On Building Peace: Rescuing the Nation-state and Saving the United Nations - Softcover

Schulenburg, Michael Von Der

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9462984271 ISBN 13: 9789462984271

Publisher: Routledge, 2017

Synopsis

Only 25 years after the end of the Cold War, the Western-dominated global order is fading and our hopes that liberal democracy would spread and bring world peace are evaporating. While the West is increasingly preoccupied with its internal problems, threats to global peace have fundamentally changed: wars among nation-states and their alliances, once the dominant scourge of humankind, have almost disappeared and are replaced by a triple threat from intra-state armed conflicts, the failing of nation-states and the rise of belligerent non-state actors. The global peace we felt within our reach in 1991, is escaping us. On Building Peace seeks the answers that the UN Charter can no longer provide. Once meant as a guarantor for peace, the Charter was never designed to deal with intra-state conflicts and today its core principles are eroded. The book makes two rather simple, but possibly unpopular suggestions for preserving future peace: first, we must rescue the nation-state, not despite but because of globalization, and second, we must not further undermine the United Nations, but expand its Charter for dealing collectively with this triple threat. The struggle for survival in a world of limited resources and environmental degradation will deepen intra-state conflicts. We must prevent slipping back into a new round of Cold War-type confrontations and focus on finding collective solutions for building peace. For the sake of billions of people of future generations, we cannot get this wrong.

About this title

About the Author

Michael von der Schulenburg escaped communist rule, studied in Berlin, London and Paris and worked for the United Nations, and shortly the OSCE, including as UN Assistant Secretary-General, in many of the world's trouble spots, such as in Haiti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, the Balkan, Somalia, Sierra Leone and the Sahel. Many issues that are raised in On Building Peace are heavily influenced by his unique first-hand experiences.

From the Back Cover

Only 25 years after the end of the Cold War, the Western-dominated global order is fading and our hopes that liberal democracy would spread and bring world peace are evaporating. While the West is increasingly preoccupied with its internal problems, threats to global peace have fundamentally changed: wars among nation-states and their alliances, once the dominant scourge of humankind, have almost disappeared and are replaced by a triple threat from intra-state armed conflicts, the failing of nation-states and the rise of belligerent non-state actors. The global peace we felt within our reach in 1991, is escaping us. On Building Peace seeks the answers that the UN Charter can no longer provide. Once meant as a guarantor for peace, the Charter was never designed to deal with intra-state conflicts and today its core principles are eroded. The book makes two rather simple, but possibly unpopular suggestions for preserving future peace: first, we must rescue the nation-state, not despite but because of globalization, and second, we must not further undermine the United Nations, but expand its Charter for dealing collectively with this triple threat.The struggle for survival in a world of limited resources and environmental degradation will deepen intra-state conflicts. We must prevent slipping back into a new round of Cold War-type confrontations and focus on finding collective solutions for building peace. For the sake of billions of people of future generations, we cannot get this wrong.

From the Inside Flap

Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War, new geopolitical changes have eroded Western dominance, and in its place has emerged a multipolar world encompassing a number of global and regional players. At the same time, intrastate conflicts have begun replacing interstate wars as the major threat to world peace and security, causing new challenges for diplomats and other peacekeepers accustomed to focusing only on the relations between countries. On Building Peace explores these issues and demonstrates the vital need for international organisations such as the United Nations to turn a new eye to events taking place within nation-states. Michael von der Schulenburg argues for the development of internationally accepted principles and rules for intervening in intrastate conflicts, including those caused by corrupt governments or militant groups. Ultimately, the book offers a ground-breaking approach to international politics and diplomacy, as well as new tools for the creation of effective peacebuilding strategies.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9462984271
• ISBN 13: 9789462984271
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 282