Book Description
This is a revised edition of a two-volume survey United Nations Legal Order. It provides students and scholars with a text that appraises the contribution made by the United Nations to contemporary international law and the law-creating process. Among the topics addressed are how international law is made by UN institutions; what contemporary international law owes its existence to the United Nations; how and whether UN bodies have served as sources of international law; and whether UN-created law can be said to have worked as an effective regulator of state conduct. Covering a wide range of UN activity, this book represents a comprehensive guide to the role of the UN in providing viable legal rules to deal with international problems.Download Description
This is a revised edition of a two-volume survey United Nations Legal Order. It provides students and scholars with a text that appraises the contribution made by the United Nations to contemporary international law and the law-creating process. Among the topics addressed are how international law is made by UN institutions; what contemporary international law owes its existence to the United Nations; how and whether UN bodies have served as sources of international law; and whether UN-created law can be said to have worked as an effective regulator of state conduct. Covering a wide range of UN activity, this book represents a comprehensive guide to the role of the UN in providing viable legal rules to deal with international problems. ... Read more

Product Description
A concise history of the United Nations is presented in two parts.Part One features an original narrative and analysis of historiographical questions, emphasizing the impact of the Cold War on the United Nations, the emergence of a postcolonial Third World bloc, the U.N.'s role in the Middle East and Africa, and the prospects for change and reform in the post-Cold War era.Part Two contains the most significant U.N. resolutions of the last 60 years, including dramatic General Assembly and Security Council debates and memorable addresses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The United Nations and the Iraq-Kuwait Conflict, 1990-1996.
Documentsýmostly but not exclusively from the United Nationsýare the star here, taking up 700 pages.Implicitly recognizing that the United Nations had only a minor role until the fighting ended in February 1991, nine-tenths of the documents date from the period since then, presenting the sanctions regime in all its military and economic complexity.They contain very little legalese or U.N. self-importance and lots of substance, including much hard-hitting analysis (a human rights report by Max van der Stoel, for example, cites Iraq as ýone huge prisoný).

A reader looking for Boutros-Ghaliýs few perfunctory introduction lines might look in vain and conclude that they got omitted.Not so; the secretary-general is credited for the fine 113-page analysis that opens the volume.Lest it be assumed that this be a courtesy for the U.N.ýs chief executive, note that he cut his teeth as a professor of international law and, in addition to other books in this same U.N. series, compiled prior such books. But Boutros-Ghaliýs text, for all its virtues, is prisoner to the unique U.N. perspective.The first paragraph lauds that organization for acting ýas a powerful instrument for international peace and security.ýThe second presents the Iraqi assault on Kuwait as ýthe first instanceý since 1945 when ýone Member State sought to completely overpower and annex anotherýýa bit of revisionist history that ignores other such instances (Israel and Bosnia) where more controversy reigns.

Middle East Quarterly, December 1996 ... Read more

Book Description
Raising the Bar, produced by a unique team of business experts and UN agencies, is designed to fill a critical vide - poches the support of more than 1,000 organisations for the globally recognised Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and the need for this support to be translated into the day-to-day running of business to create value and improve performance.

The Nine Global Compact Principles cover human rights, labour standards and environmental responsibility. But what does it mean to implement the Compact and its principles? How can the broad brush strokes of the Principles form the basis of management change? And how should companies establish benchmarks and performance indicators for implementation? For many companies, the journey is just starting. How can they ensure that they align with the Global Compact in ways that continue to reward their other business objectives? How should they embrace and capitalise on the Global Compact's potential for bringing together business, the public sector, trade unions and civil society in new partnerships?

The aim of this book is to answer these questions by providing a performance model clearly grounded on the total quality management approach to assist businesses in putting the Global Compact into practice. Raising the Bar collects together and categorises a wealth of corporate responsibility tools, good practice and case studies in a structure familiar to anyone aware of business excellence models and demonstrates that values create value - leadership commitment to the Global Compact can impact both the boardroom and the shop floor, public image and balance sheet.

