Evan Luard - Böcker

'This book is exactly what the subtitle indicates. It is a highly knowledgeable, realistic - yet positive - review and assessment of the United Nations. Convenient for use in courses on international organization. The reviewer would particularly recommend it to individuals connected officially or otherwise professionally concerned with the United Nations'. American Journal of International Law In the first edition of this book the late Evan Luard questioned whether or not the UN had failed and suggested ways in which the institution could be improved. Into this context he placed analyses of the operation of the Security Council, the General Assembly, economic and social bodies, the World Court and the International Law Commission, the Secretariat and the budget. In preparing this new edition Derek Heater has up-dated the core material and written a new concluding chapter showing how, since the mid- 1980s, the UN has perhaps been acquiring a new lease of life.

This, the first volume of a major work, describes the establishment of the United Nations, the controversies and debates within the organization and the political factors surrounding these during the first ten years of its life.

This history of the United Nations recounts the actions of the UN in confronting the world's crisis situations, the conflicting policies of the member states and the initiatives undertaken in each case to preserve the peace. It is based on detailed examination of the record UN discussions.;This volume deals with a period when the organization was involved with major crises over Suez, Hungary, Lebanon, India, the Congo, the Cuba Missile Crisis and armed conflicts in Cyprus, Kashmir and the Dominican Republic. It covers the first UN peace-keeping operations: in Sinai, the Congo and Cyprus. It examines the effectiveness of the UN's peace-keeping role in these countries and suggests how this might be improved.

A study of international society which deals with social theory, the structure of society, ideology, conficts and the authority within. The author has published "International Agencies", "Socialism Without the State", "The United Nations", "A History of the United Nations", "The Management of the World Economy", "Economic Relationships Among States", "Conflict and Peace in the Modern International System" and "Basic Texts in International Relations".

The object of this reader is to put together passages from major writers on international relations over the ages, together with a brief commentary, in a form that may be useful to students and to those who teach them. The authors quoted include thinkers of many kinds, including philosophers, historians, strategic writers and leading statesmen as well as academic writers.

Political action has traditionally been undertaken within national political systems. Individuals and groups have competed for power within the state because it has been state authorities that have taken the actions - political, social and economic - that determined their welfare. Old-style political activity of that sort, the author argues in this book, is no longer relevant to the needs of modern citizens. The decisions that matter most to them today - that determine their security nad economic welfare, promote social justice, safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and and confront many other pressing problems - international terrorism, world hunger, the trafficing of narcotic drugs, the world refugee problem, for example - are reached not by national but by international authorities. Effective political action today therefore must be international action directed at such authorities. And if individuals are to safeguard their own interests effectively, they must seek to influence these bodies directly, and not only through the agency of governments, claiming to act on their behalf but having separate interests.The book therefore examines the kind of action that needs to be taken by world bodies in these fields, and the type of political activity through which individuals can seek to influence them.

The author seeks on this basis to examine the character of the system as a whole: in particular how from the proclaimed desire to maintain the 'balance of power' it succeeded in establishing international stability in preventing the domination of particular states.

Updated and revised, this book is an introduction to the United Nations. It describes the operation of the UN, and analyzes it by institutional parts - the Security Council, the General Assembly, ECOSOC, the World Court and the International Law Commission, the Secretariat and the budget. The book also analyzes the UN's role in the international political system. The overall theme is whether or not the UN has failed. The survey of the organization answers that question by considering its "effectiveness" and how the institution could be improved and made more effective. The final chapter has been replaced with a new chapter, dealing with the major developments since the late 1980s. Evan Luard was the author of the two-volume "History of the United Nations", and the revising editor is the author of "Citizenship: The Civic Ideal in World History, Politics and Education".

This book is an important contribution to the understanding of conflict and peace in the modern world, and to the continuous debate about the best methods to avoid and limit wars. This revised edition has the added advantage of having updated information about international and civil conflicts up to the early 1980s. This last point is important as there is not any other book that I know of which offers a comprehensive approach to the topic as well as updated information on the international conflicts that happened during the last few years.It guides the reader through a complex topic, helping one to understand the reasons for conflict and to realistically assess the possibilities for peace in different contexts. It also provides well argued policy recommendations about the means to be used to reduce the likelihood of armed conlict, its intensity, and duration.

This volume deals with a period when the organization was involved with major crises over Suez, Hungary, Lebanon and India, the Congo, the Cuba Missile crisis and armed conflicts in West Irian, Yeman, Cyprus, Kashmir and the Dominican Republic. It covers the first four UN peace-keeping operations: in Sinai, the Congo, West Irian and Cyprus.

The author seeks on this basis to examine the character of the system as a whole: in particular how from the proclaimed desire to maintain the 'balance of power' it succeeded in establishing international stability in preventing the domination of particular states.