Politics of global governance

This book is designed to provide a balanced view of international organizations. Toward this end, the selections in this collection dispel a number of myths Narrow views about how international organizations make decisions or respond to conflict are called into question. An under standing of international organizations requires knowledge of how, where. and why they operate. Only then can we learn to recognize their limitations as well as their possibilities. We begin the study of international organiza tions by briefly tracing the origins of the present United Nations system.

The League of Nations was formed following World War I, and it rep resented an attempt at international cooperative efforts to prevent war. The breakdown of the League system in the 1930s was the product of many fac tors, although the failure of will by the major powers of the era and the unwieldy requirements for concerted action certainly were the primary causes. As with most experiments, the initial results were far from ideal, but the total effort gives some basis for optimism. In the case of the League of Nations, it was not able to prevent World War II, but it did provide a means for cooperation and consultation among states on a variety of issues not confined to security matters, although this was the major purpose for which it was created.