Full of graphics and designed with accessibility in mind, the book will be a goldmine for managers looking for inspiration on how their businesses can be good corporate citizens and real proof that good business is also good for the bottom line. ... Read more

Book Description
Reviews UN nation-building efforts to transform unstable countries into democratic, peaceful, and prosperous partners, and compares those efforts to U.S. led missions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The UN's Role in Nation-Building: From the Congo to Iraq
great background history foundation to today's current strategic events in the Middle East ... Read more

Book Description
A cookbook filled with the best of traditional and contemporary home cooking from more than 50 United Nations member countries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Delicious, broad and easy!
The recipes I've tried have been a big hit... Turned our ordinary dining experiences into a global adventure!Well done UNIS! ... Read more

Book Description
The Parliament of Man is the first definitive history of the United Nations, from one of America's greatest living historians.

Distinguished scholar Paul Kennedy, author of the bestselling The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, gives us a thorough and timely account that explains the UN's roots and functions while also casting an objective eye on its effectiveness and its prospects for success in meeting the challenges that lie ahead. Kennedy shows the UN for what it is: fallible, human-based, often dependent on the whims of powerful national governments or the foibles of individual administrators—yet also utterly indispensable. With his insightful grasp of six decades of global history, Kennedy convincingly argues that "it is difficult to imagine how much more riven and ruinous our world of six billion people would be if there had been no UN." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo: The UN 60 Years On
Today (February 7, 2008), 1,700 Blue helmets sit at the edge of the abyss in East Africa.The UN peacekeepers between Eritrea and Ethiopia are currently struggling without fuel and Eritrea will not allow it to refuel.It shows the powerlessness of the UN organization and its Utopian dreams of world peace.Yet, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has no plans to withdraw the troops because according to one UN official, "Abandoning our positions would sanctify a resumption of the conflict."Thus it shows the resolve of the organization and the good it does ameliorating conflict.

The UN is probably both the most hated and the most beloved international organization.It is both the image of why we cannot work together because of realist interests and why the world can do great things - such as the drive to eradicate small pox.In his Parliament of Man, Paul Kennedy describes the good, the bad and the ugly of the UN as it turns 60 years old.Kennedy also attempts to find a way forward for the world organization, which he feels if it didn't exist we'd have to invent it or parts of it.

The possible ugliness is palpable.To many critics in the conservative US, and elsewhere, the UN is seen as a dangerous attempt at world government.The various organs argue for human rights and for collective action on issues that would contradict the sovereignty of nations.The Security Council resolutions are binding and therefore must be observed by all within the organization.The Secretary General is often seen by such people as an aspirant world President.The questions of national sovereignty vis-a- vis such a universal organ is something appears to be in need of resolution constantly.

Even when there is not the question of national sovereignty at stake, the UN has its detractors.It seems ridiculous that Libya should head the Human Rights committee.Peacekeeping missions are often weak and only in position to be targets from either side of the dispute.Further, the dream of a Parliament of Man is lacking when the General Assembly cannot have binding resolutions.Some therefore, dismiss the UN's utopian dream as impossible.

Yet is it really the UN's dream?The actions of subgroups of the UN, such as UNICEF, is highly lauded.There is no one who does not see the good much of the UN does.The UNESCO group on defending cultural and natural "heritage sites" is something most people believe should happen so we can pass our history to our grandchildren.All too often there is, like in Eritrea, only a thin blue line between peace and chaos.Moreover, the UN offers a forum for debate and expression of views that can be found nowhere else.

Kennedy spells out this good, bad and ugly.He poses the case for reform, by analyzing both sides, the UN should do more people and the do less people.He finds that it should be tweaked while revolutionary change is impossible and perhaps unwarranted.Kennedy brings to this book the fantastic writing and clear analysis that he brought to his other works.All too often we dismiss international organizations and many attack their usefulness both from the right and the left; but what is that the computer tech tells Charlie in The West Wing: "if they're shooting at you, you know you're doing something right."

So-So
Kennedy's problems start with the title.It's great to quote from Tennyson, but the UN is hardly The Parliament of Man.It is a Parliament of governments, some of which legitimately represent their citizens because they are elected and some of which jail without trial, torture and/or kill their citizens.A second problem -- his numerous fiat-like assertions arbitrarily and falsely preempt debate."However, to any reasonable person nowadays, it is outrageous that a 5 of the 191 sovereign states that make up the United Nations have special powers and privileges."He may be correct, probably is, but to seek to control the terms of debate with such a sweeping statement is the authorial equivalent of "have you stopped beating your wife?"Third, his views on the Security Council vs. General Assembly role in the organization are essentially black and white.The Security Council is generally lambasted as a cause of the UN's immobility and ineffectiveness.The General Assembly's half-century of weak performance pretty much gets off with the lightest of wrist slaps or is blamed on the limitations placed on it by the UN Charter.Whenever Kennedy is critical of something or someone inside or outside the UN, the person or institution is often modified by the word "conservative", again as if to pin most of the UN's problems on conservatives.Certainly there is some validity to that charge, but it's another example of an author pushing his views so hard that it undercuts what Parliament should and could have been, an even-handed contribution to the debate about how to begin reforming the UN so that the only game in town for global community action can be more effective in that action.

