scholarly journals The UN Secretary-General, role expansion and narratives of representation in the 2016 campaign

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 898-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Haack
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
General Role ◽  
Central Concern ◽  
The People ◽  
Role Expansion ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Institutional Demand

The contribution of bureaucratic actors, such as those of the United Nations Secretary-General, has been a focus in the study of individuals’ contribution to international relations and the study of United Nations reform. In this context, role expansion has been a central concern. In January 2017, a new Secretary-General took office on the 38th floor of the United Nations, following a successful campaign to reform the selection process by increasing its transparency. Despite different campaign foci, campaign groups framed their claims for reform in the context of ‘representation’, which shaped expectations and understanding of the role and its authority. Expectations play a key role in role expansion beyond personality, leeway or institutional demand. This article discusses the representation of states, gender and the people as referents for the Secretary-General’s role, which corresponds to campaign claims regarding regional rotation, a woman Secretary-General and greater independence for the Secretary-General.

scholarly journals Preventive diplomacy in international law and its implementation on the territories of former Yugoslavia

2009 ◽  
Vol 61 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 112-140
Author(s):  
Maja Sahadzic
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Political Priority

The term preventive diplomacy was first used in the United Nations in the late fifties when Secretary General Dag Hammarskj?ld 'invented' it to describe the remaining function that the United Nations could apply in the bipolar system of international relations. Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali included it in the Agenda for Peace in 1992 putting it in the same rank with peace-keeping, peace?making and peace-building concepts, thus giving preventive diplomacy a high political priority. In this paper the author deals with the following questions: the impact of the Cold War on the emergence of preventive diplomacy, meaning of preventive diplomacy, international documents and institutions related to preventive diplomacy and the attempts to implement preventive diplomacy in the former Yugoslavia.

Historical Institutionalism Meets Practice Theory: Renewing the Selection Process of the United Nations Secretary-General

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 742-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Pouliot
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Selection Procedure ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Full Explanation ◽  
The United Nations

AbstractThe selection process leading to the appointment of Antonio Guterres as Secretary-General of the United Nations gave way to unprecedented practices in world politics, such as public hearings with candidates. A textbook case of what historical institutionalism calls “layering,” this episode of institutional development features intriguing puzzles, including its timing, form, and limits. Drawing on historical institutionalism and practice theory, I develop a “pulling” theory of agency that complements intentionalist accounts. The webs of practices that agents find themselves in afford certain actions over others, orienting the push of interests. I infer three mechanisms—relational crossover, competence transfers, and pushback—and show how a set of nine practices, available at the UN in 2015–2016 but not in earlier episodes, account for the specifics of the recent renewal of the Secretary-General's selection procedure. A full explanation of this critical case of institutional change is impossible without understanding how agents struggled with one another under the pull of the UN web of practices, affording some innovations but not others.

Muslims at the United Nations: Ethical and Political Issues

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-22
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Haynes
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Religious Conflict ◽  
The West ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Religious Dialogue ◽  
The United Nations

The United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) was established in 2005 by the then United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to try to improve inter-cultural and inter-religious relations after 9/11. Creating UNAOC stimulated wider interest in examining how and in what ways improving inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue might lead to better relations between the West and Muslims, making incidents like 9/11 less likely. Between 2015 and 2018, I researched into the UNAOC, mainly at UN headquarters in New York. The research involved, inter alia, interviewing over 80 knowledgeable people. As time went on, during repeated research trips to New York, it became clear that the issue of improving relations between the West and Muslims was far from straightforward, as it involved profound ethical and political considerations. The first was that at the UN, Muslims had a relatively understated position and did not enjoy equality with secular or Christian entities. I interviewed many Muslims from representative organisations at the UN. All were unwilling to conform to the UN’s understanding that key problems of inter-cultural and inter-religious conflict were a consequence of Islamist extremism and terrorism. Muslims I interviewed saw the issue differently. They pointed to long periods of Western domination of international relations to explain the lowly position of Muslims. As a consequence, the UNAOC was seen to try to address the problem with unsound understanding of where the problem lay. Muslims believed that the modus operandi and aims of the UNAOC would divide not unite the very constituencies – that is, the West and Muslims – that the UNAOC was created to assist. The conclusion is that even well-meaning initiatives such as the UNAOC are bound to fail if they consider only one set of views and excludes others.

