Prescribing for the reform of international organization: the logic of arguments for change

1987 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Scholarly Writing ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations

In this essay I examine the main characteristics of the proposals which have been put forward over the past few years for the reform of international institutions, particularly the United Nations. The latter's social and economic arrangements in particular have been subject to a series of incisive, hard hitting reports—the most recent being Maurice Bertrand's Report of December 19851—which have themselves become almost a matter of routine: nothing changes, even the intelligence and perception of the criticism. This essay is intended to provide a part of the answer to the question of why nothing is ever done. In addition to difficulties arising from the interests of states and organizations which are involved, there are also a range of problems arising from different conceptions of what international organizations are and can do. This essay deals with the latter. The conceptions dealt with are those found in the writings of students of international organization, largely British and American, rather than in the words or deeds of practitioners. The nature of the link between scholarly writing and the practice of international relations is itself complex and contentious and is not explored in this essay. The minimalist assumptions are made, however, that disagreements among scholars make it less likely that practitioners will agree to co-operate, and that scholarly reconciliation is at least a first step towards practical improvement.

Overselling the Un Charter—Fact and Myth

1960 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Riggs
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Extreme Form ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Future ◽  
The United Nations

For almost a decade commentators on international organization have nurtured the myth that the UN Charter was originally ‘oversold’ to the American public by enthusiastic supporters, who represented the organization as a panacea for the ills of twentieth-century world politics. So unrealistic were the expectations created by this publicity barrage, so the story runs, that subsequent disillusionment with die UN was inevitable. Although propagated with many variations, the myth finds a classic formulation in the words of Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., uttered before the House Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements, July 8, 1953: ‘The United Nations,’ said Ambassador Lodge, ‘was oversold. It was advertised entirely as an automatic peace producer. All we had to do was sign on die dotted line—so it was said—and all our troubles would be over’. A recent volume on international relations, currently in use as a college text, restated the myth in a some what less extreme form: ‘Considered a towering edifice of strength in 1945, the United Nations was often shrugged off in the early 1950's with the damning phrase, ‘debating society.’ Because expectations had been so extravagant, the achievements of the United Nations seemed ridiculously trivial to many who had expected a Utopian revolution in international relations that the United Nations could not hope to provide.” Other variations on the theme are no doubt familiar to students of international organization. Use of the expression ‘myth’ implies no denial that ‘a veritable wave of propaganda and influence was generated on behalf of American membership’ in the UN. The country was flooded with information, from bodi government and private sources, designed to win over the public to the desirability of postwar international organization. It is also true that those engaged in selling the UN to the public tried to give their arguments an optimistic, hopeful tone. Recalling the League's fate, they emphasized the differences between the League and the proposed new organization rather than their patent similarities. Often they were guilty of oversimplifying the facts of world politics upon which the future of the UN would necessarily depend. The growing split between Russia and the Western allies, so ominous for the new organization, was not usually highlighted in speeches urging the establishment of the UN. A vigorous selling campaign was unquestionably conducted.

Development of youth diplomacy on the example of modeling international organizations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.N. Popova ◽  
A.I. Potapkina
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Digital Modeling ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Foreign Ministry ◽  
Modeling Algorithm

The article highlights the importance of the youth movement and international organizations as one of the practical areas of implementation of youth diplomacy. The authors describe the development of the International Youth Model of the UN in the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Special attention is paid to the transformation of the traditional modeling algorithm in the context of the development of digital technologies. The development of a new stage of the youth model movement in the fi eld of international relations — digital modeling of the United Nations-was announced.

20. International organizations in world politics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Park
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

This chapter examines the role that international organizations play in world politics. It explains what international organizations are, whether we need international organizations in international relations, and what constraints and opportunities exist for international organizations to achieve their mandates. The chapter also considers the reasons why states create international organizations and how we can analyse the behaviour of such organizations. Two case studies are presented: the first is about the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the G77, and the second is about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the interests of money-centre banks. There is also an Opposing Opinions box that asks whether international organizations suffer from a ‘democratic deficit’.

Deriving Data from Delegates to International Assemblies: A Research Note

1967 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 592-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold Karan Jacobson
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Research Note ◽  
International Organization ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
United Nations General Assembly ◽  
The United Nations

Whether it is called an assembly, a conference, or something else, there is in most if not all international organizations an organ, for which the United Nations General Assembly is the prototype, in which the entire membership is represented. The importance of these bodies is generally acknowledged. Constitutionally, they usually have final authority in such matters as the appointment of the executive officer, the election of smaller organs, the adoption of the budget, and the determination of overall policy. Few studies of an international organization or of the interaction between a state or a group of states and an international organization can neglect the assembly of the organization under scrutiny.

