Second Generation United Nations

First published in 1997. As the United Nations moves beyond its fiftieth anniversary into the new millennium, it is faced with a new global system fraught with political and economic tensions that can no longer be handled with models that defined the organization when it was founded in 1945. An innovative vision for a restructuring of the United Nations, this book offers an insider's look at how the UN can respond more effectively to the challenges of the future in an age of globalization. Guido de Marco and Michael Bartolo, seasoned veterans of the United Nations, provide valuable policy recommendations involving a combination of political will, relevance, and efficiency in the coming years. Analysing the roles of major United Nations organs such as the General Assembly, the Trusteeship Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Security Council and the Secretariat, de Marco and Bartolo call for a more relevant and strengthened General Assembly as the truly representative organ of the United Nations, where all Member States of the Organization are permanent Members. They also call for a decentralization of United Nations activities, and for building stronger relationships with established regional entities and the Bretton Woods institutions. The proposals made here open up an important area of discussion beyond the confines of the United Nations as international policymakers seek peace and stability in the post-Cold War world.