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Intended for undergraduates, graduates and those interested in the key institutions of international public policy. Looking at the antecedents of the UN Security Council, as well as the issues and challenges that it faces, this book includes: historical perspectives; the founding vision; procedures and practices; economic enforcement; and more.

At the turn of the century, the United States is on the verge of losing its vote in the General Assembly for non-payment of its arrears. There are eerie parallels between the domestic debate over the United Nations in 1999 and the struggles over the League of Nations in 1919. Why, many ask, are Americans the first to create international organizations and the first to abandon them? What is it about the American political culture that breeds both the most ardent supporters and the most vocal detractors of international organization? And why can't they find any common ground? In seeking to uncover the roots of American ambivalence toward international organization, this political history presents the first major analysis of U.S. attitudes toward both the United Nations and the League of Nations. It traces eight themes that have resurfaced again and again in congressional and public debates over the course of this century: exceptionalism, sovereignty, nativism and racism, unilateralism, security, commitments, reform, and burden-sharing. It assesses recent domestic political trends and calls for the development of two interactive political compacts--one domestic and one international--to place U.S.-UN relations on a new footing. A Century Foundation Book.

Abstract
This contribution by the United Nations' first Special Adviser for the Responsibility to Protect reflects on where R2P has been and where it is going fifteen years after it was approved at the World Summit of 2005.

AbstractIn an article titled "Reforming the Security Council through a Code of Conduct: A Sisyphean Task?" (Ethics & International Affairs 32, no. 4, pp. 463–82), Bolarinwa Adediran argues that efforts to establish a code of conduct at the UN Security Council amount to energy misspent—for reasons both of practicability and effectiveness. While it is true that the proposed codes of conduct do not offer any shortcuts or magic answers to the dilemmas surrounding efforts to prevent atrocity crimes and protect populations, I disagree with the assessment that these initiatives will ultimately prove to be "unhelpful." I examine the initiatives on three levels of analysis: (1) their effect on political and normative movement toward giving increased attention to human security considerations, (2) their effect on Security Council decision-making, and (3) their effect on atrocity prevention and protection on the ground. The proposed codes have both downside risks and upside potential on all three levels, but it is on the first level that my assessment most sharply diverges from that of Adediran.

Like the polarized mix of extravagant praise and merciless scorn that greeted it from the outset, the first decade of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has been anything but neutral. The highs have been remarkably high, the lows painfully low. The R2P has gained far broader and more sustainable political support than skeptics would have imagined, but its achievements on the ground -- in preventing mass atrocities and protecting populations -- have fallen far short of its proponents' ambitions. Its successes have been quiet, and its failures raw and public. Now, the task is to reposition R2P to meet changing conditions and to reflect lessons learned without losing its enduring core principles, which remain every bit as compelling today as a decade ago. Here, Luck details new mindset for R2P's new era. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractIt is early for definitive assessments of RtoP's future as a policy instrument. Like a maturing child, we know more about its talents and aptitudes than about how they will be nurtured or stunted in the years ahead. The generally positive dialogue in the General Assembly in July 2011 suggests that the Member States understand the difference between a principle and the tactics to implement it. Building on conceptual and political progress, the United Nations is applying RtoP perspectives to a growing number of situations. In five of these, it appears to have helped save lives. Big challenges and uncertainties lie ahead, however. Perceptions of RtoP's political clout are proving to be a mixed blessing, while questions of selectivity, sovereignty, and possible misuse remain. Five near-term priorities are identified.