UN, Politics of Peace-Keeping Work
Among the first to examine the full range of U.N. peace-keeping activities, THE POLITICS OF PEACE-KEEPING was written by Alan James and published in 1969 for the Institute of Strategic Studies by Frederick Praeger Publishers, New York.

Beginning with the League of Nations, James surveys the history of U.N. peace-keeping operations and the various abortive proposals for such activities. He asks what the United Nations hopes to achieve in such operations, and gives the answers in terms of three distinguishable objectives:

First, there is patching up, where the United Nations tries to bring disputants to agreement or helps them to execute a settlement they have already reached. A second role, seeking a temporary standstill, includes cases where the United Nations, recognizing that agreement is beyond reach, tries to prevent the situation from deteriorating further. Third, the United Nations may try to eradicate underlying hostilities through its operations, that is, it may endeavor to ease political confrontation by neutralizing politically volatile situations.

Within each of these categories, he suggests ways of patching up, methods of stabilization, and means of altering attitudes. Each operation or proposal is discussed in political terms. The situation is explained; reasons for U.N. action or inaction are analyzed; activities of the mission in the field are described; and factors leading to success or failure are examined.

In the concluding chapter, James considers a number of judgments about U.N. peace-keeping: that it is in decline, is a purely postcolonial phenomenon, is dependent on great-power unity (or disunity), and is severely handicapped by lack of advance planning. The author suggests that each particular operation does depend to a large extent on attitudes of the major powers. He concludes that peace-keeping, because it plays a significant role in maintaining international security, will probably continue to be carried on for some time.

The 452-page hardbound book is essential reading for anyone interested in the problems of preserving the security and, indeed, ensuring the survival of the world's nations. It is in Very Good condition – despite being ex lib with the usual library markings, there is no apparent damage to either the book or the mylar-protected dust jacket. (5867)

Publisher: Frederick Praeger
ISBN: none  

Worried Man's Guide to World Peace
Written by Arthur I. Waskow of the Peace Research Institute, the Worried Man's Guide to World Peace was first published in 1963 by Peter Smith, GLoucester, MA. This is a 1970 Reprint of that edition.

The 219-page hardbound book was written, says the author, for those who are anxious to help gain world peace, but don't have an idea where to begin. And they don't want to just stand there. In the Preface, Waskow tells this story:

We are told that the great Archimedes described his theory of leverage as such: 'Give me a place to stand and I will move the world.' To a great extent, this applies to the task confronting everybody who wants a warless world, because in a very real sense it is the whole world which must be moved, even when it seems immoveable. But where can the worried man stand, and where can he find a lever long enough?