A groundbreaking interpretation of the intellectual origins of the
United Nations No Enchanted Palace traces the origins and early
development of the United Nations, one of the most influential yet
perhaps least understood organizations active in the world today.
Acclaimed historian Mark Mazower forces us to set aside the popular
myth that the UN miraculously rose from the ashes of World War II as
the guardian of a new and peaceful global order, offering instead a
strikingly original interpretation of the UN's ideological roots,
early history, and changing role in world affairs. Mazower brings the
founding of the UN brilliantly to life. He shows how the UN's creators
envisioned a world organization that would protect the interests of
empire, yet how this imperial vision was decisively reshaped by the
postwar reaffirmation of national sovereignty and the unanticipated
rise of India and other former colonial powers. This is a story told
through the clash of personalities, such as South African statesman
Jan Smuts, who saw in the UN a means to protect the old imperial and
racial order; Raphael Lemkin and Joseph Schechtman, Jewish
intellectuals at odds over how the UN should combat genocide and other
atrocities; and Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, who
helped transform the UN from an instrument of empire into a forum for
ending it. A much-needed historical reappraisal of the early
development of this vital world institution, No Enchanted Palace
reveals how the UN outgrew its origins and has exhibited an
extraordinary flexibility that has enabled it to endure to the present
day.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400831661
Publisert
2013
Utgiver
Vendor
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter