The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #199

by Jussi M. Hanhimäki

The United Nations has been called everything from "the best hope of mankind" to "irrelevant" and "obsolete." With this much-needed introduction to the UN, Jussi Hanhimäki engages the current debate over the organizations effectiveness as he provides a clear understanding of how it was
originally conceived, how it has come to its present form, and how it must confront new challenges in a rapidly changing world.

After a brief history of the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, the author examines the UN's successes and failures as a guardian of international peace and security, as a promoter of human rights, as a protector of international law, and as an engineer of socio-economic
development. Hanhimäki stresses that the UN's greatest problem has been the impossibly wide gap between its ambitions and capabilities. In the area of international security, for instance, the UN has to settle conflicts--be they between or within states--without offending the national sovereignty
of its member states, and without being sidelined by strong countries, as happened in the 2003 intervention of Iraq. Hanhimäki also provides a clear accounting of the UN and its various arms and organizations (such as UNESCO and UNICEF), and he offers a critical overview of how effective it has been
in the recent crises in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, for example--and how likely it is to meet its overall goals in the future.

The United Nations, Hanhimäki concludes, is an indispensable organization that has made the world a better place. But it is also a deeply flawed institution, in need of constant reform.

About the

Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant
and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the
series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and
affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, International Relations, Political Science, Law, International

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Bashar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short introduction indeed! Only 171 pages contain the UN inception to it's present day achievements and limitations. Started with a hope for brief intro to the UN and after finishing I can't complain. It has delivered what promised which isn't the case for other books of the same "A very short introduction" series.
Writing is crispy and to the point. While through out the book no out right biases is conspicuous, though writer has a humanitarian lens to explain shortcomings and success of the UN. It should be said, Hanhimäki didn't fall trap of blaming others for those limitations rather only stated the obvious with causation.
A great short read if anyone interested to know, notwithstanding all those hum drum why united nations fail to prevent atrocities all around the world even when perpetrator is a minor power like Myanmar.

[Zeynep Ergün · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty straightforward: A very short introduction to UN. Nothing less nothing more.

Perfect if you are looking for an introduction to the subject matter. It gives a brief explanation from a historical stand point while showing the good and the bad.

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 2 out of 5]

1 The best hope of mankind?: A brief history of the UN 8
6/10

There is an intro to this book where UN is made to look bad and ideologically corrupt to any critical thinker while the author seems to support UN. But this is a review of chapter 1 not the intro. It's okay. Nothing much here. It feels too dry and it jumps from year to year so it's hard to understand anything in depth. It's basically a bunch of factoids. This sort of chapter is a kind of chapter I forget about pretty fast. But it's a good intro for someone needing a bunch of small facts.

2 An impossible hybrid: the structure of the United Nations 26
5,5/10

Basic stuff again.

3 Facing wars, confronting threats: the UN Security Council in action 50
6/10

Basic stuff. Taiwan was kicked out of UN. A bit about how Soviet wasn't there to veto the Korean war. It's small facts often repeated several times over. The point is that UN is expensive, big, ineffective and can't do much. But as a historical overview this is confusing. We kinda get some info on how UN can or can't act. But it's all so vague that it's not fully illuminating. It's basically how any regular person talks about UN as a mysterious powerful organization. There are not many new things here.

4 Peacekeeping to peacebuilding 71
5,5/10

It's pretty basic stuff. Not much here. UN tries to peacekeep, but they can't really do much about dictators anyhow.

5 Economic development to human development 91
5/10

UN has a lot of moral laws and holds a lot of meetings. Weirdly they have a lot of focus on female rights specifically. But the author never really explains this affirmative action and what it implies. So UN seems to support specific groups it picks instead of humans in a specific region overall. Which is kinda weird and should have gotten a chapter by itself, but the author totally ignores this interesting moral topic.

6 Rights and responsibilities: human rights to human security 111
5/10

A chapter about refugees and human rights, but it's mainly ideas and plans. There is not much essential info here unfortunately.

7 Reform and challenges: the future of the United Nations 135
4/10

Another miss. Did you know that poverty is a problem? Did you know that refugees have problems? Well, you should because the author said it in all chapters and now yet again here is a chapter about how UN is focusing on this or that without giving us clear examples. There are a few examples, but they are not explained in detail.

