ABSTRACT
The United Nations requires reinvigoration in order to be able to find solutions to ever-recurring problems, to acquire capacities to cope with new governance challenges, and to defend the very pillars upon which it is built. This introductory chapter delineates a broad frame for analysing pathways of reinvigoration. For one, the entire United Nations system is within this frame, including relations between principal organs, specialised agencies, and advisory bodies. Furthermore, the frame is not confined to the institutional foreground that is easily visible, such as in the United Charter. It extends to the background, ranging from trust among member states to paradigmatic knowledge employed by bureaucrats, experts, and diplomats. Within this broad frame, the book explores three dimensions of reinvigoration: consolidation of the pillars upon which the organisation is built, elaboration on the governance functions in a variety of functional fields ranging from peacekeeping to space law, and transformation of the organisation, including decision-making processes in the Security Council.
