Swords Into Plowshares: Building Peace Through the United Nations


Book Description

This work brings together a number of contributions analyzing some of the most pressing issues in the present world and suggests ways and methods to manage these problems.




Plowshares Into Swords


Book Description

Introduction: Knowledge in Exile -- The League Is the Thing: International Society's Super-University -- Plowshares into Swords: Knowledge, Weaponized -- Internationalist Dunkirk: International Society in Exile -- The Rover Boys of Reconstruction: International Society in the American World -- Coda: Great Leaps Forward.




Plowshares


Book Description

In September 1980, eight Catholic activists made their way into a Pennsylvania General Electric plant housing parts for nuclear missiles. Evading security guards, these activists pounded on missile nose cones with hammers and then covered the cones in their own blood. This act of nonviolent resistance was their answer to calls for prophetic witness in the Old Testament: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.” Plowshares explores the closely interwoven religious and social significance of the group’s use of performance to achieve its goals. It looks at the group’s acts of civil disobedience, such as that undertaken at the GE plant in 1980, and the Plowshares’ behavior at the legal trials that result from these protests. Interpreting the Bible as a mandate to enact God’s kingdom through political resistance, the Plowshares work toward “symbolic disarmament,” with the aim of eradicating nuclear weapons. Plowshares activists continue to carry out such “divine obediences” against facilities where equipment used in the production or deployment of nuclear weapons is manufactured or stored. Whether one agrees or disagrees with their actions, this volume helps us better understand their motivations, logic, identity, and ultimate goal.




International Law


Book Description

This textbook offers for the first time a comprehensive analysis of the classic doctrines and main areas of international law from a European perspective, meeting the needs of the many European law schools teaching public international law in English. Special attention is devoted to the practice of the European Union, the Council of Europe and European States – both civil law and common law countries – with regard to international law. In particular the book analyses the interplay between international law, EU law and national law in the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU, the European Court of Human Rights and national jurisdictions in Europe. It provides the reader with insights into how the international legal practice of the EU and its Member States impacts the development of international law, both in terms of doctrines such as treaty-making and customary law, the exercise of (extraterritorial) jurisdiction, state responsibility and the settlement of disputes, as well as particular sub-fields of international law, such as human rights law and international economic law. In addition the book covers other important areas such as the use of force and collective security, the law of armed conflict, and global and regional international organisations. It provides European perspectives on all these issues and will be of great value to students, scholars and practitioners.




The Oxford Handbook of International Organizations


Book Description

Virtually every important question of public policy today involves an international organization. From trade to intellectual property to health policy and beyond, governments interact with international organizations in almost everything they do. Increasingly, individual citizens are directly affected by the work of international organizations. Aimed at academics, students, practitioners, and lawyers, this book gives a comprehensive overview of the world of international organizations today. It emphasizes both the practical aspects of their organization and operation, and the conceptual issues that arise at the junctures between nation-states and international authority, and between law and politics. While the focus is on inter-governmental organizations, the book also encompasses non-governmental organizations and public policy networks. With essays by the leading scholars and practitioners, the book first considers the main international organizations and the kinds of problems they address. This includes chapters on the organizations that relate to trade, humanitarian aid, peace operations, and more, as well as chapters on the history of international organizations. The book then looks at the constituent parts and internal functioning of international organizations. This addresses the internal management of the organization, and includes chapters on the distribution of decision-making power within the organizations, the structure of their assemblies, the role of Secretaries-General and other heads, budgets and finance, and other elements of complex bureaucracies at the international level. This book is essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and students alike.




The United Nations


Book Description

There hardly seems to be a global issue in the world today in which the United Nations (UN) is not expected to play a key role. And indeed, despite a persistent gulf between high expectations and the UN's capacities, the organization continues to be a unique and indispensable actor in areas such as peace maintenance, human rights protection, and development. Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of this highly acclaimed text provides a concise analysis of the UN, its structure and work, achievements and shortcomings, and its likely role and prospects in the twenty-first century. The new edition covers the latest institutional and structural developments – including the creation of the Peacebuilding Commission and the establishment of a permanent Human Rights Council – and reflects recent debates on UN reform.




The United Nations in the 21st Century


Book Description

The United Nations in the 21st Century provides a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the United Nations, exploring the historical, institutional, and theoretical foundations of the UN. This popular text for courses on international organizations and international relations also discusses the political complexities facing the organization today. Thoroughly revised throughout, the fifth edition focuses on major trends since 2012, including changing power dynamics, increasing threats to peace and security, and the growing challenges of climate change and sustainability. It examines the proliferating public-private partnerships involving the UN and the debates over reforming the Security Council and the Secretary-General selection process. This edition also includes new case studies on peacekeeping and the use of force in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali, transnational terrorism and the emergence of ISIS, the Security Council's failure to act in Syria, the Syrian and global refugee/migrant crisis, and the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals and framing of the Sustainable Development Goals.




Encyclopedia of Conflicts since World War II


Book Description

This copiously illustrated A-Z reference presents the most in-depth information available about the various conflicts the world has endured, local, regional, and international, since World War II. Some 142 conflicts are discussed and analyzed. The Encyclopedia of Conflict since World War II, with its coverage of all the countries of the world, fills a critical need for clear, comprehensive explanations of events not covered in such detail in any other reference source. Entries end with an extensive bibliography; and the encyclopedia includes maps, chronologies, and a general bibliography, as well as an index designed to make the reader understand the correlation and relationships between individual conflicts.




Strategies of Peace


Book Description

How can a just peace be built in sites of genocide, massive civil war, dictatorship, terrorism, and poverty? In Strategies of Peace, the first volume in the Studies in Strategic Peacebuilding series, fifteen leading scholars propose an imaginative and provocative approach to peacebuilding. Today the dominant thinking is the "liberal peace," which stresses cease fires, elections, and short run peace operations carried out by international institutions, western states, and local political elites. But the liberal peace is not enough, the authors argue. A just and sustainable peace requires a far more holistic vision that links together activities, actors, and institutions at all levels. By exploring innovative models for building lasting peace-a United Nations counter-terrorism policy that also promotes good governance; coordination of the international prosecution of war criminals with local efforts to settle civil wars; increasing the involvement of religious leaders, who have a unique ability to elicit peace settlements; and many others--the authors advance a bold new vision for peacebuilding.




Swords Into Plowshares


Book Description

Twelve-term US Congressman and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul reveals an intensely personal side as he reflects on growing up during World War II. He provides a powerful critique of a 20th century full of war. Paul finishes with a stirring view of the future we may choose if we turn from war and violence toward peace and prosperity.