This book examines recent attempts at reform within the United Nations in the wake of the institutional crisis provoked by the invasion of Iraq. It contends that efforts at reform have foundered owing to fundamental and bitter political disagreements between the nations of the global North and South. Following profound discord in the Security Council in the lead up to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, this book considers the ambitious programme of reform instigated by then serving UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The author of this highly topical work, Spencer Zifcak, subjects six of Annan’s principal proposals for reform to scrutiny: the reform of the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council, and suggested alterations to international law with respect to the use of force in international affairs, the ‘responsibility to protect’, and UN strategies to counter global terrorism. On the basis of these detailed case-studies, the book demonstrates why so few proposals for reform were eventually adopted. It argues that the principal reason for this failure was that nations of the North and South could not agree as to the merits of the reforms proposed, exposing the sharply differing visions held by member states for a future and improved United Nations. Founded upon extensive interviews with diplomats at the United Nations, the book provides a rare ‘insider’ account of UN politics and practice. It will be of vital interest to students, scholars and practitioners of International Relations, International Law, and International Institutions.
Globalisation and the Rule of Law reassesses the idea of the 'rule of law' within the present complex and increasingly internationalized environment. There have been many books studying the phenomenon of globalization and its economic, social or cultural consequences. This book, however, is the first to relate globalization exclusively to law. It examines the impact of globalization upon the rule of law, a fundamental value within liberal democratic sovereign states. The book opens with three chapters discussing the theory of the rule of law and its necessary reconceptualization in a global environment. Then, in three sections considering global trade, security and human rights, it proposes new ways of thinking about global law and its application in new and existing institutions of global governance. Contributors include top-flight academics, politicians and judges, making this book significant and relevant in both jurisprudential theory and political practice.
General principles of law have made, and are likely further to make, a significant contribution to our understanding of the constituent elements of global justice. Dealing extensively with global headline issues of peace, security and justice, this book explores justice arising in specific areas of international law, as well as underlying theories of justice from political science and international relations. With contributions from leading academics and practitioners, the book adopts an interdisciplinary approach. Covering issues such as international humanitarian law, and examining the significance of non-state actors for the development of international law, the collection concludes with the complex question of how best to rethink aspects of international justice. The lessons derived from this research will have wide implications for both developed and emerging nation-states in rethinking sensitive issues of international law and justice. As such, this book will be of interest to academics and practitioners interested in international law, environmental law, human rights, ethics, international relations and political theory.
In this important book, lawyer Spencer Zifcak describes how friends fell out in Geneva, and looks at the actions the Australian government took in reaction to UN criticism of its human rights record. From that fateful meeting at the Palais des Nations in Geneva he traces the governments efforts to change the UN committee system and the impact of the controversy on Australias international reputation.
Globalisation and the Rule of Law reassesses the idea of the 'rule of law' within the present complex and increasingly internationalized environment. There have been many books studying the phenomenon of globalization and its economic, social or cultural consequences. This book, however, is the first to relate globalization exclusively to law. It examines the impact of globalization upon the rule of law, a fundamental value within liberal democratic sovereign states. The book opens with three chapters discussing the theory of the rule of law and its necessary reconceptualization in a global environment. Then, in three sections considering global trade, security and human rights, it proposes new ways of thinking about global law and its application in new and existing institutions of global governance. Contributors include top-flight academics, politicians and judges, making this book significant and relevant in both jurisprudential theory and political practice.
This book evaluates Kofi Annan’s endeavor to reform the United Nations, seeking to understand why it was unsuccessful in so many cases, but also how global politics and ideological divisions played so forcefully into the many intra-institutional debates.
General principles of law have made, and are likely further to make, a significant contribution to our understanding of the constituent elements of global justice. Dealing extensively with global headline issues of peace, security and justice, this book explores justice arising in specific areas of international law, as well as underlying theories of justice from political science and international relations. With contributions from leading academics and practitioners, the book adopts an interdisciplinary approach. Covering issues such as international humanitarian law, and examining the significance of non-state actors for the development of international law, the collection concludes with the complex question of how best to rethink aspects of international justice. The lessons derived from this research will have wide implications for both developed and emerging nation-states in rethinking sensitive issues of international law and justice. As such, this book will be of interest to academics and practitioners interested in international law, environmental law, human rights, ethics, international relations and political theory.
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