Book Review: Karen A. Mingst and Margaret P. Karns, The United Nations in the Post-Cold War Era (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2000, 272 pp., no price given pbk.)
| DOI | 10.1177/03058298000290030923 |
| Author | Alex J. Bellamy |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Millennium
968
Karen A. Mingst and Margare t P. Karns, The United Nations in the Post-C old
War Era (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2000, 272 pp., no price given pbk.).
Joseph P. Lorenz, Pea ce, Power, and the United Na tions: A Security System for
the Twenty-first C entury (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1999, 185 pp., no price given
hbk.).
‘A key question fo r the new millennium is whether th ere will be the necessary
political will to respond to the types of conflicts likely to threaten international
peace’ (Mingst and Karns, p. 113). The United Nations is a deeply self-reflectiv e
institutio n and is ge tting more so. Reports on the failure s o f p eacekeeping in
Rwanda an d Srebrenica and th e ambitious Brahimi re port have highli ghted serious
flaws in both the organisation and the international society it inhabits.
Unfortunatel y, whilst these di splays of introspection are very su ccessful in regaling
a cata logue of proble ms and issuing me nus of possib le remedies, they fail to fully
appreciate the co mplexities of instigating complex op erations and fail to take on
board the nee d for political will. What the two volumes revie wed here offer is very
much more o f the same: a comb ination of explanatio n of the instit ution’s functio ns
and suggesti ons of well-rehearsed proposals for reform.
To be fair, though, although the authors do not say this, The United Natio ns in
the Post-Col d War Era was—and remains in its seco nd edition—essentially a basic
introducto ry text, and a very go od one at that. Its chapters are clear and concise and
aptly c onvey the sc ale of the UN, its multifaceted int erests and a ctivities, and t he
global tensions that h ave pushed an d pulled at it since it s inception at Dumbarton
Oaks. All the usual suspects are covered, with chapters on th e organisation’s
evolutio n and a particularly intere sting chapter on the different act ors that make it
work. It i s here that one begins to understan d the dilemmas that co nfront tho se
such as B rahimi who are char ged with bringing vi sion and direction to the UN. To
take one exa mple, many former colonial states hav e brought new and importa nt
issues to th e forum of world po litics, issues such as devel opment, the environment,
and human rights. These concern s, which seem to imply action in areas considered
to be essentia lly within the do mestic jurisdiction of states, are te mpered by the very
same sta tes who insist on preserving the sanctity o f sov ereignty. The au thors ably
demonstrate the politic ised nature of the organisatio n, point ing out that even a
decision to wind down a small and irrelevant committee requires authorisa tion
from the member sta tes, a process that causes much wastag e.
Ming st and Kar ns move on to describe t he UN’s involvement i n its three core
areas: peace and security, economic development and environmental sustainability,
and huma n rights. In these ch apters the authors relat e the provisions of the Charter
and the development of particular activities to the political demands and interests
of member states, though the ful l scope of the orga nisation’s work is not conveyed
as extensively as in many similar volumes. They conclude by highlighting four
facets of the organisati on tha t are dee med to require reform: Security Cou ncil
membership and votin g, the office of the Secre tary-General, the organisation’s
capacity for promoting sustainable development, and the issue of funding.
To continue reading
Request your trial