedure established in the Organisation's Charter. The Council adopts mandatory resolutions that may establish obligations for members and non-members, and such obligations trump conflicting obligations originating from any other international agreement. Member States must cooperate with the Organisation and among themselves, in the implementation of any action prescribed by the Council against States whose behaviour the Council considers an act of aggression, or a threat to, or breach of, international peace and security. This book analyses resistance to Security Council resolutions and puts forward a theory of lawful resistance. Sufyan Droubi takes a positivist approach to the UN Charter regarding it as a constitution. Special emphasis is placed on the construction of the Charter's meaning through the practice of both organs and Members of the UN and on the need to enhance the effectiveness of the Organization with due respect to the rule of law. The book proposes that nonviolent resistance to a mandatory resolution of the Security Council, on grounds that the latter is incompatible with the Charter or jus cogens norms, may be considered lawful under the Charter if some elements are present. In exploring a number of case studies of individual and collective State resistance to mandatory Council resolutions, the book proposes that resistance may function as a rudimentary instrument of accountability and protection of the Charter and jus cogens, in the absence of more mature mechanisms of judicial review. The book will be of excellent use and interest to scholars and students of constitutional international law and international relations.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of UNICEF's development and operations, whilst exploring the significance of UNICEF's achievements and the reasons behind them. UNICEF is one of the best known organizations of the United Nations system and the oldest of the UN's development funds. It is also the part of the UN which consistently receives support from all countries round the world, including the United States. This book brings out the wider reasons for UNICEF's success and popularity, setting them in the context of UNICEF's evolution since 1946 and drawing lessons for other international organizations. The book argues that, despite its problems, international action for children, built substantially on non-economic foundations, is not only possible, but can be highly successful in mobilizing support, producing results and making a difference to the lives of millions of children. This will be of great interest to all scholars of international organisations, development, human rights and the United Nations system.

The role of the United Nations in collective security has been evolving since its inception in 1945. This book explores collective security as practiced within the legal framework provided by the United Nations Charter, with a particular focus upon activity undertaken under the auspices of the UN Security Council, the body conferred by the Charter with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Although the book is primarily grounded in international law, where appropriate it also draws upon relevant political insights in order to present a clear picture of the UN collective security system in operation and the factors which impact upon the way in which it functions. Offering a comprehensive analysis it considers the full range of measures which can be utilised by the UN in the performance of its collective security remit including military enforcement action, peacekeeping, non-military sanctions and diplomacy. The book considers each of these measures in detail, assessing the legal framework applicable to the form of action, the main legal controversies which arise in respect of their appropriate utilisation, and the UN's use of this collective security 'tool' in practice. The book draws conclusions about the main strengths and shortcomings of the various means through which the UN can attempt to prevent, minimise or end conflict.

This book examines recent attempts at reform within the United Nations in the wake of the institutional crisis provoked by the invasion of Iraq. It contends that efforts at reform have foundered owing to fundamental and bitter political disagreements between the nations of the global North and South. Following profound discord in the Security Council in the lead up to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, this book considers the ambitious programme of reform instigated by then serving UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The author of this highly topical work, Spencer Zifcak, subjects six of Annan's principal proposals for reform to scrutiny: the reform of the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council, and suggested alterations to international law with respect to the use of force in international affairs, the 'responsibility to protect', and UN strategies to counter global terrorism. On the basis of these detailed case-studies, the book demonstrates why so few proposals for reform were eventually adopted. It argues that the principal reason for this failure was that nations of the North and South could not agree as to the merits of the reforms proposed, exposing the sharply differing visions held by member states for a future and improved United Nations. Founded upon extensive interviews with diplomats at the United Nations, the book provides a rare 'insider' account of UN politics and practice. It will be of vital interest to students, scholars and practitioners of International Relations, International Law, and International Institutions.