Revitalizing the United Nations

Tapio Kanninen is Senior Fellow and Director of the Major Wars Project at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he earned his Ph.D. in Political Science in 1990. He is also President of the Global Crisis Information Network Inc. He was Chief of the Policy Planning in the UN Department of Political Affairs (1998–2005) and Head of the Secretariat of Kofi Annan’s five Summits with Regional Organizations.John Torpey is Presidential Professor of Sociology and History and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Among other works, he is the author of Making Whole What Has Been Smashed: On Reparations Politics (2006; paperback 2017) and co-editor (with David Jacobson) of Transformations of Warfare in the Contemporary World (2016). In 2016–2017, he was President of the Eastern Sociological Society.

• Introduction by Tapio Kanninen and John Torpey Chapter 1: Geohistorical Context of the Book: Can the United Nations Remain Relevant in the 2020s and Beyond? by Heikki Patomäki, Tapio Kanninen and Heikki Talvitie Chapter 2: The Future of the United Nations and the Need for New UN Policies, Strategies and Diplomacy by Bertrand G. Ramcharan Chapter 3: The Evolution of Peace Operations: Learning Lessons and Creating Norms by A. Walter Dorn Chapter 4: The Future of UN Peacekeeping: From Practice to Policy by John G. Cockell Chapter 5: "Holding the Centre": The Contribution of United Nations Peacekeeping Where There is "No Peace to Keep" by Salvator Cusimano Chapter 6: Lessons Learned from the History of UN Efforts in Mediation of Smaller and Bigger Conflicts by Bertrand G. Ramcharan Chapter 7: The Origins and Evolution of the Modern State of Israel by Chas Freeman Chapter 8: History of UN Involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Georgios Kostakos and Fotini Zarogianni Chapter 9: Pathway to Peace: The Two-State Solution in the Middle East by Jeffrey D. Sachs and Sybil Fares Chapter 10: Should the United Nations Administer Post-Conflict Gaza? Establishing a UN Trusteeship in Gaza Would be a Mistake by Larry D. Johnson Chapter 11: Lessons in Peace and Justice from the Former Yugoslavia to Ukraine and Beyond by Jessie Barton Hronešová Chapter 12: The International Administration of Occupied Ukrainian Territory as a European and United Nations Diplomatic Option by A. Dirk Moses and Jessie Barton Hronešová Chapter 13: Competing Narratives about the War in Ukraine and the Possibility of Dialogue and De-Escalation by Heikki Patomäki Chapter 14: The Potential Role of the UN in Resolving and De-escalating the Conflict in Ukraine by Tapio Kanninen and Heikki Patomäki Chapter 15: The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court in Managing the Crises in Palestine/Gaza and Ukraine by Roy S. Lee Chapter 16: The Russia-Ukraine War and the UN Charter Provisions for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes by Tapio Kanninen and Georgios Kostakos Conclusions by Tapio Kanninen and John Torpey

"Understanding the UN’s contemporary relevance requires moving beyond simplistic narratives of institutional success or failure. Instead, we must examine how the organization’s historical foundations, current operations, and potential for reform intersect with the evolving nature of global challenges. This volume aims to contribute to this critical conversation by analyzing the UN's capacity to adapt its mission, structure, and operations to a rapidly changing international landscape while preserving the core principles that have guided it for nearly eight decades."From the Foreword by Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former Foreign and Defence Minister of Ecuador and President of the UN General Assembly“With the United Nations in particular and multilateralism in general under siege, readers will be relieved that Kanninen and Torpey have assembled contributors who recall the essential role of both in many previous conflicts and negotiations. Surely, that capacity will soon be required again.”Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor Emeritus, Political Science, and Director Emeritus, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, CUNY Graduate Center