My conclusion of the review

I feel bad about saying this book is not fun or informative, but unfortunately it isn't. Maybe the audiobook is just worse? At any rate I have to conclude that I didn't learn much from the chapters. It's just a big letdown. It's not that biased or wrong it's just not a good book about UN. You can watch a 30 min video about UN on YouTube and learn all this and more. The author keeps mentioning completely obvious things while refusing to do any interesting analysis and I still don't know UN's history after this book. It's a damn shame when I have to rate a book low even though it's not that biased. But I just cannot recommend it. It's not bad. It's just not informative and that's a huge issue for a book focused on short info and history. Writers really need to understand what needs to be said and analysed and what is so simple that you don't need 3 chapters explaining it.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction (2008) by Jussi M. Hanhimäki is a solid introduction to the history, function and parts of the United Nations (UN).

The book starts with a quick history of the UN as it started in WWII and the institutions that have been absorbed into the UN such as th International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations is included in this history. The curious structure of the UN, with the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council UNSC and the general assembly are then described. The way the UN has dealt with conflict is next. The peacekeeping forces of the UN and their growing role is the subject of the next chapter. The UN’s role in economic development and its relationship to the World Bank, IMF gets described next. The UN’s role in human rights and the tensions with these issues within states are then described. Finally there is a chapter that describes how the UN could be reformed and the difficulties in doing that.

All up the book is well worth a read for anyone looking to get a better understanding of the UN.

[Ziad · Rating 5 out of 5]

مقدمة قصيرة جدا من اروع الكتب تجيب عن اسألتي بأختصار و دقة

[zidayin]

read for international relations 300.

i mean… yeah. an introduction to the un.

[adelaide · Rating 4 out of 5]

i mean, it says it all in the title. not super in-depth or insightful, but a good introduction to a really complex organization

[M. Ashraf · Rating 4 out of 5]

The United Nations may not have lived up to all the ambitions of its founders, yet one fact remains clear: it is the only truly global organization in the history of mankind. With 192 member states as of 2008, the UN covers the entire globe.

This is a very good short introduction on the UN, very well written, it shows the good side and the bad side of the UN, when did they fail? why? and how they are contributing to relieve people of some of their burdens, trying to aid refugees, protect the human right, aid undeveloped countries, setting millennium goals for the globe... Not all in vain, but with many hinders and obstacles in their way... Although it's a good idea but without proper resources and power nothing can be done and if you like to add without the involvement of the United States -_- its all in vain :/ with the veto power, money force and resource and most import the will to help which they lack in term of greater good rather in their benefits... and that's for all the P5 nations :/ we see how the benefit affect the result of the Suez Crisis back in 56 and nowadays how The situation in Syria is being handled.

the United States, are treating the UN as a mere tool of their policy that can be used, abused, or ignored as those in power in Washington see fit.

...

In sum, for the time being human rights violators are likely to be pursued selectively. Universality may be the norm, but it is unlikely to become the practice. No amount of UN reform is likely to fix that.

In the end, the UN cannot and should not be expected to offer solutions to all of the world’s ills. It does much good humanitarian work and often provides ways of easing tension and solving crises.
It often enables people stuck in poverty to improve their lot. The UN is hardly perfect. But it remains an indispensable organization even as its behavior and effectiveness—much like that of individual countries—is in constant need of improvement.

[Jumanah · Rating 3 out of 5]

•اقتباس:
"المنتهكون الأساسيون لحقوق الإنسان على الدوام هي الدول، والدول هي الكيانات الكبرى التي تؤلف الأمم المتحدة. السؤال المحوري الآتي: هل الأهم هو حماية سلامة الدولة ام الفرد الذي تنتهك هذه الدولة حقوقه."