Kennedy could have done better!
There's probably no better qualified writer for a history of the UN and assessment of its prospects.The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers was an important and influential book, and the formation of the UN around the alliance of the victorious Allies really was the last collaboration among them.As the driver of the Great Powers School of geopolitical thinking, Kennedy was the right author for an analysis of the UN.Having a strong interest in the UN, I looked for a good history of analysis a few years back, and discovered the last one, by an LA Times reporter, was a decade old and out of print.It was wonderful to learn that a seminal historian would tackle the subject.

But at a time when most organizations are undergoing serious scrutiny for their roles in failing to capture the peace dividend, or serious lapses of intelligence and execution, in Kennedy's book the UN hardly gets any tough analysis.It is truly inexplicable that Srebrenica not get reviewed, or even Oil-for-Food Scandal.

The book not only overlooks what's important, it's boring.Yes, instead of looking at the organization from the ground up, he peers at it through a stack of paper.He wades through the verbiage of its self-definition, then bogs down in all its silly acronyms.

Here's what he should have written about: The UN is as DOA as the League of Nations unless it can rebalance membership in the Permanent Security Council to reflect the latent military clout of the current world.At heart, all the UN is an alliance between nations that were victorious 60-years ago.It will lose all purchase unless it can reflect probable military realities.Either it will change, or disappear.Hey, that would be a bad thing.

Reading the acknowledgements after the long boring platitudinous slog, I realized the problem.The UN commissioned Kennedy to write about the UN's situation.That explains how boring and polite this book is, purged of all drama.And that's duplicitous on Kennedy's part - especially if he got paid for his analysis, and then used the same material for a supposedly unbiased book.

Rewrite it with some teeth!

a solid but somewhat dry overview of the UN
As a reporter who has covered the UN, I read this book around the time I first came here. It is helpful for understanding the basic layout of the organization, its history and purpose, which are things that I was completely in the dark on before I came here and rather suspect most of my countrymen are ill-informed on as well. The chapter on the history of the Security Council is extremely helpful in getting a basic understanding of the UN's role in major foreign affairs in the past 60 years. However, this book is often dry and rambly in its later stages, and just doesn't have that much to say about, say, NGOs and civil society. By contrast, I found James Traub's "The Best Intentions," on the twilight of the Kofi Annan years here, to be a more engaging, if slightly less objectively detached, treatise of the United Nations.

A Tour d'Horizon of the UN's Successes and Failures
In 1945, in San Francisco, when the UN Charter was written, the victors of the Second World War were looking to create an international body that would guarantee global security and prevent another conflagration like the one they had just experienced.The lines from the Tennyson poem "Locksley Hall:" "Till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furl'd / In the Parliament of Man, Federation of the World" were carried by President Truman in his back pocket when he gave his famous address calling for a United Nations.

Paul Kennedy, Yale historian and author of "The Rise and Fall of Great Powers," reminds us that the internal contradictions that exist at the UN today were present at creation, so to speak.The UN was essentially created by the victors of World War II.The General Assembly, which at the time was made up of 49 members, reflected the internationalism of this venture, each member was allowed one vote regardless of size or power.The Security Council, on the other hand, made up of the five permanent members ( the US, China, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union) were the only members allowed the veto reflecting the realism of the founders.

Essentially the UN is no more than what the great powers want it to be.It is disingenuous for the American right to attack the UN for being weak and ineffectual when they need it because it was designed to be so. In the case of Rwanda and Bosnia, the UN stood by helplessly while thousands were massacred; this was because no great power stepped forward in time to stop these atrocities.Likewise, if a great power decides to act unilaterally such as the US in Iraq or China in Tibet, there is nothing the UN can do. In the politcal and military realm the UN is primarily a tool for the great powers.

