Introductory Remarks by Ian Johnstone

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 99-100
Author(s):  
Ian Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
International System ◽  
World Health ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Institutional Architecture

In 1945, world leaders gathered in San Francisco to sign the United Nations Charter, which laid the blueprint for today's international system. The institutional architecture that was built around the United Nations, including its specialized agencies (such as the World Bank and World Health Organization) and funds and programs (such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)), survived the Cold War and seemed to have hit its stride in the immediate post-Cold War era. Yet the global distribution of power has changed, states are no longer the sole actors in international affairs, and the very idea of global governance is being called into question. Not surprisingly, there is much questioning of whether the institutional architecture that was built almost seventy-five years ago is still fit for purpose. Policymakers are rightly focused on reform of that architecture. Rather than tinkering at the margins, this panel was conceived with a more radical agenda. If the UN did not exist today, would we create it? If so, what would it look like?

Land of Blue Helmets

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Arab World ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Member States ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Political Mediation

Born in 1945, the United Nations (UN) came to life in the Arab world. It was there that the UN dealt with early diplomatic challenges that helped shape its institutions such as peacekeeping and political mediation. It was also there that the UN found itself trapped in, and sometimes part of, confounding geopolitical tensions in key international conflicts in the Cold War and post-Cold War periods, such as hostilities between Palestine and Iraq and between Libya and Syria. Much has changed over the past seven decades, but what has not changed is the central role played by the UN. This book's claim is that the UN is a constant site of struggle in the Arab world and equally that the Arab world serves as a location for the UN to define itself against the shifting politics of its age. Looking at the UN from the standpoint of the Arab world, this volume includes chapters on the potential and the problems of a UN that is framed by both the promises of its Charter and the contradictions of its member states.

The Reaction to the Ebola Epidemic within the United Nations Framework: What Next for the World Health Organization?

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 405-424
Author(s):  
Pia Acconci
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Director General ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Organization

The World Health Organization (who) was established in 1946 as a specialized agency of the United Nations (un). Since its establishment, the who has managed outbreaks of infectious diseases from a regulatory, as well as an operational perspective. The adoption of the International Health Regulations (ihrs) has been an important achievement from the former perspective. When the Ebola epidemic intensified in 2014, the who Director General issued temporary recommendations under the ihrs in order to reduce the spread of the disease and minimize cross-border barriers to international trade. The un Secretary General and then the Security Council and the General Assembly have also taken action against the Ebola epidemic. In particular, the Security Council adopted a resolution under Chapter vii of the un Charter, and thus connected the maintenance of the international peace and security to the health and social emergency. After dealing with the role of the who as a guide and coordinator of the reaction to epidemics, this article shows how the action by the Security Council against the Ebola epidemic impacts on the who ‘authority’ for the protection of health.

TRENDS

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1952 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 619-623
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Equatorial Africa ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Emergency Fund

IT APPEARS timely to call attention again to the work and objectives of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. Particularly noteworthy is the trend to use this fund more and more in efforts to help other nations help themselves. Thus the mass attack on tuberculosis, yaws and malaria are, it is hoped, bringing those diseases into proportions where their continued control can be more effectively managed. Similarly, increasing attention is being given to the training of professional and technical personnel. The plans and long-range purpose of the UNICEF have recently been described by Maurice Pate, Executive Director of the fund: "Five years ago, in May 1947, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund received its first pledge of support, a contribution of $15,000,000 from the United States Government. A number of other pledges and contributions soon followed, and procurement of supplies was begun. By the middle of 1948, those supplies were reaching several million children. "Those early beginnings were in the minds of many of us at the recent meeting of the Fund's 26-nation Executive Board (April 22-24), for on that occasion UNICEF's aid was extended to the only remaining area of need in which it had not been operating— Africa, south of the Sahara. "In the Belgian Congo, French Equatorial Africa, Liberia, Togoland, the Cameroons and West Africa, UNICEF, side by side with the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization, will soon be working with the governments and people on a number of child-health projects. The largest of these is to be an attack on kwashiokor, a dietary deficiency disease that affects thousands of young children in these regions.

Part 2 The Post-Cold War Era (1990–2000), 38 The Gulf War—1990–91

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
de Wet Erika
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gulf War ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
The Military

This contribution discusses the Gulf War of 1991-1991. It sets out the facts and context of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, followed by the adoption of United Nation Security Council Resolution 678 (1990) and the subsequent military reaction by the United States-led international coalition. It assesses the reaction of the main protagonists and that of the broader international community to these events. In doing so, it also assesses the legal basis of the military response by the international coalition of the ‘willing and able’ against Iraq. It determines whether it was based on Article 42 of the United Nations Charter, or collective self-defence in terms of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The final section examines if and to what extent this case has had an impact on (the legal basis) of military measures taken in the interest of collective security in the post-Cold War era.

International Refugee Organization

1952 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-310
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
World Health ◽  
General Council ◽  
International Labor Organization ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Member States ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Organization

The ninth and final session of the International Refugee Organization's General Council was held in Geneva from February 11 to 16, 1952. All but two (China and Iceland) of the member states were represented at the session, as were observers of six non-member states, the Holy See, the United Nations, the International Labor Organization, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Having elected officers for the session and having approved the report on the eighth session, the General Council received and considered, from the acting chairman of the Eligibility Review Board, a report covering the period from July 1 to December 31, 1951; during which time 2,606 decisions were made after 1,086 appellants had received personal interviews. The acting chairman revealed that during the entire life of the board 21,906 personal hearings had been given and 36,742 decisions had been made involving approximately 80,000 persons, with the eligibility criteria for IRO services — under the policy guidance of the Executive Committee and General Council — becoming more and more lenient as the operation progressed. The acting chairman of the board, having outlined to the council the reasons why it was still useful for refugees in Germany and elsewhere to be determined eligible for IRO services despite the fact that IRO had ceased to grant such services, stated that the board would finalize as many outstanding appeals as possible before it ceased to exist on February 15, 1952.

The United Nations and International Security in the New Millennium

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-541
Author(s):  
W. Andy Knight
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
International Security ◽  
Human Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Cold War

AbstractThe end of the Cold War opened a window of opportunity for the United Nations to play a greater role in international security than it was allowed to play in the midst of the ideological conflict between the United States and the former Soviet Union. However, the expected "peace dividend" never materialized in the post-Cold War period. Instead, a number of civil conflicts erupted and new threats to security, particularly to human security, emerged. This chapter critically examines the evolution of the UN's role in addressing international security problems since 1945, including global terrorism. It also outlines recent attempts by the world body, through extension of its reach beyond the territorial constraints of sovereignty, to build sustained peace through preventive measures and protect human security globally.

Governmentalizing the Post–Cold War International Regime: The UN Debate on Democratization and Good Governance

2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Zanotti
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
International Regime ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The United Nations

This article examines a range of “good governance” discourses and practices at the United Nations as elements of global governmentality. It explores the emergence of “good governance” as a political rational for the UN, the mechanisms of governmentality that have been promoted as a consequence, and some of their most important effects.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document