Cliff's Notes Guide to the UN +IR

July 6, 2007 8:43 PM

Any tips/suggestions/reading lists for someone who needs a crash course regarding the United Nations and International Relations?

In two weeks, I have an interview for a position that fits, except for knowledge of the UN/Foreign Relations Issues. What's the best "Idiot's Guide," books, newspapers or video that might help?

posted by Duck_Lips to education (9 comments total)

www.cfr.org is good for anything current in foreign affairs. Especially recommended are their FAQs.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 9:56 PM on July 6, 2007

Read random pages from hrw.org, and then read the latest issue(s) of Foreign Affairs in earnest.

There is no 'idiots guide', by the by; either you put effort into understanding international relations, or you don't. Everything changes daily, and that's why it's an exciting field of interest.

(Hope you get the position.)
posted by peeet at 12:05 AM on July 7, 2007

The Vienna Convention is the most obvious place to start and the Tate Letter, if you have something more specific in mind, email me and I can probably point you in the right direction.
posted by whoaali at 1:02 AM on July 7, 2007

If you can be more specific about what the position is, we may be more helpful. Do you need to know about theories of international relations and international organization? Or is the position dedicated to practical policy-making within the institution? Both IR and the UN have huge literatures dedicated to them covering a wide range of substantive issues.

A basic and current working knowledge can come from reading a daily paper with a substantial focus on international affairs (NYT, IHT, WSJ, etc.). On the other hand, theory is often essential to help one understand the background and context of important issues and debates.
posted by B-squared at 8:33 AM on July 7, 2007

Thanks I'll start with this. I think the theory and background, may be what I need. The position is a creative tech consultant for a group that works closely with the UN. The key, apparently, is knowing the politics and anticipating the new developments and how the institutions work. I have done this with media and other industries, but I know the ins and outs there. Cheers!
posted by Duck_Lips at 12:04 PM on July 7, 2007

The UN has an excellent web site with most of the basic information you'll need about its organization/organs/mandates etc. For current developments and politics the Secretary General (or spokesman, I suppose) puts out a daily brief. Perhaps also take a look at a book called The UN: the first fifty years or something to that effect. It'll give you a good background as to the basic work of the UN as well as an inventory of some of its well-known shortcomings. Good luck.
posted by B-squared at 12:42 PM on July 7, 2007

It's difficult to learn in such a short time, but here you go:
Analyzing international relations [the study of interactions between actors - states, governments, and ) is polemic by its nature (that is, people empirically (the "why"certain events happened and normatively ('should' this action be taken, a judgment is reached by the person taking the action) so it's very difficult to read a 'how to' or 'dummy' books. For example, some scholars argue that the role of the UN and other large, nongovernmental organizations have and will continue to increase in today's world, others say the complete opposite.

- MIT has opencourseware here .

Journals like Foreign Affairs are informative and very helpful for keeping up, although for someone with little knowledge, it would be overwhelming. The BBC has special reports that can give a brief rundown of events and conflicts (I'm surprised the UN actually doesn't have one).

Good Luck.

(I feel so much like a swarmy professor as I'm writing this).
posted by fizzix at 1:15 PM on July 7, 2007

Do you mean smarmy fizzix? Nothing about your post looks smarmy. Did you have a bad experience in college?

Duck_Lips, don't look to the literature in political science on international relations if you're looking for a practical guide to the UN. It will waste time. The debates can be polemical, but even worse for you, many of those debates will be irrelevant to your potential work.
posted by B-squared at 2:27 PM on July 7, 2007

Not sure if you're just looking for an overview of the history of diplomacy or what. I'm not sure 2 weeks is sufficient. One of the following books could take you that long:

Btw: I love Foreign Affairs. Pick that up for sure.

Diplomacy for the Next Century - Abba Eban is the former Ambassador from Israel and a fountain of international knowledge put into practice.

Diplomatic Theory From Machiavelli To Kissinger – I haven’t read this particular collection, but it looks like you need a briefer on the various ages and perspectives that modern diplomacy has evolved through.

The Diplomat's Dictionary – looks useful to me.

Know who Alfred Thayer Mahan is…. Why? Because he who controls the seas, controls the world… rather, today it might be: he who controls the skies…
posted by eatdonuts at 4:35 PM on July 7, 2007