•تعريف بالكتاب:
في هذا الكتاب بداية تأسيس المنضمة التي سميت اولاً بإسم عصبة الأمم في عام ١٩١٩ ثم جرت الأحداث إلى عام ١٩٤٥ وأصبحت رسميا بالأمم المتحدة بالإضافة إلى العقبات التي واجهتها من تحقيق الاهداف وفشلها، وعدم إلتزام الأعضاء، والتهم الموجهة إليها.
يعرف الكاتب بأجهزة هيكل الأمم المتحدة من الأمين العام والجمعية العامة ومجلس الأمن وغيرها من الأجهزة والوكالات والعوامل التي تخضع لها وكذلك النقد الموجه إليهم كما يوجه لصندوق النقد والبنك الدولي.
في هذه المؤسسة اللادمقراطية صراع داخلي يتصف باللامساواة بين دول الأعضاء الدائمة الخمسة فيما بينهم، وبين الأعضاء الآخرين. تمتلك امريكا و روسيا اليد العليا في صناعة القرارات كما ان صراعاتهم تسهم في تشكيل الكثير من القرارات ومع مقاطعات روسيا للامم المتحدة اصبحت أمريكا هي صاحبة القرار الأقوى.
لهذه المنظمة الكثير من الإنجازات والنجاحات في سبيل الحد من انتشار الأمراض ومساعدة الاطفال من خلال اليونيسف لكنها تعتمد على التمويل فتتاخر الدول وتحصل جهة على التمويل اكثر من غيرها مما يثبط في كثير من الاحيان من فعاليتها.

•تعليق:
- يعجبني موضوعية الكاتب وذكره للحقائق ذات صلة غير مباشرة على سبيل المثال بأن جميع رؤساء البنك الدولي يحملوا الجنسية الأمريكية وامريكا في نفس الوقت اكثر الدول الممولة لها.
- شيء ما في الكتاب اصباني بالملل مما دفعني إلى تصفح نهاية الكتاب

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating brief introduction to the U.N. Unlike many of the other books in the series, this was extremely well-written; I've found many of the others to be spotty at times, or just poorly written, but this was serious and accessible, academic and engaging. The author argues that, while overall the U.N. is a deeply troubled institution with many flaws that are perhaps irreconcilable (the conflict between the very idea of an intra-state governmental body and the sovereignty of an individual state, for example, or the compromises that resulted in a Security Council (that is currently unable to do anything about the Syrian crisis) necessary to get large powers-like the US-with much to lose and little to gain to become and remain active participants in the structure). Despite these flaws, however, the author argues that the U.N. is inherently a global force for good, and not simply because it's the only one we have. Those who are seeking exactly what the title promises, and who want to learn more about this important organization, should certainly read this book!

[Ahmed Essam EL Din · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جيد وتتطلع منه بمعلومتين اساسيتين:
١- الامم المتحدة تابعة لأهواء القوى الخمس العظمى الاعضاء الدائمين بمجلس الأمن ولا سيما أمريكا .
٢- ليست الامم المتحدة مثالية لكنها فى ذات الوقت لا غنى عنها ، وهى المعادلة الاساسية التى يشرحها الكتاب

[محمد · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب جيد، يعيبه عدم الموضوعية في بعض المواطن.

[Tariq A · Rating 2 out of 5]

مقدمة جيدة تتحول من التعريف إلى سرد نقدي مبسط

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know much about the United Nations before reading this, and this book served me well to that end. I think it was a excellent, short survey of the UN's history, its mission, its successes, and its shortcomings. Jussi Hanhimaki follows a course that defends the UN against some of common criticisms while not shying away from its very real failures and shortcomings. You'll get a bit of alphabet soup with all the abbreviations for the committees (UNSC, UNICEF, WHO, WTO, etc.) but even though I'd only heard of maybe half of these, I didn't have any trouble following along. There's a good amount of history to explain how the UN developed into what it is today. There's a fair amount of internal politics. There's some of the procedural aspects of the UN, such as the veto power of any of the permanent members of the Security Council, just to give you an rough idea of how business is conducted, especially when there are disagreements.

