UN Malaise Power, Problems and Realpolitik

This volume sets out to provide a comprehensive description of the problems faced by the United Nations. It is increasingly suborned or ignored by the US, pursuing its own global objectives, and the book indicates how US behaviour over the Korean War provides a 'paradigm' for its manipulation of the UN today. The UN is inadequately resourced and faces many other barriers erected by Washington and other powerful states. UN personnel are frequently accused of mismanagement, corruption and even the abuse of human rights. There is also the problem of how the UN should develop to best serve the real world community, not what the West usually means by the 'international community'. Finally, the 'other United Nations' (the IMF, the World Bank, GATT, etc), often working against the best spirit of the UN, should be considered. These problems are explored in this book, leading to a 50-point reform agenda for the United Nations.