Any reform of the UN Charter, such as creating a standing army or increasing the number of permanent members of the Security Council, must be approved by all five of the existing permanent members. Over the years there have been endless commissions, reports, and proposals calling for structural reform at the UN, but none have succeeded in persuading the current five to change the status quo. One must concede that if the current five cannot agree on reform, it would be even more difficult for a larger group.

Kennedy points out that "there are in practice many UN's."Most citizens of great power countries think of the UN only in it's peacekeeping and peace-enforcing capacity - a capacity in which in does not have much power.Most of the developing world is more interested in the UN's "soft power," dealing with human rights, poverty alleviation, refugees, and public health.In these areas, UN efforts have met with some success. These people working through the UN and other NGO's have been instrumental in creating an international civil society, which have greatly contributed to global security and well-being.

Only a few years ago during the invasion of Iraq, American conservatives declared the UN useless and irrelevant.Recently, however, with the crisis in Lebanon and the nuclear stand-off with Iran, one great power after another is going to the UN with another resolution.Inspite of all it's shortcomings, it is still the only global forum for conflict resolution and burden-sharing.

In the last part of this book, Kennedy asks whether the UN can remake itself to reflect the realities of the 21st century.The answer lies in how much power the great powers are willing to relinquish.Globalization is rapidly creating a world that is more multilayered and interconnected.Will the UN be able to keep pace with these changes or will the world pass it by?Kennedy is an optimist. ... Read more

Book Description
In the first edition of this book the late Evan Luard questioned whether or not the United Nations had failed and suggested ways in which the institution could be improved. Into his context he placed analyses of the operation of the Security Council, the General Assembly, economic and social bodies, the International Court of Justice and teh International Law Commission, the Secretariat and the Budget.In preparing the new edition Derek Hearter ahd updated the core material and written a new concluding chapter showing how, since the mid-1980s, the United Nations has aquired a new lease on life. ... Read more

Book Description
As World War II drew to a close and the world awakened to the horrors wrought by white supremacists in Nazi Germany, the NAACP and African-American leaders sensed an opportunity to launch an offensive against the conditions of segregation and inequality in the United States.The "prize" they sought was not civil rights, but human rights.Only the human rights lexicon, shaped by the Holocaust and articulated by the United Nations, contained the language and the moral power to address not only the political and legal inequality but also the education, health care, housing, and employment needs that haunted the black community.The NAACP understood this and wielded its influence and resources to take its human rights agenda before the United Nations.But the onset of the Cold War and rising anti-communism allowed powerful southerners to cast those rights as Soviet-inspired and a threat to the American "ways of life."Enemies and friends excoriated the movement, and the NAACP retreated to a narrow civil rights agenda that was easier to maintain politically.Thus the Civil Rights Movement was launched with neither the language nor the mission it needed to truly achieve black equality.Carol Anderson is the recipient of major grants from the Ford Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies, and numerous awards for excellence in teaching. Her scholarly interests are 20th century American, African-American, and diplomatic history, and the impact of the Cold War and U.S. foreign policy on the struggle for black equality in particular. Her publications include "From Hope to Disillusion published in Diplomatic History and reprinted in The African-American Voice in U.S. Foreign Policy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The author IS the prize.
Carol's book is an excellent insight into how the struggle for human rights was hampered by the motives of so many players who ultimately brought the force of human rights in the United Nations from a roar to a soft meow. Her voice is fresh and very well informed. I will also admit to a personal bias because I heard Carol speak at the Truman Presidential Library in July of 2006 and it was the passion of her presentation that brought me to read her book. In my opinion, her writing is a close second to seeing her speak in person and I am thankful for having hadsuch a privelege. I look forward to reading her next books and being her personal groupie- Carol Anderson ROCKS!

Understanding Race in the U.S. today
This book was incredible for several reasons. As an African American, I struggle to understand why so little has changed in relations between blacks and whites in this country and more importantly, why there seems to be a deeply entrenched systemic barrier to real progress (economic, political, social and cultural) for many African Americans. Eyes off the Prize highlights the enormous difference between struggling for human rights versus concentrating solely on civil rights-I'd never really thought about the fact that those aren't the same struggles.

Further, while it is obvious that the author did a tremendous amount of research, this book is a real "page turner." Much of what I learned by reading this book was far beyond what I've known previously and the book dispelled many of the myths surrounding civil rights leaders in this country. Lastly, the conclusions made sense to me-I didn't feel like I was reading a distant, scholarly book-I felt as though the author brought me along on an incredible journey of the African American struggle for dignity and fairness in a hostile land.

