ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the main difficulties with which the UN has had to deal in its development since the early 1990s. It provides an overview of the problems encountered in trying to reform the Security Council, in setting its financial arrangements on a sound footing, in working more closely with regional organisations on security maintenance, in promoting development in ways which do not penalise future generations, and in strengthening the rule of law as it applies to individuals. The chapter does not propose solutions, but identifies the controversies about reform, and the range of desirable and possible outcomes. A recurrent theme is the different visions about whose interests the UN should serve: those of particular States, or groups of States, the collective interest of States, or those of individuals.