Book description
In the course of the twentieth century, there occurred a development
unique in the story of humankind. States, which had defined themselves
from Thucydides to Bismarck by their claims to sovereign independence,
gradually came together to create international organizations to promote
peace, curb aggression, regulate diplomatic affairs, devise an
international code of law, encourage social development and foster
prosperity. The emergence of this network of global governance was not
straightforward and the debate about its role is just as heated today as
it was generations ago. In this long-awaited new book, Paul Kennedy,
probably the best-selling historian now living, examines this key
development in the history of our century. Beginning with the earliest
forms of international organization, he goes on to trace the creation
and changing role of the UN in the postwar era, and finally suggests
how, in the face of new threats to security and the continued vigour of
at least some nation states, the institution will need to change over
the course of the twenty-first century, arguing that we all share the
responsibility to make the only world organization we possess work as
well as possible. Paul Kennedy is a Professor of History at Yale
University. His books include
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
and Preparing for the Twenty-First Century
. He was born and brought up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
