The Diplomacy of Hope: The United Nations Since the Cold War

Will the United Nations survive the convulsions over the US-led attack on Iraq and its aftermath? How will it respond to the worldwide threat of terrorism? This book shows these crises as the latest chapter in the struggle for peace and stability. Its authoritative and discursive analysis of today's United Nations provides a clear and refreshing insight into what has gone wrong as well as what is right about the organization. While focusing on a post-Soviet world now firmly set in the turbulent twenty-first century, the book traces the genesis of the current major concerns facing the UN back to their origins during the infancy of the UN. It sets out a full yet concise account of UN security (peace-building) doctrine and action; of disarmament strategies (from weapons of mass destruction to small arms); of its criminal jurisdiction; of human rights issues; of globalization and poverty contradictions; and of UN financing worries. The book also explores how the UN works, or does not, and describes how the tension between the elite Security Council and all-inclusive General Assembly can frustrate decisive action.