A Changing United Nations
ISBN: 9780333984420
Platform/Publisher: SpringerLink / Palgrave Macmillan UK
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: unlimited; Download: unlimited
Subjects: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies Collection;

The United Nations is at a critical juncture. It is faced with two distinct choices: to remain a 'decision frozen in time' or to develop a long-term adaptation agenda (and strategy) that would allow it to be a relevant institution of global governance for the twenty-first century. Reform and reflexive institutional adjustments have failed to address underlying problems facing this organization. After fifty-five years of existence it is still considered an inefficient and ineffective world body. Worse yet, its relevance is being questioned. This study offers a critique of existing UN change processes and then shifts focus to considerations of institutional learning strategies that would allow the UN to maintain relevance amidst the evolution of global governance arrangements.

W. Andy Knight is Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

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