Introduction

The fortunes of multilateral diplomacy and the United Nations have waxed and waned since the launch of the US-led "war on terror"—the "first twenty-first-century war" according to US President George W. Bush. Washington believed that international order would devolve naturally from hierarchy; there was no pressing need for institutional innovation. The history of diplomacy is commonly divided between the "old diplomacy," which reached its zenith in the nineteenth century, and the "new diplomacy" of the twentieth. The UN has launched a number of international initiatives, such as public-private partnerships and multisector policy networks that bring together governments, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations to tackle an array of global problems. The UN of today is clearly not the UN of 1945. It has adjusted its procedures, operations, and management to the changes in the world's political, economic, and social landscape with innovation and ingenuity. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.