The parliament of man : the past, present, and future of the United Nations /
Past, present, and future of the United Nations
Paul Kennedy.
- First Vintage books edition.
- xvii, 361 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
Originally published: New York : Random House, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
A note on the title -- Preface -- Origins : -- The troubled advance to a new world order, 1815-1945 -- The evolution of the many UNs since 1945 : -- The conundrum of the Security Council -- Peacekeeping and warmaking -- Economic agendas, north and south -- The softer face of the UN' mission -- Advancing international human rights -- "We the peoples" : democracy, governments, and nongovernmental actors -- The present and the future : -- The promise and peril of the twenty-first century -- Afterword -- Charter of the United Nations. Part 1. 1. Part 2. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Part 3. 8. Appendix.
"The Parliament of Man is the first definitive history of the United Nations, from one of America’s greatest living historians. Distinguished scholar Paul Kennedy... gives us a thorough and timely account that explains the UN’s roots and functions while also casting an objective eye on its effectiveness and its prospects for success in meeting the challenges that lie ahead. Kennedy shows the UN for what it is: fallible, human-based, often dependent on the whims of powerful national governments or the foibles of individual administrators—yet also utterly indispensable. With his insightful grasp of six decades of global history, Kennedy convincingly argues that "it is difficult to imagine how much more riven and ruinous our world of six billion people would be if there had been no UN."--Publisher's website.