Donald J. Puchala - United Nations Politics: International Organization in a Divided World

United Nations Politics

International Organization in a Divided World

Donald J. Puchala

University of South Carolina

Katie Verlin Laatikainen

University of South Carolina

Roger A. Coate

University of South Carolina

To the peoples of the world who truly need an effective United Nations in the twenty-first century and especially those involved with the UNfrom diplomats to aid workers, from those in the field to those at headquarterswho work tirelessly to make it so.

First published 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright 2007 Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 9780131727656 (pbk)

Cover Design: Bruce Konselaar

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Puchala, Donald James,
United Nations politics : international organization in a divided world / Donald J.
Puchala, Katie Verlin Laatikainen, Roger A. Coate.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-172765-6 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-13-172765-6 (alk. paper)
1. United Nations. I. Laatikainen, Katie Verlin, II. Coate, Roger A. III. Title.
JZ4984.5.P83 2007
341.23dc22

2006023791

CHAPTER 2
The Evolution of an Institutional Form

CHAPTER3
The UN Charter and Beyond

CHAPTER 4
The United Nations: The Last Bastion of Sovereignty?

CHAPTER 5
In Search of Leadership

CHAPTER 6
The Politics of Culture

CHAPTER 7
Peacekeeping: Paper, Preparation, and Politics

CHAPTER 8
Development and Its Discontents

CHAPTER 9
Reconsidering the United Nations

APPENDIX A
The United Nations System

APPENDIX B
Charter of the United Nations

Despite the evolution and institutionalization of complex processes of global governanceincluding the increased importance of non-state actors and international bureaucraciesmany of the challenges to multilateralism today stem from the tension between these broader developments and the political proclivities of national governments to defend sovereign prerogatives. This volume assesses the political challenges facing the United Nations and evaluates the capacities of the organization to face them. Our conclusions, contrary to much of the writing on global governance, emphasize political realism because the politics of competing national interests continue to define this world organization that is after all mainly a club of sovereign states.

The book adopts a political perspective for understanding the challenges that the UN multilateral system faces in responding to a variety of global problems in the 21st century. The fundamental elements of UN politics include Western hegemony and resistance to it, a lack of member governments commitments to cooperate within the UN despite the organizations considerable capacity for action, persisting sensitivies about protecting sovereignty, and obstacles to finding consensus and exercising leadership in a world deeply divided by relative wealth, unequal power, contending ideologies and poorly communicating cultures. We explore the nature of UN politics in debates over issues of universal values and human rights, peacekeeping, and development and human security. The concluding chapter assesses the capacity of the UN system to respond to 21st century challenges. Our conclusion, perhaps not entirely welcome, is that the United Nations is unlikely to respond very well to foreseeable challenges because the political environment within and without the organization will probably remain inhospitable to enhanced global governance. We end our long essay on UN politics with a practical reconsideration of the UN that acknowledges the fundamental political nature of the United Nations while identifying the prospects for transformation that are absent from current discussions of UN reform.