Wednesday, 5 December 2007
The UN in a 'disordered world'

On 4 December, UNA-UK’s Chair Lord Hannay gave a wide-ranging speech to the International Politics Association at the University of St Andrews, speaking about the changes needed, at the UN and elsewhere, if the international community is to overcome the challenges thrown up by the 'disorder' of the post-Cold War world.

After citing the advances in prosperity, democracy and international law generated by international cooperation, Lord Hannay called on leaders to return to "the task of making our existing international organisations work better and more equitably...adapting them continually to meet new challenges as these come along".

Lord Hannay was Ambassador to the UN between 1990 and 1995, representing Britain in the Security Council during the conflicts in Somalia, the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. An account of his years at the UN, New World Disorder: the UN after the Cold War, will be published by I.B. Tauris in May 2008.

Read the St Andrews speech here [pdf. 52kb]