The United Nations and Changing World Politics

by Thomas G. Weiss, David P. Forsythe, Roger A. Coate

Providing a comprehensive and contemporary examination of the United Nations, the authors use a thematic approach to explore the UN's role in three core issues in international relations: international peace and security; human rights and humanitarian affairs; and building peace through sustainable development. This new edition is revised substantially to take into account recent events, including the aftermath of September 11th, the War in Iraq, and the beginnings of the international criminal court.

Genres: International Relations, Nonfiction, Politics, Political Science, Grad School

448 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 1994

About the author

Thomas G. Weiss is Presidential Professor of Political Science at The CUNY Graduate Center and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, where he is co-director of the UN Intellectual History Project. He is President (2009-10) of the International Studies Association, chair (2006-9) of the Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS). His latest book is What's Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix It (2009).

As Research Professor at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies (1990-98), he also held university administrative posts (Associate Dean of the Faculty, Director of the Global Security Program, Associate Director), was the Executive Director of ACUNS, and co-directed the Humanitarianism and War Project. Earlier, he was the Executive Director of the International Peace Academy (1985-9); a Senior Economic Affairs Officer at the UN Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva (1975-85); and held professional posts in the Office of the UN Commissioner for Namibia, the University Program at the Institute for World Order, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, and International Labor Organization. He has been a consultant for foundations and numerous inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations and was editor of Global Governance (2000-5) and research director of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (2000-2).

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers an excellent overview of the United Nations and the various arms that exist within its alphabet soup. The authors approach the subject through several theoretical lenses and look at world order and how the United Nations has shaped it and what that order will look like in the future with the UN. The authors break the book into three interrelated areas of security, human rights and economic development/globalization. Each area is looked at in three pieces that are broad in scope. The first is the historical perspective of how the UN has approached each area, then a current look at how the UN is doing and finally what role will the UN play in the future. In the last part it is a look at how world order is structured because of UN actions. The book is very well written and is almost a modern classic for those who study international relations and want to understand how the UN fits into the world. No matter the stance on pro or anti UN this is a great book to start understanding what role the UN plays in the world and a masterpiece of scholarship.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dry and too fast paced to give enough context but very interesting most of the time.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for learning about the dynamics of the United Nations!