Liberating the United Nations

Richard A. Falk is Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University, Chair of Global Law at Queen Mary University London, and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor's Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967 from 2008 to 2014. He is the author of several books including This Endangered Planet (2021) and Public Intellectual: The Life of a Citizen Pilgrim (2021).Hans von Sponeck is a former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and served as UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq from 1998 to 2000. Training Consultant at the UN System Staff College in Torino (Italy) (2006 to 2015) and Senior Lecturer at the Conflict Research Centre of the University of Marburg (Germany) (2007 to 2019). He is the author of A Different Kind of War (2006).

• Geopolitical World MapUN OrganigramThe UN Global Governance System in 2023Preface: Overcoming UN Marginalization—an Urgent ImperativeForeword by Dr. Walden BelloPart One: An Evolving Narrative1. Profiling the UN2. From the League of Nations to the United Nations3. Multilateralism during the Cold War and Beyond4. The UN Global Policy Agenda for the Twenty-First CenturyPart Two: How the UN Copes with Challenges to the Charter, Institutional Integrity, Geopolitical Manipulation5. Palestine Occupied: The UN Frustrated6. Iraq: Oil for Food—the Dilemma of Geopolitical Humanitarianism7. Syria: The Douma Deception—Institutional Integrity versus the Primacy of GeopoliticsPart Three: Institutional Obstacles to Mitigate8. Responsibility to Protect (R2P), National Sovereignty, and Geopolitical Ambition9. Civil Society Participation in the UN: Opportunities, Obstacles, and PitfallsPart Four: Toward the Future10. The Unmet Challenge of UN Reform: Institutional and Operational Perspectives11. Institutional Reforms: Amending the Charter, Prospects and Options12. The UN of the Future: The Grand Challenge—Realism with HopeReflections: Nine Young Leaders and Their Visions about the UN of TomorrowAfterword by Ahmet DavutoğluNote of AcknowledgmentNotesSelected BibliographyIndex

"The uniting of grass roots citizen activism with enlightened political actors to impel broad based reform of global institutions grounded in the architecture of the United Nations is timely and imperative. It can happen, as demonstrated in past cooperative initiatives such as the land mine treaty and the International Criminal Court. This book sets out the argument for mounting such a global movement with passion, principle and pragmatism."—Lloyd Axworthy, Former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs "There is no alternative but to retool the UN system and significantly increase its resources to also enable it to help extricate humanity from the simultaneously unfolding existential crises it faces. Falk and von Sponeck's vast experience and years of research will feed into the just starting, indispensable process of holding together and modernizing the current multilateral system. This book will prove very useful in the preparatory process for the September 2024 Summit on the Future of the United Nations, focusing 'on gaps in global governance'."—Enrique ter Horst, Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in El Salvador and Haiti "This is a book that combines realism in international relations with idealism. With incisive insights it analyses and dissects the major challenges facing the UN in the 21st century. It is a book that should be read by all those who are concerned about the future of humankind."—Chandra Muzaffar, Universiti Sains Malaysia "Recommended."—S. Waalkes, CHOICE "[Falk and von Sponeck] provide a detailed overview of the UN's complex structures and multifaceted undertakings and make a spirited attempt to convince readers that a renewed investment in the organization is the best possible path to a better future."—Thant Mying-U, Foreign Affairs