United Nations Association Of The United States Of America

Little known outside a small community of insiders, the United Nations AssociationUSA has had an impact on both the UN and the US-UN relationship far greater than its size would suggest. James Wurst explores that impact as he traces the sometimes tortuous history of the UNA-USA from its earliest days to the present.

Forty-three years after its birth in San Francisco the world body faces a paradox. The problems posed by environmental hazards, terrorism, narcotics trafficking, population movements, natural and manmade disasters, and development have outstripped the ability of governments to deal with them through unilateral action. Yet many of these governments are also skeptical of the U.N.'s ability to handle such stubborn and difficult international issues. This book diagnoses the cause of the U.N.'s troubles and proposes a radical plan for steering it back on course. The trenchant analysis and cool-headed proposals contained in the first half of the book are the product of an international panel that included U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum and Tanzanian Defense Minister Salim Salim, former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Helmut Schmidt and Foreign Minister of Uruguay Enrique Iglesias. In the second half of the book are to be found the many authoritative supporting essays provided by the panel staff in the course of the study. Co-published with the United Nations Association of the USA.