I really enjoyed the book and gave it to all my friends and family for Christmas last year.

For full disclosure, I went to high school with the author--that's why I was curious about the book--but it is certainly not why I read every word!

The Illusion of Substantive Racial Progress
For the sake of full disclosure, I'm a colleague of Carol Anderson's at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Yet, notwithstanding our friendship, I can objectively state that EYES OFF THE PRIZE is must reading for individuals seeking insights as to why America's racial problems persist.

More than a generation after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a disproportionate number of African Americans are undereducated, unemployed (or underemployed), and incarcerated. Anderson's exhaustively researched book persuasively suggests that the reason for continuing black inequality is that, during the crucial period covered in her book, African Americans changed (and were forced
to change) their focus from achieving HUMAN RIGHTS to achieving CIVIL RIGHTS.

This is not a book for the faint-of-heart. Anderson pulls no punches in telling her story of how African Americans lost sight of the "prize" of human rights. No doubt, some will find her analysis at times to be quite provocative. Yet, as a good historian, Anderson has not written a book to make people
feel good. She has written a book to make people think. ... Read more

Book Description
This is a handbook on world government which is also known as "the New World Order," a phrase first used by President George Bush in 1990.

I am asking that world government and New World Order be linked. When I first started reading about the "New World Order" I had no idea that it was world government...no one ever made the connection for me. We have to explain that they are one in the same.

Many Americans know or feel somthing is very wrong, but are not able to put their finger on the problem. This book will help them to connect the dots - politically, economically, and environmentally. "Global Straitjacket" will explain the Hegelian Dialectic, "reinventing government," public-private partnerships and how it replaces the Constitution, "globalization," the move toward a world stock market and a cashless society, an international criminal court which transcends national boundaries, and much more. Above all it will provide the reader with an understanding of the governmental aspects of the United Nations and how its power transcends from the international to the local level, all with the blessings of our federal government.

Joan Veon writes: "Jesus Christ was born into world government. The early church certainly understood the rules of Rome and worked around and through it without becoming part of it or adding to it. In contrast, the end-time church is going into world government without knowing or understanding its agenda, and therefore blind as to how to stand in the gap."

Above all, this book is a call to stand in the gap which is our God-given mandate - and the bottom line to our total existence and Christian call! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Like all of Joan's books, outstanding!
Joan has done much better with first hand
info than phoneys like Cliff Kincaid and
Don McAlvey. I heard her first on Tom Val-
entine's fine Radio Free America show spe-
aking on this subject. I highly recommend
this work!

excellent book for all, no conspiracy kookdom here
Very comprehensive book with a lot of documentation. An excellent book to have in your library, as well as "The Unseen Hand" by A. Ralph Epperson.

The truth shall be exposed
Joan Veon has been studying the internal workings and the politics of the United Nations for a great portion of her life.If there is anyone in the world that can be considered an expert on the U.N. she is it!She attends every UN-connected meeting in the world and she reports in-depth on all of them.Through her research it has been discovered that the United Nations is not the "good guys."As a matter of fact, when one reads about the UN and finds out the truth it becomes downright frightening.

Now, if anyone reviews this book (and any other anti-UN book) and calls it a "right wing nutcase conspiracy junkie" book you will know which side they are on.And it won't be the good side.

Pulls back the covers
Joan Veon was at first confused by the conflicting messages from the U.N. and its advocates.So she attended the Cairo Conference on over-population and began her education.Many conferences later, she has done her homework, gives professional quality analysis in a no-nonsense way, and exposes the United Nations for what it is -- a burgeoning One World Government.You can think yourself educated on this subject if you are not familiar with her work, but you are cheating yourself of hard-core information to not add it to your reading list.