The History of International Organization(s)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Reinalda
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Regime Theory ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations System ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Nations System

The emerging discipline of Political Science recognized international organization as an object of study earlier (i.e., around 1910) than International Law, which through an engagement with League of Nations ideals began to follow the developments of international organizations (IOs) during the 1920s, and History, which kept its focus on states and war rather than on IOs until the early 2000s. The debate between Liberal Institutionalism and (after 1945 dominant) Realism deeply influenced the study of IOs. The engagement of the United States in the United Nations System, however, stimulated further studies of IOs and produced new theoretical orientations that left room for Realist factors. The modernization of International Relations studies through Regime Theory eventually removed the need to ask historical questions, resulting in short-term studies of IOs, but new approaches such as Constructivism and Historical Institutionalism contributed to studies of long-term change of IOs and critical junctures in history. The main International Relations approach traces the rise of the United Nations System (or, more broadly, IOs) as an instrument of American exceptionalism in the world. This view is being criticized by the paradigmatic turn in the discipline of History in the early 2000s, which has included IOs in its research and relates the creation of IOs to imperial powers such as the United Kingdom and France that wanted to safeguard their empires. These historical studies start in 1919 rather than 1945 and also question International Relations’ Western-centrist universalism by including competing universalisms such as anticolonial nationalism.

Causal mechanisms in civil war mediation: Evidence from Syria

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-235
Author(s):  
Magnus Lundgren
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Member State ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Institutional Characteristics ◽  
Causal Pathways ◽  
Arab League ◽  
The United Nations

Studies of conflict management by international organizations have demonstrated correlations between institutional characteristics and outcomes, but questions remain as to whether these correlations have causal properties. To examine how institutional characteristics condition the nature of international organization interventions, I examine mediation and ceasefire monitoring by the Arab League and the United Nations during the first phase of the Syrian civil war (2011–2012). Using micro-evidence sourced from unique interview material, day-to-day fatality statistics, and international organization documentation, I detail causal pathways from organizational characteristics, via intervention strategies, to intervention outcomes. I find that both international organizations relied on comparable intervention strategies. While mediating, they counseled on the costs of conflict, provided coordination points, and managed the bargaining context so as to sideline spoilers and generate leverage. While monitoring, they verified violent events, engaged in reassurance patrols, and brokered local truces. The execution of these strategies was conditioned on organizational capabilities and member state preferences in ways that help explain both variation in short-term conflict abatement and the long-term failure of both international organizations. In contrast to the Arab League, the United Nations intervention, supported by more expansive resources and expertise, temporarily shifted conflict parties away from a violent equilibrium. Both organizations ultimately failed as disunity among international organization member state principals cut interventions short and reduced the credibility of international organization mediators.

Teaching International Relations: The Model Security Council or General Assembly

1949 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-98
Author(s):  
Robert E. Elder
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
New York State ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
General Interest ◽  
The United Nations

The model session of an organ of the United Nations, whether it be the Security Council or the General Assembly, is probably the most dramatic method available today for teaching American students the practical problems of postwar international relations. Dormant during the war, model councils and assemblies have been reactivated and are now playing an important rôle in the international relations programs of many colleges and universities. Typical of the model international organizations are the Model General Assembly of the United Nations, sponsored by the American Association for the United Nations, and the Model Security Council of the United Nations, sponsored jointly by the colleges and universities of central New York State. Between forty and forty-five institutions in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey participate in the model assembly, while eleven send delegates to the model security council.The reaction of students who have participated in sessions of such model international organizations has been enthusiastic. Not only do such sessions stimulate general interest in international relations, but in addition they build a knowledge of procedure and structure of international organizations, a familiarity with reports and documents of the United Nations, an understanding of international problems currently influencing relations of the Great Powers, and a recognition of the difficulties under which the United Nations must labor. The model security council or assembly is not just a rehearsal of past events in the Security Council or General Assembly of the United Nations, although such events must provide the foundation for all action taken by the model group. Instead, the sessions of the model international organs are creative and develop initiative, for they start with what has been done to date and attempt to arrive at new decisions, all the while functioning within the general framework of the over-all foreign policies of the states involved.

The United Nations “Common System” of Salary, Allowance, and Benefits: A Critical Appraisal of Coordination in Personnel Matters

1967 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodor Meron
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Common System ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The Common ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Relationship

The salary, allowance, and benefits system common in its broad lines to the United Nations and to a number of specialized agencies (the “common system”) has its origin in the relationship agreements concluded between the UN and the agencies concerned in pursuance of Articles 57 and 63 of the UN Charter. Some of these agreements were made nearly twenty years ago, a long period in the life of rapidly growing and rapidly changing international organizations. A critical examination of the present-day validity of the common system and its justification today in light of the reality of the international organization may be timely. In the present article such an examination of this major facet of administrative and budgetary coordination of the UN with the specialized agencies is attempted.

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