Reviews
"A comprehensive and extremely thoughtful analysis by the leading scholar of the UN in the United States, this should be required reading for the new US president, and the leaders of other nations as well." Craig Murphy, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Wellesley College "By any standard, this is a work of unusual ambition, scope, and insight. Only Tom Weiss, one of the UN's most prolific and experienced observers, could so adroitly capture the world body's perils and promise with such a winning combination of clarity, rigor, and wisdom." Edward Luck, Columbia University"This is a very timely book, given the broad spectrum of growing difficulties facing the international system and the United Nations. It provides an analytically powerful and empirically rich account of a UN in crisis, followed by a range of sensible suggestions to place the world organization on a more sound footing in its address of deepening challenges. It speaks to issues of profound scholarly and policy relevance in a way that is eminently accessible to a wide range of readers." Neil MacFarlane, St Anne's College, Oxford, "By far the most readable and imaginative recent book I have seen on what can easily be a dull subject. Weiss writes with insight and humor, and is undeterred by current taboos." New York Review of Books "Unafraid to diagnose and excoriate myriad flaws, he offers an unflinching analysis which simultaneously exudes a palpable passion for the organisation and a belief in both its capacity to change and its potential efficacy. Both his diagnosis and his prescriptions are compelling." Millennium: Journal of International Studies "Weiss, as a long standing observer of the politics of the UN, is in a formidable position to cast a critical eye over the problems facing the contemporary operation of the UN and offer some practical suggestions as to how these problems can be overcome." Australian Journal of Political Science "A well argued and clearly written work that deserves to be widely read, especially in an era when trust and support for the UN remain quite low." International Affairs "Very few actually know how the (UN) system works, how profound its crisis is, and what fundamental change is needed. Among those who do know is Thomas G. Weiss." Ethics and International Affairs "A comprehensive and extremely thoughtful analysis by the leading scholar of the UN in the United States, this should be required reading for the new US president, and the leaders of other nations as well." Craig Murphy, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Wellesley College "By any standard, this is a work of unusual ambition, scope, and insight. Only Tom Weiss, one of the UN's most prolific and experienced observers, could so adroitly capture the world body's perils and promise with such a winning combination of clarity, rigor, and wisdom." Edward Luck, Columbia University "This is a very timely book, given the broad spectrum of growing difficulties facing the international system and the United Nations. It provides an analytically powerful and empirically rich account of a UN in crisis, followed by a range of sensible suggestions to place the world organization on a more sound footing in its address of deepening challenges. It speaks to issues of profound scholarly and policy relevance in a way that is eminently accessible to a wide range of readers." Neil MacFarlane, St Anne's College, Oxford