A Must Read
If you are a Christian this is a must read. Joan M. Veon has had a handson experience with the UN. She extensively goes deep into what are the realgoals of the UN which are sugar-coated to the general public at the moment.With actual UN documentation,and very reliable info resources; Joan M.Veon presents without question that the main aim of the UN is a NWO OneWorld Government. Get this one - prophecy students !!!! ... Read more

Product Description
The United States has once again entered into a period of large external imbalances. This time the current account deficit, at nearly 6 percent of GDP in 2004, is much larger than in the last episode, when the deficit peaked at about 3.5 percent of GDP in 1987. Moreover, the deficit is on track to become substantially larger over the next several years. This study examines whether the large and growing current account deficit is a problem, and if so, how the problem can be solved. A central policy conclusion of this study is that it is increasingly important that the United States reduce its external current account deficit. This deficit is no longer benign as it arguably was in the late 1990s when it was financing high investment instead of high consumption and large government dissaving. ... Read more

Book Description
The United Nations and Human Rights is a comprehensive and timely guide to the United Nations (UN) human rights machinery. Today, virtually all UN bodies and specialized agencies are undertaking efforts to incorporate the promotion or protection of human rights into their programs and activities. The United Nations and Human Rights examines these recent initiatives within the broader context of human rights practice. It provides the most up-to-date and incisive analysis of this increasingly important area of global politics. Issues that are examined include:

* The historical and philosophical development of the UN human rights system
* The UN structures and procedures for addressing human rights
* Changes to the UN human rights machinery post-9/11
* The managing of international conflict
* The promotion of individual rights
* The advancement of agendas of social movements

This book provides essential reading for students and practitioners of human rights, international relations and international law. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

American Nation
It came very soon after I had ordered it and it was in the exact condition that I payed for. Thank you!!

Poor
This book is filled with too much details and words. It takes too much effort to just read and understand the details in each chapters. It is boring to read and the only good thing about it is that it comes with alot of datas in the American history. If you are a History major, don't miss it.

Worst History Book in a long time
Even as a lover of history, I find this book boring, overwritten and incable of reliable use.When looking up a term, not only can it not be found by reading the chapter, but the index points you to the wrong page! This book is a waste of money and I suggest that you do not purchase it.

A Fabulous Guide to American History in Class and Beyond
This text is absolutely unsurpassed in terms of clarity, conciseness and general usefulness.I first used Garraty's book in 8th grade, then again as a supplement to some other texts in a U.S. A.P. class in high school (I got a 5 on the test, which I am confident is owed entirely to Garraty) and still use it for general reference in college.In a little over 1000 pages, Garraty covers just about every major event in United States history in interesting and extremely clear prose.I have yet to find any book that communicates such an enormous amount of information in such a small amount of space with such an enormous degree of clarity.I promise that this book will not only improve your understanding of U.S. history, but will also serve as a lifelong reference source.

Our "Bible" in AP History
Garraty's book The American Nation was informative and interesting. Itprovided information needed to help the student's in my AP History class.Granted, it was not perfect and was confusing at times, but all in all, itprovided a good, detailed description of our history. Here are the pros andcons of Garraty's book. PROS: 1). Garraty is knowledgeable in hisassessment of history 2). The book is very helpful with its timelines atthe end of each chapter 3). Garraty explains the gist of every major eventand sometimes non-major event 4). It's the only book where our classactually worshipped :) 5). IT WILL BE HELPFUL FOR AP HISTORY AND THENATIONAL EXAM. I (personally) felt confident with the outcome of my exam,but that could also be due in part to my teacher who really complementedwith Garraty. 6). It could be a GREAT paperweight! CONS: 1). It's not agood book to keep in your backpack all day long 2). Sometimes Garraty likesto force his opinions on certain historical figures ( he likes Hamilton,but not Jefferson) 3). There ARE events he doesn't cover that many mightthink was important or he might undercover events that many might think wasimportant.

That's about it for the pros and cons, but remember these arejust my opinions! Hope they helped! Good luck in AP History or whateveryou're doing in regards to this book!! ... Read more

Book Description
THE UNITED NATIONS: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND WORLD POLITICS is a comprehensive guide to all that is relevant to the United Nations from its inception to these opening years of the millennium, analyzing the history, processes, structure and functions of the organization.While the thread of terror weaves its way through the text, the textbook discusses the United Nation's continuing role in assisting nations and peoples in distress from underdevelopment, from population overload, from pandemic disease, and political instability. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

completely worthless
this book was a long-winded aimless read that added nothing to how the U.N. operates.The author seemed to have written the book with the goal of demonstrating his vocabulary and sentence structure.Forgetting to give any analysis on the U.N. and its bodies.

UN informative
For those that are curious about the UN, this book is very informative about the duties and various sectors of the UN.

