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A timely diagnosis of international organizations' ability to contribute to peaceful change featuring suggested 'cures' for their shortcomings. Leading scholars critically scrutinize selected global organizations and provide an invaluable guide for scholars and policymakers interested in IOs and the challenges facing contemporary world order.
List of contents
Part I. Introduction: 1. How international organizations promote or detract peaceful change T. V. Paul, Anders Wivel and Kai He; Part II. Theory: 2. Great power management, international organizations, and the promotion of peaceful change: 1815 to the present Arie M. Kacowicz; 3. Liberalism, institutional statecraft, and international order G. John Ikenberry; 4. Constructivism, international organizations and peaceful change: the case of NATO Trine Flockhart; 5. When do rational IGOs promote peaceful change? Duncan Snidal; 6. Beyond the Pax Americana: international organizations, 'peaceful change', and the Sino-American power shift Christopher Layne; Part III. Practice: 7. The UN General Assembly and peaceful change M. J. Peterson; 8. Leveling peace: the role of UN peacekeeping in peaceful change Sarah-Myriam Martin-Brûlé; 9. Fifty years of advancing peaceful Change: UNEP and global environmental governance Maria Ivanova; 10. Reconciling science and politics: the World Health Organization and the advancement of peaceful change Kelley Lee; 11. The 'crisis of success' and peaceful change at the WTO and within the global trading system Aseema Sinha; 12. International organizations and peaceful change: the evolving debate over the G20 Andrew Cooper; Part IV. Conclusions: 13. The science of peaceful change Ian Hurd; 14. International organizations and peaceful change: towards a pluralistic research agenda Alice Chessé.
About the author
TV. Paul is James McGill Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McGill University, Montreal, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the Founding Director of the Global Research Network on Peaceful Change (GRENPEC).Anders Wivel is Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Political Science. He is the West European Coordinator of GRENPEC.Kai He is Professor of International Relations at the School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Australia. He is the East Asia Coordinator of GRENPEC.
Summary
International organizations play an important, if imperfect, role in world politics, solving collective action problems in security, economic, environmental, and global health among others. While many believe that international organisations have formed critical pillars of global governance, sceptics contend that they reflect the power politics of the day and the interests of hegemonic powers. This volume examines whether international organizations contribute to or detract from peaceful change, acting as agents of both status quo and stasis. Providing a historical overview of international organizations, from the nineteenth century to the current day, a team of leading scholars offer an overview of how major theoretical approaches – Liberalism, Constructivism, Rationalism and Realism – have contributed to our understanding of the role played by international organizations in peaceful change. In particular, the roles of the United Nations General Assembly, UN Peacekeeping, UN Environment Program, World Health Organization, World Trade Organization and G20 are analysed.
Foreword
Critically evaluates whether or not international organizations contribute to peaceful change and how they can improve their performance.
