Humanitarian Intervention and the United Nations - by Norrie Macqueen (Paperback)

About the Book

Explores the UN's track record of military action, from the cold war to today's fractured globalisation

Book Synopsis

Does humanitarian intervention 'work'? Could it work better if approached differently? Or should we just, in the words of one critic, 'give war a chance'?Since the end of the Cold War and the subsequent surge in civil and international conflicts, the UN has been faced by an ever-increasing set of demands on its military capacity. This book traces the evolution of its armed humanitarian intervention from the grand ambitions for forceful collective security through the 'brushfire' peacekeeping of the cold war years to its engagement with the present globalised yet fractured world order.Key FeaturesPresents a concise analytical overview of the theoretical, moral and practical issuesExplores the general setting of contemporary humanitarian interventionAssesses the actual record of post-Cold War humanitarian intervention on a region-by-region basis, from the Balkans to Africa and Southeast AsiaCompiles a balance sheet of success and failure in the UN's efforts and confronts hard questions about their short and long-term value

From the Back Cover

AUTHOR APPROVED ENDORSEMENT TO FOLLOW - JEN Does humanitarian intervention 'work'? Could it work better if approached differently? Or should we just, in the words of one critic, 'give war a chance'? Since the end of the Cold War and the subsequent surge in civil and international conflicts, the UN has been faced by an ever-increasing set of demands on its military capacity. This book traces the evolution of its armed humanitarian intervention from the grand ambitions for forceful collective security through the 'brushfire' peacekeeping of the cold war years to its engagement with the present globalised yet fractured world order. Key Features Presents a concise analytical overview of the theoretical, moral and practical issues Explores the general setting of contemporary humanitarian intervention Assesses the actual record of post-Cold War humanitarian intervention on a region-by-region basis, from the Balkans to Africa and Southeast Asia Compiles a balance sheet of success and failure in the UN's efforts and confronts hard questions about their short and long-term value Norrie MacQueen is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Dundee. He is author of The Decolonization of Portuguese Africa (1997), The United Nations since 1945 (1999), United Nations Peacekeeping in Africa since 1960 (2002), Peacekeeping and the International System (2006), Colonialism (2007) and The United Nations: A Beginner's Guide (2010).

Review Quotes

A stimulating analysis of what UN interventions are about and what they can - or cannot - achieve.--Thierry Tardy, Geneva Centre for Security Policy "International Peacekeeping"

MacQueen's comprehensive analysis of UN military operations with humanitarian dimensions makes the case why the United Nations is the worst possible option for intervention, apart from all the others. A rare combination of rigorous history, in-depth analysis, and engaging prose.--Prof. Thomas G. Weiss, The CUNY Graduate Center

About the Author

Norrie MacQueen is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Dundee