Subtle but pervasive pro-US bias
The revisions contained in the third edition are the work of Lawrence Ziring, professor at the University of Western Michigan. Ziring is a not an obvious candidate to be writing what is designed to be a textbook on the UN.He has publicly supported U.S. policies which are contrary to the spirit and the letter of U.N. principles, including the `humanitarian' bombings in Yugoslavia and U.S. attacks on alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan and the biological weapons plant (which later turned out to be a pharmaceuticals factory) in Sudan.Ziring is also a member of the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think-tank with people such as Robert McNamara and James A. Baker on its board of directors.The Atlantic Council focuses primarily upon supporting expanded roles for NATO.

As might be expected, in view of Ziring's credentials, the `textbook' is written with a consistently proUS, and generally anti-UN bias.It tends to downplay the UN's effectiveness, it attempts to demonstrate that all issues must be resolved within the context of political realism, and it implies on every occasion available that regional alternatives are to be preferred over the UN. These leitmotifs are pervasive throughout the book, with the exception of a few small patches of optimistic idealism, remnants no doubt of the second edition which Ziring failed to purge.

The biases of the book are nevertheless put forth with subtlety.When Ziring writes of the US refusal to pay its back dues to the UN, for instance, he refrains from ever using the word "refuse", opting instead for evasive locutions such as "reductions in the U.S. contributions were made necessary by subsequent congressional action...."Relative space allocations are used to forward the political agenda as much as the normative commentary: e.g. the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is given more space than on the UN Human Rights Commission, and in the entirety of this 552 page book, there are only about two or three pages-worth of information about UN environmental initiatives. In terms of security issues, the UN is portrayed as a last ditch recourse which should normally defer to `more effective' regional organizations such as NATO and the OAS.

As an example of sophisticated pro-American propaganda, this book is high quality; as a textbook for studying the UN, however, it can only be recommended to those in search of a tool for undermining the organization's legitimacy. ... Read more

Book Description

The Brief Edition of A People and a Nation preserves the text's basic approach to American history as a story of all American people. Known for a number of strengths—including its well-respected author team and engaging narrative—the book emphasizes social history, giving particular attention to race and racial identity. Through its thoughtful inclusion of everyday people, cultural diversity, work, and popular culture, A People and a Nation brings history to life.

Like its full-length counterpart, the Brief Seventh Edition challenges students to think about the implications of events in American history. Several popular features have been retained and updated, including "Legacies for a People and a Nation" and chapter-opening vignettes. A new "Links to the World" feature connects U.S. history to global events and provides Web links for further research on topics such as international piracy, baseball in Japan, OPEC, and AIDS.

• New! Co-authors Fredrik Logevall and Beth Bailey bring new scholarship on international relations and American culture to Volume II. Both authors contribute significant content on diversity, environmental issues, and other matters specific to the western United States.
• New! Volume II has been reorganized—with particular attention to Chapters 30-33—so that world and domestic events are treated in the same chapter. For example, coverage of the Vietnam War and protests against it are now addressed in Chapter 30. This reorganization allows for a more chronologically organized text and the integration of new scholarship.
• New! All chapters have been thoroughly updated to account for cutting-edge scholarship and recent events.
• New! More than 1/3 of the chapter-opening vignettes, which invite students to experience living and making decisions in different eras, are new to the Seventh Edition.
• New! More than 1/3 of the "Legacies for A People and a Nation" are new, including reparations for slavery, freedom of speech and the ACLU, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Appearing after each chapter summary, these "Legacies" demonstrate the importance of the past to the present and provide a forum for contemporary analysis.
• New! Eduspace for History is an online learning tool that pairs the widely recognized resources of Blackboard with quality content from Houghton Mifflin. Eduspace for History offers access to primary sources, interactive maps, and supplemental study materials, as well as writing tips and tutorials (and, in qualified adoption situations, the anti-plagiarism resources of MyDropBox).

Book Description
This passionate, intelligent commentary is an invigorating look at the implications of difference and diversity in two contrasting but similar societies: the United States and South Africa. Melting Pots and Rainbow Nations addresses how differences--of gender, race, culture, biology, and sexual orientation--are variously understood and acted on in both countries.

The authors argue that the concepts of difference and diversity, although valuable, are hollow if disconnected from specific social and historical contexts in which power relations create and perpetuate disadvantage. Their thoughtful exploration includes accounts of their own experiences of difference and their perspectives on such pioneering women as Elizabeth Bishop, Frene Ginwala, Audre Lord, Ruth First, Jane Goodall, and Mamphela Ramphele. ... Read more