Making the Peace—1941–1945. By William L. Neuman. (Washington, D.C.: Foundation for Foreign Affairs. 1950. Pp. 101. $1.00.) - International Monetary and Financial Conferences in the Interwar Period. By Dean E. Traynor. (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. 1949. Pp. ix, 196. $2.25.) - Contemporary International Relations; 1949–1950. Edited by Norman J. Padelford. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1949. Pp. xii, 397. $2.50.) - The European Press Today. By European Affairs Division, Library of Congress. (Washington, D.C.: 1949. Pp. 152. [Multilith.] $1.00. For sale by Card Division, Library of Congress.) - The United States and Europe; a Bibliographical Examination of Thought Expressed in American Publications during 1949. By European Affairs Division, Library of Congress. (Washington, D.C. 1949. Pp. 192. [Multilith.] $1.30. For sale by Card Division, Library of Congress.) - 1949 Annual Review of United Nations Affairs. Edited by Clyde Eagleton. (New York: New York University Press. 1950. Pp. ix, 322. $5.00.) - How Can We the People Achieve a Just Peace? Selected Speeches, Second Annual Session, Mount Holyoke College Institute on The United Nations, June 26-July 23, 1949. Edited by Ruth C. Lawson, Director. (Holyoke, Mass.: Mount Holyoke College. 1949. Pp. viii, 254. $2.00.) - Non-Self-Governing Territories; Summaries and Analyses of Information Transmitted to the Secretary-General during 1948. By The United Nations. (Lake Success, New York: United Nations Publications. 1949. Pp. vii, 686.) - African Dependencies; A Challenge to Western Democracy. By Nwankwo Chukuwemeka. (New York: The William-Frederick Press. 1950. Pp. 210. $3.50.) - Historical Survey of the Question of International Criminal Jurisdiction. Memorandum Submitted by The Secretary-General. (Lake Success, New York: United Nations Publication. 1949. Pp. vii, 147. $1.00.) - Documents on European Recovery and Defence; March 1947-April 1949. (London and New York: Royal Institute of International Affairs. 1949. Pp. vii, 150. $2.50.) - The Evolution of Our Latin-American Policy; A Documentary Record. Edited by James W. Gantenbein. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1950. Pp. xxvii, 979. $12.50.) - Berlin Command. By Brigadier General Frank Howley. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1950. Pp. 276. $3.50.) - The People Don't Know; The American Press and the Cold War. By George Seldes. (New York: Gaer Associates. 1949. Pp. 342. $3.00.)

1950 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 510-512
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Library Of Congress ◽  
New York University ◽  
The People ◽  
Western Democracy ◽  
The United Nations

How the United Nations Secretary-General Promotes International Norms

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Madokoro
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Norms ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Normative Development ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
And Diffusion

The United Nations Secretaries-General (unsg), Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, have devoted themselves to the development and diffusion of the responsibility to protect (r2p) norm for over a decade since the concept first appeared in 2001. However, it still remains unclear what roles they have actually played in promoting its normative development. By focusing on the notion of norm entrepreneurship proposed by social constructivist scholars in international relations, this article explores the process in which they have engaged and what effects their activities have had on the emergence and dissemination of r2p, especially the adoption of the un General Assembly resolutions on r2p in 2005 and 2009. The research concludes by arguing that the unsg can play a contributing role in enhancing norms by persuading and encouraging member states to collectively legitimise the norms, and stating theoretical implications pertaining to the role of the unsg in developing international norms.

The UN Secretary-General and the Security Council

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Organizational Relationships ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
International Mediation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Relationship

The United Nations Secretary-General and the United Nations Security Council spend significant amounts of time on their relationship with each other. They rely on each other for such important activities as peacekeeping, international mediation, and the formulation and application of normative standards in defense of international peace and security—in other words, the executive aspects of the UN’s work. The edited book The UN Secretary-General and the Security Council: A Dynamic Relationship aims to fill an important lacuna in the scholarship on the UN system. Although there exists an impressive body of literature on the development and significance of the Secretariat and the Security Council as separate organs, an important gap remains in our understanding of the interactions between them. Bringing together some of the most prominent authorities on the subject, this volume is the first book-length treatment of this topic. It studies the UN from an innovative angle, creating new insights on the (autonomous) policy-making of international organizations and adding to our understanding of the dynamics of intra-organizational relationships. Within the book, the contributors examine how each Secretary-General interacted with the Security Council, touching upon such issues as the role of personality, the formal and informal infrastructure of the relationship, the selection and appointment processes, as well as the Secretary-General’s threefold role as a crisis manager, administrative manager, and manager of ideas.

Australia and People Seeking Asylum who Arrive by Boat

2018 ◽  
pp. 518-536
Author(s):  
Caroline Fleay
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
The Status ◽  
Repeated Use ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations

Throughout the past forty years various leaders from both major political parties in Australia have categorized the arrival by boat of people seeking asylum as a “crisis” and the people themselves as “illegal.” This is despite Australia being a signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and receiving relatively few people who seek asylum compared with many other countries. Punitive government policies and processes have further reinforced these representations, such that “crisis” and “illegal” can now be understood as both categories of analysis and practice. The repeated use of such categories may be helping to produce and reproduce prejudice and racism and obscure the needs and experiences of people seeking asylum.

Improving the Operation and Functioning of the International Criminal Tribunals

2000 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daryl A. Mundis
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Expert Group ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
International Tribunals ◽  
The United Nations

Since the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, both International Tribunals have grown tremendously in terms of resources. Despite this growth, the International Tribunals have rendered judgments in only fifteen cases and conducted inordinately long trials—a fault for which, perhaps more than any other, they can be justly criticized. The Secretary- General of the United Nations recently appointed an expert group to review the efficiency of the operation of the International Tribunals and make recommendations for improvement. Following the release of the group's report, the General Assembly requested that the Secretary-General obtain comments from the International Tribunals on the experts’ recommendations. The ICTYjudges, for their part, considered these recommendations in a report to the United Nations setting forth a long-term strategy for improving the operation of the Tribunal.

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