The New United Nations

The third edition of this successful text highlights new international trends toward global governance, nation-building, and human development, while also assessing the extraordinary challenges confronting the United Nations at this critical moment in international affairs, not least being the ubiquity of conflict in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, and the global threats of disease, climate change, and the retreat from multilateralism by the great powers. A comprehensive guide to the world body’s institutions, procedures, policies, specialized agencies, historic personalities, initiatives, and involvement in world affairs, The New United Nations is organized thematically, blending both topical and chronological explanations, making reference to current scholarly terms and theories.

New to this edition:



Fully updated chapters and a new Introduction, including discussion of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the world’s response to COVID-19, and the revival of ultranationalism and great-power rivalry.

New sections on the theory and practice of neoliberalism and populism, the UN’s use of the "Responsibility to Protect" in the Middle East, the Arab Spring, and multifaceted roles in the developing world, especially in Africa.

Updated analysis of twenty-first-century challenges to collective security, including in Syria and, particularly, in Ukraine.

Unique special section on the student Model United Nations experience.

Coverage of the UN’s efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

eResources with supportive materials and documents.