Review: International Politics and Organization: The Ways of the Peacemaker
| Published date | 01 September 1978 |
| Date | 01 September 1978 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207803300328 |
| Author | H. Wiseman |
| Subject Matter | Review |
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
AND
ORGANIZATION
659
These
examples
illustrate
the
general
failure
to
match methodology
with
intent.
This
is
not
to
gainsay
the
utility
of
Sewell's
description
of
Unesco's
emergence
and
evolution,
but
simply
to
question
the
con-
tribution
of
this
particular
study
to
an
understanding
of
the
condi-
tions
which generally
govern
the
effectiveness
of
intergovernmental
organizations.
Brian
W.
Tomlin/Carleton
University
THE
WAYS
OF
THE
PEACEMAKER
A
study
of
United
Nations intermediary
assistance
in
the
peaceful
set-
tlement
of
disputes
K.
Venkata
Raman
New
York:
UNITAR,
1975,
viii,
142pp,
$4.00
There
is
a
growing
interest
in
the
field
of
third-party
roles
in
the
polit-
ical,
or
better
stated,
peaceful
settlement
of
disputes.
What
has
hither-
to
been
confined to
the
art,
personality,
and
secrecy
of
diplomats
is
now
the
subject
of
extensive
study.
Hence
the
careful
exposition
of
the
process,
opportunities,
and
dangers
of
mediation.
K.
Venkata
Raman
does
this
with
effective
organization and
skill,
drawing
heavily
on
the
vast
area
of
United
Nations
experience
to
make
his
points.
His
is
the
latest
of
several
such
studies
produced
by
UNITAR
scholars
and
is
worth-
while
examining
together with
those
of
Frank
Edmead
and,
especially,
of
Vratislav
Pechota.
Pechota
brings
special
insight
to
the
various
types
of
mediation,
whereas
Edmead
proposes
an
environmental
and
ana-
lytical
model.
His
is
more
on the theoretical plane
as
is
the
earlier
work
of
John
Burton.
(See
Raman's
bibliography
for
citation
of
these
works.)
In
all
these
studies
there
is
much overlap,
but
that,
in
a
specialized
field,
is
inevitable.
No study
of
third-party
roles
can
avoid
the
factors
of
consent,
authority,
and credibility,
whether
or
not
to
inject
the
me-
diator's
own
proposals,
how
to
handle
the
dissemination
of
news,
etc.
Raman,
however,
goes
well
beyond
the
step-by-step
description
of
the
process,
its
opportunities
and
its pitfalls.
He
states
with
clarity
and
reason when
and
how
the
mediator
should
apply
his
skills
or
avoid
taking
certain
actions.
This
occasionally
leads
to
excessive
zeal
in
qual-
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