As the United Nations moves beyond its fiftieth anniversary into the millennium, it is faced with a new global system fraught with political and economic tensions that can no longer be handled with models that defined the organisation when it was founded in 1945.

An innovative vision for a reconstruction of the United Nations, this book offers an insiders look at how the UN can respond more effectively to the challenges of the future in an age of globalization. Guido de Marco and Michael Bartolo, seasoned veterans of the United Nations, provide valuable policy recommendations involving a combination of political will, relevance, and efficiency in the coming years. Analysing the roles of major UN functions such as the General Assembly, the Trusteeship Council, the Security Council, and the Secretariat, de Marco and Bartolo call for decentralisation of the UN's activities and for building stronger relationships with established regional institutions and with Bretton Woods institutions. The proposals made here open up an important area of discussion as international policymakers seek peace and stability in the post-Cold War world.