Personally, the biggest takeaway for me was just an idea of what the UN actually is. I remember from college that people would criticize the UN for not doing enough, whether for world peace, justice, health, whatever. I remember having the idea that the UN has no teeth, and perhaps no purpose in the modern world other than to exist as theater of international cooperation. This was around the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and I remember a lot of calls to "get the U.S. out of the UN." I remember thinking at the time how strange that would be for the host country not to participate in the UN, but also how counter-productive it would be for whatever that was supposed to achieve; if you don't like what the U.S. policy is at the UN, then shouldn't you address that by policy change at the U.S., rather than withdrawing? What could that achieve? Fortunately for me, this book covers that very issue. While the UN does a lot of good for the world, the five permanent members of the Security Council have veto power for basically anything, which effectively means the U.S. (or any other permanent member) can stop the UN from doing anything it doesn't like. While this veto power has been the focus of so much criticism, it really lies at the heart of what the UN aims to achieve: participation from the major players of the world. A sovereign power will not forfeit its sovereignty just to belong to a club, no matter how prestigious. This means that the UN by necessity has to be welcoming for countries to join. If the U.S. left the UN, that would not stop the U.S. from pursuing its own national interest, but only to do so without, in a sense, endorsement from the UN. To go back to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the U.S. did this without UN support, and we're still in the UN.

So what is the purpose of the UN? It was originally conceived of as a deterrent to war, especially nuclear war. However, the threat of mutually assured destruction was more a deterrent than any UN resolution. So what has its actual purpose been? Mainly, it provides a place for countries to work together for common aims, to censure countries that act badly, and to spread peace, justice, and health to the peoples of the world as possible. These are high aspirations mitigated through the practical limitations of limited resources, limited budgets, and the limiting options of realpolitik. As above, the UN can only act in a way that doesn't rock the boat so much that countries, especially superpowers, will leave it. But within that constraint, it has been effective at helping to meet so many needs of so many people throughout the world. Hanhimaki is not shy to point out the ways that the UN has fallen short of its goals, but firmly expresses the value of the work that's been done. Overall, a short and informative overview of the United Nations.

[Indra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be the sixth of The Very Short Introductions that I have read so far, which I initially picked off the shelf with a sense of dread. I forced myself to read it anyways since I was in the middle of an FAO internship and wanted to make sure there were no gaps in my background knowledge- Was happily surprised to find that it was one of the better entries of this hit-or-miss series. They often tend to be quite dry and meandering, but Hahnimäki somehow manages to make the history and structure of the bureaucratic “Picasso monstrosity” that is the UN an engaging subject.

The book is probably best suited to first year students of international students and/or political science, since most of the analysis and commentary doesn’t go farther beyond what you would get in a 101 class. It mainly attempts to demonstrate to the reader that the UN is an effective and essential institution in spite of its shortcomings, yet the way it outlines the organization’s peacekeeping and justice operations often undermines this thesis. There’s mention of the both achievements and failures in both of these arenas, but the successes end up feeling like exceptions that are only possible under extremely specific conditions.

The figure of the UN’s organizational structure is also laughably small- I’m young man with 20/20 vision and even I had to squint and hold the page right up to my face to see what any of the text said.

Still, solid overall. Well due for a third edition now that the Sustainable Development Goals have taken the place of the MDGs.

[Casey Kiracofe · Rating 4 out of 5]

My verdict is that the UN is way more important than I realized, but it often can’t do half the shit it tries to do. Needs major reform, and tends to operate under vampire rules when conducting peace operations. “You can’t enter our country unless we say so”.

Balancing national sovereignty with human rights, developmental aid for struggling countries, disaster relief, and other humanitarian issues is a complicated task.

Also the P-5, aka the permanent five countries that have the most power— China, France, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States— tend to colonize other countries and consolidate their voting power. It’s wild.

Basically, the UN is super necessary and that makes it more complicated when addressing how to reform it without dismantling it entirely.

[Abdallah choutri · Rating 5 out of 5]

في سبعة فصول يتناول المؤلف التطور التاريخيّ للأمم المتحدة باعتبارها المنظمة العالمية بحق دون غيرها، ويناقش بإيجاز قصير جدا (كما يتضح من عنوان الكتاب) أداء المنظمة بأجهزتها المختلفة مع تركيز علي التحديات التي تواجهها في قضايا محددة علي غرار المسائل المتعلقة بالسلم والامن وحقوق الإنسان واللاجئين وغيرها، مرورا بأهداف التنمية المستدامة، وصولا الي التساؤل حول مستقبل الأمم المتحدة بين الإصلاح ومواجهة هذه التحديات. وعلي قصر الكتاب فإنه مهم جدا لما يحتويه، مشجع للبحث والتعمق في المنظومة الدولية وما صارت عليه من تعقيد في هيكلها وتداخل في مهامها وحاجة لاصلاحها وضبط الأدوار وتقاسم العمل بين الأجهزة الفرعية لها.

[RJTK · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is short (obviously, this is the point) and so it's hard to feel like you've learned much more than the absolute rudiments of how the UN operates. It seems like a fine place to start, but it seems necessary to accompany the particulars of the UN described herein with a lot more background information on the incentives of agents in global politics and some background on geopolitics -- the book is too short to include or review any such background.

[Manal Mahmoud · Rating 3 out of 5]

يشرح الكتاب محاسن ومساوئ الأمم المتحدة
ويبين كيف أن المتحكم بها هي الدول الخمس العظمى أو الأعضاء الدائمين.
يبين إنجازات الأمم المتحدة في هذين القرنين من حفظ الأمن وبناء السلام إلى حقوق الإنسان، والمحاولة الدائمة التي تسعى لها الأمم المتحدة لتخفيف الحروب وإنشاء كوكب آمن بعيدًا عن الحروب المدمرة للبشرية.
إلا أن محاولاتها تبوئ بالفشل بسبب حق النقض الذي دائمًا ما يعارض أهواء الدول القومية.
ورغم هذا فإن وجودها مهم للغاية، والمحاولة خير من لاشيء

[Minh Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curious about what my brother is doing as an employee in the UN, I picked up this book. It was a surprise to me to know how big and complicated the UN is. The book covered well the role of the UN in the Cold War to recent R2P and humanity activities. The role of the UN in the future is still questionable but I would love to see more efforts of reorganization and reconstruction towards humanitarian work.

[Isa · Rating 5 out of 5]

بالنسبة لي كان الكتاب مفيد حيث يشرح نشأة الأمم المتحدة، منذ أول تكوين لها كأتحاد بريد عالمي في القرن التاسع عشر إلى العقد الثاني من الالفية الجديدة. يشرح المؤلف بوضوح عمل وكالات وهيئات المؤسسة وأثرهم في العالم، وطبيعة ومصدر التمويل الذي تتلقاه لكي تقوم بأعمالها حول العالم. ويناقش هنا أيضا البعد السياسي للمؤسسة حيث يدخل في تفاصيل أسباب وجود مجلس الأمن وكيفية تأثير الدول العظمى على عمل وقرارات المؤسسة. رهيب.

[Jeor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm unfamiliar with the historian, and perhaps my criticism stems from the lack of depth typical of the "Very Short Introduction" series, So this comment can be rejected.

Nonetheless, this is so far the weakest volume I've encountered in Oxford's VSI collection. To his credit, he does mention Nansen, though he appears largely dismissive of earlier historical efforts and international institutions predating the 19th and 20th centuries.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does what it says on the tin: it is a short introduction to the United Nations - its history and present day structure and challenges. Only criticism is that it could do with a update/revision to capture the Sustainable Development Goals and the further complications in the international arena that have appeared in recent years.

[Anup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wanted to learn about the UN and read a short book to get closer to my 2023 reading challenge. This book fulfilled both purposes. I only wish the book was more up to date but I should have thought that before starting the book. I will find some other book about the UN and read it next year.

[Ana Ruiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. What CAN you get out of a Very Shot Introduction anyhow. I found this to be appropriate, but only the last few chapters were really worthwhile.

[Mehdi · Rating 4 out of 5]

إن لم تخني الذاكرة فهذا الكتاب هو أفضل ما قرأت في سلسلة "مقدمة قصيرة جدا"

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good general introduction to the UN system and its history.

[Marcella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to the founding, workings and strengths and weaknesses of the UN.

[Hugo Ibanez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much on point. Good, well prepared content. I like the focus of it and also the balanced critics to the UN. The content is well stablished, covering the important stuff.

[Guillermo Caballero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gained a broad understanding of the UN: its history, internal organisation and mission