Overview

At the turn of the century, the United States is on the verge of losing its vote in the General Assembly for non-payment of its arrears. There are eerie parallels between the domestic debate over the United Nations in 1999 and the struggles over the League of Nations in 1919. Why, many ask, are Americans the first to create international organizations and the first to abandon them? What is it about the American political culture that breeds both the most ardent supporters and the most vocal detractors of international organization? And why can't they find any common ground? In seeking to uncover the roots of American ambivalence toward international organization, this political history presents the first major analysis of U.S. attitudes toward both the United Nations and the League of Nations. It traces eight themes that have resurfaced again and again in congressional and public debates over the course of this century: exceptionalism, sovereignty, nativism and racism, unilateralism, security, commitments, reform, and burden-sharing. It assesses recent domestic political trends and calls for the development of two interactive political compacts--one domestic and one international--to place U.S.-UN relations on a new footing. A Century Foundation Book

Full Product Details

9780815753070

Table of Contents

Reviews

...exceptional in three important respects. First, it focuses on relations between the United States and the UN in much greater detail than any of its predecessors. Second, it makes numerous illuminating comparisons with the League of Nations. Third, its scholarship is impeccable and complemented by the perspective of an insider-outsider. --Martin Ira Glassner, Perspectives on Political Science ...provides a thorough and insightful analysis of America's enduring ambivalence toward international institutions [and] does a superb job of describing this ambivalence. --Seymour Maxwell Finger, American Foreign Policy A vivid and insightful account of America's century-old ambivalence toward multi-lateral institutions. --G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs Anyone interested in understanding America's deep ambivalence toward the United Nations would do well to read Edward Luck's perceptive new book. --Jane E. Stromseth, Georgetown University Law Center, American Journal of International Law Provocative, thoughtful, and original. Mixed Messages speaks to Americans of all political stripes. An important book, on the eve of a national election, for anyone concerned about the prospects for rebuilding a coherent foreign policy and reasserting American global leadership. --Brent Scowcroft, U.S. National Security Adviser Ed Luck has drawn on years of experience and a keen observer's eye to explain the origins and importance of the problems that have arisen in relations between the United States and the United Nations. What is more, he also suggests some practical solutions. --Joseph S. Nye Jr., Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Govt., Harvard University This is a remarkable book by a man who has a profound and wide-ranging knowledge of American politics and international organizations. For anyone interested in studying the subject, this book is a must! --Lord Carrington, Secretary General of NATO

"""...exceptional in three important respects. First, it focuses on relations between the United States and the UN in much greater detail than any of its predecessors. Second, it makes numerous illuminating comparisons with the League of Nations. Third, its scholarship is impeccable and complemented by the perspective of an insider-outsider."" —Martin Ira Glassner, Perspectives on Political Science |""...provides a thorough and insightful analysis of America's enduring ambivalence toward international institutions [and] does a superb job of describing this ambivalence. "" —Seymour Maxwell Finger, American Foreign Policy |""A vivid and insightful account of America's century-old ambivalence toward multi-lateral institutions."" —G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs |""Anyone interested in understanding America's deep ambivalence toward the United Nations would do well to read Edward Luck's perceptive new book."" —Jane E. Stromseth, Georgetown University Law Center, American Journal of International Law |""Provocative, thoughtful, and original. Mixed Messages speaks to Americans of all political stripes. An important book, on the eve of a national election, for anyone concerned about the prospects for rebuilding a coherent foreign policy and reasserting American global leadership. "" —Brent Scowcroft, U.S. National Security Adviser |""Ed Luck has drawn on years of experience and a keen observer's eye to explain the origins and importance of the problems that have arisen in relations between the United States and the United Nations. What is more, he also suggests some practical solutions."" —Joseph S. Nye Jr., Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Govt., Harvard University |""This is a remarkable book by a man who has a profound and wide-ranging knowledge of American politics and international organizations. For anyone interested in studying the subject, this book is a must!"" —Lord Carrington, Secretary General of NATO"

Author Information

Edward C. Luck, a leading commentator for a quarter century and president of the United Nations Association from 1984 to 1994, heads the Center for the Study of International Organization of the NYU School of Law and the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. His previous books include Arms Control: The Multilateral Alternative (NYU Press, 1983).

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