The United Nations A Very Short Introduction

Author : Jussi M. Hanhimäki
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0190222700
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The United Nations written by Jussi M. Hanhimäki and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The United Nations: a Very Short Introduction' engages the current debate over the United Nation's effectiveness and explains how it was originally conceived, how it has come to its present form, and how it must confront new challenges in a rapidly changing world. In what ways has the UN succeeded and failed as a guardian of international peace and security, as a promoter of human rights, protector of international law, and engineer of socio-economic development?

Author : Jussi M. Hanhimäki
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190222727
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction written by Jussi M. Hanhimäki and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After seven decades of existence has the UN become obsolete? Is it ripe for retirement? As Jussi Hanhimäki proves in the second edition of this Very Short Introduction, the answer is no. In the second decade of the twenty-first century the UN remains an indispensable organization that continues to save lives and improve the world as its founders hoped. Since its original publication in 2008, this 2nd edition includes more recent examples of the UN Security Council in action and peacekeeping efforts while exploring its most recent successes and failures. After a brief history of the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, Hanhimäki examines the UN's successes and failures as a guardian of international peace and security, as a promoter of human rights, as a protector of international law, and as an engineer of socio-economic development. This updated edition highlights what continues to make the UN a complicated organization today, and the ongoing challenges between its ambitions and capabilities. Hanhimäki also provides a clear account of the UN and its various arms and organizations (such as UNESCO and UNICEF), and offers a critical overview of the UN Security Council's involvement in recent crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Libya, and Syria, and how likely it is to meet its overall goals in the future. Regardless of its obstacles, the UN is likely to survive for the foreseeable future. That alone makes trying to understand the UN in all its manifold - magnificent and frustrating - complexity a worthy task. With this much-needed updated introduction to the UN, Jussi Hanhimäki engages the current debate over the organizations effectiveness as he provides a clear understanding of how it was originally conceived, how it has come to its present form, and how it must confront new challenges in a rapidly changing world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Jussi M. Hanhimaki
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199724199
Total Pages : 184 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction written by Jussi M. Hanhimaki and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-28 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United Nations has been called everything from "the best hope of mankind" to "irrelevant" and "obsolete." With this much-needed introduction to the UN, Jussi Hanhim?ki engages the current debate over the organizations effectiveness as he provides a clear understanding of how it was originally conceived, how it has come to its present form, and how it must confront new challenges in a rapidly changing world. After a brief history of the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, the author examines the UN's successes and failures as a guardian of international peace and security, as a promoter of human rights, as a protector of international law, and as an engineer of socio-economic development. Hanhim?ki stresses that the UN's greatest problem has been the impossibly wide gap between its ambitions and capabilities. In the area of international security, for instance, the UN has to settle conflicts--be they between or within states--without offending the national sovereignty of its member states, and without being sidelined by strong countries, as happened in the 2003 intervention of Iraq. Hanhim?ki also provides a clear accounting of the UN and its various arms and organizations (such as UNESCO and UNICEF), and he offers a critical overview of how effective it has been in the recent crises in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, for example--and how likely it is to meet its overall goals in the future. The United Nations, Hanhim?ki concludes, is an indispensable organization that has made the world a better place. But it is also a deeply flawed institution, in need of constant reform. About the Series: Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.

Author : Andrew Clapham
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191578592
Total Pages : 222 pages
Book Rating : 4.95/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction written by Andrew Clapham and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-06-28 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today it is usually not long before a problem gets expressed as a human rights issue. An appeal to human rights in the face of injustice can be a heartfelt and morally justified demand for some, while for others it remains merely an empty slogan. Taking an international perspective and focusing on highly topical issues such as torture, arbitrary detention, privacy, health and discrimination, this Very Short Introduction will help readers to understand for themselves the controversies and complexities behind this vitally relevant issue. Looking at the philosophical justification for rights, the historical origins of human rights and how they are formed in law, Andrew Clapham explains what our human rights actually are, what they might be, and where the human rights movement is heading. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Vaughan Lowe
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191576204
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book International Law: A Very Short Introduction written by Vaughan Lowe and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2015-11-26 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interest in international law has increased greatly over the past decade, largely because of its central place in discussions such as the Iraq War and Guantanamo, the World Trade Organisation, the anti-capitalist movement, the Kyoto Convention on climate change, and the apparent failure of the international system to deal with the situations in Palestine and Darfur, and the plights of refugees and illegal immigrants around the world. This Very Short Introduction explains what international law is, what its role in international society is, and how it operates. Vaughan Lowe examines what international law can and cannot do and what it is and what it isn't doing to make the world a better place. Focussing on the problems the world faces, Lowe uses terrorism, environmental change, poverty, and international violence to demonstrate the theories and practice of international law, and how the principles can be used for international co-operation.

Author : Paul Wilkinson
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191577537
Total Pages : 159 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book International Relations: A Very Short Introduction written by Paul Wilkinson and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-07-26 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of undoubtable relevance today, in a post-9-11 world of growing political tension and unease, this Very Short Introduction covers the topics essential to an understanding of modern international relations. Paul Wilkinson explains the theories and the practice that underlie the subject, and investigates issues ranging from foreign policy, arms control, and terrorism, to the environment and world poverty. He examines the role of organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union, as well as the influence of ethnic and religious movements and terrorist groups which also play a role in shaping the way states and governments interact. This up-to-date book is required reading for those seeking a new perspective to help untangle and decipher international events. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Dane Keith Kennedy
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199340498
Total Pages : 135 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Decolonization written by Dane Keith Kennedy and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decolonization is the term commonly used to refer to this transition from a world of colonial empires to a world of nation-states in the years after World War II. This work demonstrates that this process involved considerable violence and instability.

Author : John Pinder
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199681694
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The European Union: A Very Short Introduction written by John Pinder and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-25 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Pinder and Simon Usherwood explain the EU in plain readable English. They show how and why it has developed, how the institutions work, and what it does - from the single market to the euro, and from agriculture to the environment.

Author : Ian Goldin
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198736258
Total Pages : 217 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Development written by Ian Goldin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is development -- How does development happen? -- Why are some countries rich and others poor? -- What can be done to accelerate development? -- The evolution of development aid -- Sustainable development -- Globalization and development -- The future of development.

Author : Christopher S. Browning
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199668531
Total Pages : 153 pages
Book Rating : 4.33/5 ( download)

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Download or read book International Security: A Very Short Introduction written by Christopher S. Browning and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-24 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An accessible, succinct introduction to the complicated issues surrounding today's international security considers such factors as climate change, migration, poverty, health and international terrorism while exploring the nature of key debates as reflected by a broad range of international examples. Original.