The UN Security Council remains a mysterious body, hidden most of the time behind a strict security perimeter and many closed door meetings. To understand the Council, it is necessary to penetrate a thicket of myth and to examine the web of ideology, fear, and ambition that motivates its members. To promote a Council fit for the future, we must be ambitious, with a goal of thoroughgoing transformation. For one thing is clear: Cautious pragmatism will not do.
The book “Of Foxes and Chickens: Oligarchy and Global Power in the UN Security Council” by James A. Paul is based on the author’s unique access to the Council over many years. Providing a new and critical reading of the institution, it considers the Council’s history, its mode of operation, and its many sanctions regimes, military operations, and other initiatives, as well as its role as a “theater” in which great power rivalries are regularly on display.
James A. Paul was long a major figure in the UN NGO community. He served on numerous boards and committees and has written many articles, reviews, policy papers, and books on international relations and global politics. He is the founder of the NGO Working Group on the Security Council.
Join us for a discussion of the book with the author and other experts. In this conversation we will reflect on how to deconstruct the myths that shape understandings of the UN Security Council and consider the possibility of much-needed reform.
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
1:00-3:00 PM
Church Center for the United Nations
Second Floor Conference Room
777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017
A light lunch will be served. – Free copies of the book will be available.
RSVP to maria.starzmann@rosalux.org
The event is sponsored by Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office.
Our co-sponsors are:
Civicus
Global Action to Prevent War
Global Policy Forum
Institute for Public Accuracy
International Student Movement for the UN
Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy
Mennonite UN Office
Nonviolent Peaceforce
Peace Boat
United Methodist Church, Board of Church and Society
World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy
