United Nations Institutions and Processes

3 units

How do countries and non-state actors cooperate on issues that transcend international borders? What are the unique opportunities and challenges to addressing global issues in international organizations, especially the United Nations (UN)? In this course, we will examine the historical foundations of the UN, the structure of the UN, and the nature of representation in the United Nations. We will analyze the conditions under which the UN is likely to succeed or fail at addressing a range of security, economic and social, and human rights issues. To facilitate this analysis, we will examine historical and contemporary UN work to address climate change, conflict, humanitarian assistance, and human rights. This class is part of a Model United Nations program at Washington University in St.Louis, which will travel to the National Model United Nations conference in New York in the spring. It is the first course in a two-course series. Students must complete both the fall and the spring course to be eligible for the New York conference team.