The United Nations: Review and Reform

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

This subject will also run a full-day seminar on Saturday 16 April for holding a model meeting of the UN General Assembly. Attendance at this day-seminar is not compulsory.

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166-551 Governance and International Institutions

The subject will examine various dimensions of the conflict between national sovereignty and international interdependence which impinge on the nature and institutions of global governance. It will extend students knowledge of the diversity of the forms of international governance, and of the purposes, activities, styles of work and governance of international institutions. The subject will explore the rationale and functioning of existing institutions, attempt a rigorous assessment of their effectiveness, of proposals for their reform, and of the gaps in institutional arrangements. Particular attention will be given to the sources of conflicts underlying their difficulties in making decisions and taking action. On completion of the subject students should be better able to discern the forces operating in global institutions, the means through which they work, and to effectively discuss alternative possible reforms.

• Enable to gain thorough knowledge of the conflict between national sovereignty and international interdependence which impinge on the nature and institutions of global governance.
• Increase understanding of the diversity of the forms of international governance.
• Enable to discern the forces operating in global institutions, the means through which they work, and to effectively discuss alternative possible reforms.

An essay of 1000 words (20%) due mid-semester, and an essay of 4000 words (80%) due during the examination period. Students will be expected to discuss their proposed subject with the subject coordinator.

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 75% of classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Students who fail to meet this hurdle requirement will be deemed ineligible to submit the final piece of assessment for this subject. Regular participation in class is required.

Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 2% per working day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

Paul Kennedy, The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations, Random House, New York, 2000

Deepak Nayyar, (ed.) Governing Globalization: Issues and Institutions, OUP, Oxford, 2002.

James Traub, The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2006, Ch 1.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Be able to apply research skills and critical methods to a field of inquiry.
• be able to develop persuasive arguments on a given topic.
• be able to communicate oral and written arguments and ideas effectively and articulately.