9 February 2007
UN Leadership and Multilateralism in Times of US Primacy
This event took place from 10am-12pm in Conference Room 7, at UN headquarters, New York, and featured two new publications: Secretary or General? The UN Secretary-General in World Politics, edited by Simon Chesterman, (Cambridge University Press, February 2007), and Beyond the National Interest: Peacekeeping and Multilateralism in Times of US Primacy, a forthcoming book authored by Jean-Marc Coicaud (United States Institute of Peace Press, to be published in 2007).
At the event, contributors of the two books discussed the UN leadership based on some of the key ideas in the books, such as the overall political and institutional context in which the UN Secretary-General works, the selection process of the UN Secretary-General, and the role(s) of the Secretary General.
Secretary or General? The UN Secretary-General in World Politics, edited by Simon Chesterman (Cambridge University Press, February 2007), is a volume of original essays by leading scholars and practitioners on the various roles played by the UN's "chief administrative officer", including a foreword by Kofi Annan.
Beyond the National Interest: Peacekeeping and Multilateralism in Times of US Primacy is a forthcoming book by Jean-Marc Coicaud to be published in late spring 2007 by the United States Institute of Peace Press. The book addresses the extent and limits of international solidarity, focusing on the limits. It discusses the United Nations as an international bureaucracy, the socialization of international life by international law, and the ambiguous role of key democratic countries, at the same time the underwriters and underminers of the international system.
Additional Material: "Multilateralism Under Challange?"
