The UN Secretary-General and Moral Authority

The UN Secretary-General and Moral Authority PDF Author: Kent J. Kille
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1589014731
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Once described by Trygve Lie as the "most impossible job on earth," the position of UN Secretary-General is as frustratingly constrained as it is prestigious. The Secretary-General's ability to influence global affairs often depends on how the international community regards his moral authority. In relation to such moral authority, past office-holders have drawn on their own ethics and religious backgrounds—as diverse as Lutheranism, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Coptic Christianity—to guide the role that they played in addressing the UN's goals in the international arena, such as the maintenance of international peace and security and the promotion of human rights. In The UN Secretary-General and Moral Authority, contributors provide case studies of all seven former secretaries-general, establishing a much-needed comparative survey of each office-holder's personal religious and moral values. From Trygve Lie's forbearance during the UN's turbulent formative years to the Nobel committee's awarding Kofi Annan and the United Nations the prize for peace in 2001, the case studies all follow the same format, first detailing the environmental and experiential factors that forged these men's ethical frameworks, then analyzing how their "inner code" engaged with the duties of office and the global events particular to their terms. Balanced and unbiased in its approach, this study provides valuable insight into how religious and moral leadership functions in the realm of international relations, and how the promotion of ethical values works to diffuse international tensions and improve the quality of human life around the world.

The UN Secretary-General and Moral Authority

The UN Secretary-General and Moral Authority PDF Author: Kent J. Kille
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1589014731
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Once described by Trygve Lie as the "most impossible job on earth," the position of UN Secretary-General is as frustratingly constrained as it is prestigious. The Secretary-General's ability to influence global affairs often depends on how the international community regards his moral authority. In relation to such moral authority, past office-holders have drawn on their own ethics and religious backgrounds—as diverse as Lutheranism, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Coptic Christianity—to guide the role that they played in addressing the UN's goals in the international arena, such as the maintenance of international peace and security and the promotion of human rights. In The UN Secretary-General and Moral Authority, contributors provide case studies of all seven former secretaries-general, establishing a much-needed comparative survey of each office-holder's personal religious and moral values. From Trygve Lie's forbearance during the UN's turbulent formative years to the Nobel committee's awarding Kofi Annan and the United Nations the prize for peace in 2001, the case studies all follow the same format, first detailing the environmental and experiential factors that forged these men's ethical frameworks, then analyzing how their "inner code" engaged with the duties of office and the global events particular to their terms. Balanced and unbiased in its approach, this study provides valuable insight into how religious and moral leadership functions in the realm of international relations, and how the promotion of ethical values works to diffuse international tensions and improve the quality of human life around the world.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Civil rights
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description


Secretary or General?

Secretary or General? PDF Author: Simon Chesterman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139463268
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 15

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Book Description
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is a unique figure in world politics. At once civil servant, the world's diplomat, lackey of the UN Security Council, and commander-in-chief of up to a hundred thousand peacekeepers, he or she depends on states for both the legitimacy and resources that enable the United Nations to function. The tension between these roles - of being secretary or general - has challenged every incumbent. This book brings together the insights of senior UN staff, diplomats and scholars to examine the normative and political factors that shape this unique office with particular emphasis on how it has evolved in response to changing circumstances such as globalization and the onset of the 'war on terror'. The difficulties experienced by each Secretary-General reflect the profound ambivalence of states towards entrusting their security, interests or resources to an intergovernmental body.

The PGA Handbook

The PGA Handbook PDF Author: Nicole Ruder
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780615496603
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description


The Responsibility to Protect

The Responsibility to Protect PDF Author: International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty
Publisher: IDRC
ISBN: 9780889369634
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Responsibility to Protect: Research, bibliography, background. Supplementary volume to the Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty

United Nations Protection of Humanity and Its Habitat

United Nations Protection of Humanity and Its Habitat PDF Author: Bertrand G. Ramcharan
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004303146
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
This book is a study of the future of international law as well as the future of the United Nations. It is the first study ever bringing together the laws, policies and practices of the UN for the protection of the earth, the oceans, outer space, human rights, victims of armed conflicts and of humanitarian emergencies, the poor, the vulnerable and the disadvantaged world-wide. It reviews unprecedented dangers and challenges facing humanity such as climate change and weapons of mass destruction, and argues that the international law of the future must become an international law of security and of protection. It submits that the concept of international security in the UN Charter can no longer be restricted to situations of armed conflict but must be given its natural meaning: whatever threatens the security of humanity. It calls for the Security Council to perform its role as the guardian of the security of humankind and sees a leadership role for the UN Secretary-General in analysing and presenting challenges of international security and protection to the Security Council for its attention. Written by a seasoned scholar / practitioner of international law and the United Nations, who has served in key policy, peacemaking, peacekeeping and human rights positions in the United Nations, this book offers indispensable new vistas of international law and policy, and the future role of the United Nations.

International Authority and the Responsibility to Protect

International Authority and the Responsibility to Protect PDF Author: Anne Orford
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139494244
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
The idea that states and the international community have a responsibility to protect populations at risk has framed internationalist debates about conflict prevention, humanitarian aid, peacekeeping and territorial administration since 2001. This book situates the responsibility to protect concept in a broad historical and jurisprudential context, demonstrating that the appeal to protection as the basis for de facto authority has emerged at times of civil war or revolution - the Protestant revolutions of early modern Europe, the bourgeois and communist revolutions of the following centuries and the revolution that is decolonisation. This analysis, from Hobbes to the UN, of the resulting attempts to ground authority on the capacity to guarantee security and protection is essential reading for all those seeking to understand, engage with, limit or critique the expansive practices of international executive action authorised by the responsibility to protect concept.

Renewing the United Nations System

Renewing the United Nations System PDF Author: Erskine Childers
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 9780788149993
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description


The Challenging Role of the UN Secretary-General

The Challenging Role of the UN Secretary-General PDF Author: Leon Gordenker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313388369
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
How has the role of the United Nations and its Secretary-General changed with the end of the Cold War? With the beginning of a New World Order? These questions are increasingly significant as the threat of nuclear-bloc confrontation is replaced by ethnic tensions and civil conflicts. In this first study of the office of the UN Secretary-General in this new era, Rivlin and Gordenker bring together leading scholars and practitioners to analyze these issues. The fifteen essays in this volume discuss the new complexity and salience of the role of the UN Secretary-General and its current incumbent, Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Not only is the role analyzed in relationship to a rapidly changing climate of world politics, but it is also examined in relationship to the backgrounds and experiences of the earlier Secretaries-General from Trygve Lie, Dag Hammarskjold, U Thant, and Kurt Waldheim, to Javier Perez de Cuellar. All those concerned with the UN, international organizations, and international administration will find this volume interesting reading.

The United Nations, Peace and Security

The United Nations, Peace and Security PDF Author: Ramesh Thakur
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139456946
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Preventing humanitarian atrocities is becoming as important for the United Nations as dealing with inter-state war. In this book, Ramesh Thakur examines the transformation in UN operations, analysing its changing role and structure. He asks why, when and how force may be used and argues that the growing gulf between legality and legitimacy is evidence of an eroded sense of international community. He considers the tension between the US, with its capacity to use force and project power, and the UN, as the centre of the international law enforcement system. He asserts the central importance of the rule of law and of a rules-based order focused on the UN as the foundation of a civilised system of international relations. This book will be of interest to students of the UN and international organisations in politics, law and international relations departments, as well as policymakers in the UN and other NGOs.