Overview

Only 25 years after the end of the Cold War, the Western-dominated global order is fading and our hopes that liberal democracy would spread and bring world peace are evaporating. While the West is increasingly preoccupied with its internal problems, threats to global peace have fundamentally changed: wars among nation-states and their alliances, once the dominant scourge of humankind, have almost disappeared and are replaced by a triple threat from intra-state armed conflicts, the failing of nation-states and the rise of belligerent non-state actors. The global peace we felt within our reach in 1991, is escaping us. On Building Peace seeks the answers that the UN Charter can no longer provide. Once meant as a guarantor for peace, the Charter was never designed to deal with intra-state conflicts and today its core principles are eroded. The book makes two rather simple, but possibly unpopular suggestions for preserving future peace: first, we must rescue the nation-state, not despite but because of globalization, and second, we must not further undermine the United Nations, but expand its Charter for dealing collectively with this triple threat. The struggle for survival in a world of limited resources and environmental degradation will deepen intra-state conflicts. We must prevent slipping back into a new round of Cold War-type confrontations and focus on finding collective solutions for building peace. For the sake of billions of people of future generations, we cannot get this wrong.

Full Product Details

9789462984271

Table of Contents

Reviews

Listen to Michael von der Schulenburg in conversation with Anthony Dworkin from the ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations) for their podcast series: http://www.ecfr.eu/podcasts/episode/the_end_of_the_world_10_interview_with_michael_von_der_schulenburg >The End of the World #10: Interview with Michael von der Schulenburg [-][-] [-][-]Conflicts inside states demand a new global security regime: Without updated international laws, ever larger regions could become ungovernable - Op-ed by Michael von der Schulenburg for the Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/86cb656c-9edb-11e7-8b50-0b9f565a23e1?accessToken=zwAAAV9yTV6QkdOGy2VsntsR59OLUAufVloj4Q.MEQCIDfkYl5uFTD5aVZ3kpO4J4_DoviRc7228xPt6k_5frczAiAxUF84yRjH5j-SQLB-q5s68_CwxufrzrjVS6VLb9Hmfw&sharetype=gift[-][-] [-][-]Leaving the West behind - Former UN envoy Michael von der Schulenburg says the world has seen Western democracy and found it wanting - Michael von der Schulenburg interview with Reinhard Krumm for International Politics and Society Journal, read in English here: http://www.ips-journal.eu/interviews/article/show/leaving-the-west-behind-2225/ > http://www.ips-journal.eu/interviews/article/show/leaving-the-west-behind-2225/ and in German here: http://www.ipg-journal.de/interviews/artikel/der-westen-das-sind-jetzt-wir-2196/ > http://www.ipg-journal.de/interviews/artikel/der-westen-das-sind-jetzt-wir-2196/[-][-] [-][-] The book is an extended plea for the U.N. to refocus on rescuing the nation state in war-torn countries. It offers an impassioned, merciless and deliberately provocative account of why big powers and international organizations failed to create stability in trouble spots like Iraq. - Richard Gowan, http://www.ipg-journal.de/interviews/artikel/der-westen-das-sind-jetzt-wir-2196/ > 'Can Nation Building Make a Comeback?' World Politics Review[-][-][-]

Leaving the West behind - Former UN envoy Michael von der Schulenburg says the world has seen Western democracy and found it wanting - Michael von der Schulenburg interview with Reinhard Krumm for International Politics and Society Journal, read in English here: http://www.ips-journal.eu/interviews/article/show/leaving-the-west-behind-2225/ > http://www.ips-journal.eu/interviews/article/show/leaving-the-west-behind-2225/ and in German here: http://www.ipg-journal.de/interviews/artikel/der-westen-das-sind-jetzt-wir-2196/ > http://www.ipg-journal.de/interviews/artikel/der-westen-das-sind-jetzt-wir-2196/[-][-] [-][-] The book is an extended plea for the U.N. to refocus on rescuing the nation state in war-torn countries. It offers an impassioned, merciless and deliberately provocative account of why big powers and international organizations failed to create stability in trouble spots like Iraq. - Richard Gowan, http://www.ipg-journal.de/interviews/artikel/der-westen-das-sind-jetzt-wir-2196/ > 'Can Nation Building Make a Comeback?' World Politics Review[-]

Author Information

Michael von der Schulenburg escaped communist rule, studied in Berlin, London and Paris and worked for the United Nations, and shortly the OSCE, including as UN Assistant Secretary-General, in many of the world's trouble spots, such as in Haiti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, the Balkan, Somalia, Sierra Leone and the Sahel. Many issues that are raised in On Building Peace are heavily influenced by his unique first-hand experiences.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available