The UNHCR and World Politics: A perilious path - Hardcover

Loescher, Gil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198297165 ISBN 13: 9780198297161

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2001

Synopsis

More than 50 years ago, governments established the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to protect the world's refugees. The UNHCR was created to be a human rights and advocacy organization, but governments also created the agency to promote regional and international stability and to serve the interests of states. Consequently, the UNHCR has always trod a perilous path between its mandate to protect refugees and asylum seekers and the demands placed upon it by states to be a relevant actor in world politics. This is an independent history of the UNHCR. Gil Loescher, one of the world's leading experts on refugee affairs, draws upon decades of personal experience and research to examine the origins and evolution of the UNHCR as well as to identify many of the major challenges facing the organization in the years ahead. A key focus is to examine the extent to which the evolution of the UNHCR has been framed by the crucial events of international politics during the past half century and how, in turn, the actions of the eight past High Commissioners have helped shape the course of world history.

About this title

Review

Gill Loescher is overwhelmingly good on the decision-making of past High Commissioners as it relates to the international operations of the UNHCR, and the internal bureaucracy of the UNHCR insofar as this affects its operational capacity. In its detail on those operations Loescher's book does exactly what it says on the tin, and is the superlative modern political history of the UNHCR. (International and Comparative Law Quarterly)

Aside from being a masterful overview of UNHCR and the evolution of the refugee crisis over the last fifty years, this book is a remarkable example of the blending of disciplinary approaches. I should imagine it will be of particular value to postgraduates and academics in International Relations or Political Science, but will also prove valuable for scholars in related disciplines, including Geography, Sociology and History. It should also be required reading for every employee of UNHCR. It is well-written, smartly produced and the bibliography and index are valuable props. (Millennium: Journal of International Studies)

Gil Loescher provides the first systematic analysis of [the] remarkable transformation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ... In writing this volume, he has had access to UNHCR documents and staff that I imagine is unique for an academic, and has also interviewed a number of the previous High Commissioners. Still, he has maintained his independence and has produced a balanced analysis that is critical when it is needed. (Millennium: Journal of International Studies)

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198297165
• ISBN 13: 9780198297161
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 446