The Sanctions Decade


Book Description

Since the end of the Cold War, economic sanctions have been a frequent instrument of UN authority. Based on more than 200 interviews with officials from both sides, this book aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of UN sanctions in the 1990s.




The United Nations in the 1990s


Book Description

At a time when the UN demonstrates new vitality, this straightforward explanation of nearly a half century of the world organization's experience provides essential background. It sets out the fundamental features of the structure of the UN and traces the political developments around such topics as maintaining international peace, protecting human rights, and improving economic welfare. Its authors are longtime observers and recognized scholars. Their transatlantic collaboration provides an extra edge of objectivity.




Human Development Report 1990


Book Description

First in a series of annual reports, this volume is about people and about how development enlarges their choices--access to income, long life, knowledge, political freedom, personal security, community participation, and guaranteed human rights. It measures human development not by the yardstick of income alone, but by the human development index--reflecting life expectancy, literacy and command over resources to enjoy a decent standard of living. The report analyzes the record of human development for the last three decades and the experience of 14 countries in managing economic growth and human development. The volume concludes with human development indicators for more than 130 countries, both developing and developed. ISBN 0-19-306481-X (pbk.): $15.95.




China in the 1990s


Book Description

Now updated with a chapter-length afterword by the editors on the end of the Deng era and its aftermath, China in the 1990s provides a comprehensive survey of a nation in transition. An understanding of this complex process requires a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach, which the editors have achieved by bringing together experts from Britain, the United States, Europe, Australia, and Hong Kong who examine China's economic, political, military, cultural and social achievements and problems. The difficulties China still faces are enormous, some of them of its own making: pollution, urban sprawl, the insecurity of food supplies, the risks of political authoritarianism and the perils of liberalisation. Its population is still growing dramatically and is likely to be 1.5 billion by 2015, three times what it was when the P.R.C. was established in 1949. But since embarking on a reform programme which, at the time seemed experimental and hard to reconcile with official ideology, it has gone from being the 'sick man of Asia' to being one of the world's largest and fastest developing economies in what now looks to be a remarkably effective and well-managed transition.










A United Nations Renaissance


Book Description

This short introduction to the United Nations analyzes the organization as itis today, and how it can be transformed to respond to its critics. Combiningessential information about its history and workings with practical proposalsof how it can be strengthened, Trent and Schnurr examine what needs to bedone, and also how we can actually move toward the required reforms. Thisbook is written for a new generation of change-makers — a generation seekingbetter institutions that reflect the realities of the 21st century and that can actcollectively in the interest of all.




Making War and Building Peace


Book Description

Making War and Building Peace examines how well United Nations peacekeeping missions work after civil war. Statistically analyzing all civil wars since 1945, the book compares peace processes that had UN involvement to those that didn't. Michael Doyle and Nicholas Sambanis argue that each mission must be designed to fit the conflict, with the right authority and adequate resources. UN missions can be effective by supporting new actors committed to the peace, building governing institutions, and monitoring and policing implementation of peace settlements. But the UN is not good at intervening in ongoing wars. If the conflict is controlled by spoilers or if the parties are not ready to make peace, the UN cannot play an effective enforcement role. It can, however, offer its technical expertise in multidimensional peacekeeping operations that follow enforcement missions undertaken by states or regional organizations such as NATO. Finding that UN missions are most effective in the first few years after the end of war, and that economic development is the best way to decrease the risk of new fighting in the long run, the authors also argue that the UN's role in launching development projects after civil war should be expanded.




State of the Union


Book Description

"The Census is a most valuable source of information about our lives; these volumes make the story it has to tell accessible to all who want to know." —Lee Rainwater, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences "A lucid and balanced overview of major trends in the United States and essential reading for policymakers. State of the Union is a reality check that provides the factual basis for policy analysis."—Peter Gottschalk, Boston College State of the Union: America in the 1990s is the definitive new installment to the United States Census Series, carrying forward a tradition of census-based reports on American society that began with the 1930 Census. These two volumes offer a systematic, authoritative, and concise interpretation of what the 1990 Census reveals about the American people today. •Volume One: Economic Trends focuses on the schism between the wealthy and the poor that intensified in the 1980s as wages went up for highly educated persons but fell for those with less than a college degree. This gap was reflected geographically, as industries continued their migration from crumbling inner cities to booming edge cities, often leaving behind an impoverished minority population. Young male workers lost ground in the 1980s, but women made substantial strides, dramatically reducing the gender gap in earnings. The amount of family income devoted to housing rose over the decade, but while housing quality improved for wealthy, older Americans, it declined for younger, poorer families. •Volume Two: Social Trends examines the striking changes in American families and the rapid shifts in our racial and ethnic composition. Americans are marrying much later and divorcing more often, and increasing numbers of unmarried women are giving birth. These shifts have placed a growing proportion of children at risk of poverty. In glaring contrast, the elderly were the only group to make gains in the 1980s, and are now healthier and more prosperous than ever before. The concentrated immigration of Asians and Latinos to a few states and cities created extraordinary pockets of diversity within the population. Throughout the 1990s, the nation will debate questions about the state of the nation and the policies that should be adopted to address changing conditions. Will continued technological change lead to even more economic polarization? Will education become an increasingly important factor in determining earnings potential? Did new immigrants stimulate the economy or take jobs away from American-born workers? Will we be able to support the rapidly growing population of older retirees? State of the Union will help us to answer these questions and better understand how well the nation is adapting to the pervasive social and economic transformations of our era. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Census Series