1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910778136903321

Autore

Hurd Ian

Titolo

After anarchy [[electronic resource] ] : legitimacy and power in the United Nations Security Council / / Ian Hurd

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, N.J., : Princeton University Press, c2007

ISBN

1-282-15760-4

9786612157608

1-4008-2774-4

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (233 p.)

Classificazione

89.72

Disciplina

320.01/1

Soggetti

Legitimacy of governments

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-212) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- A theory of legitimacy -- Legitimacy, rationality, and power -- San Francisco, 1945 -- Blue helmets and white trucks -- Libya and the sanctions -- Legitimacy and sovereignty -- Epilogue.

Sommario/riassunto

The politics of legitimacy is central to international relations. When states perceive an international organization as legitimate, they defer to it, associate themselves with it, and invoke its symbols. Examining the United Nations Security Council, Ian Hurd demonstrates how legitimacy is created, used, and contested in international relations. The Council's authority depends on its legitimacy, and therefore its legitimation and delegitimation are of the highest importance to states. Through an examination of the politics of the Security Council, including the Iraq invasion and the negotiating history of the United Nations Charter, Hurd shows that when states use the Council's legitimacy for their own purposes, they reaffirm its stature and find themselves contributing to its authority. Case studies of the Libyan sanctions, peacekeeping efforts, and the symbolic politics of the Council demonstrate how the legitimacy of the Council shapes world politics and how legitimated authority can be transferred from states to international organizations. With authority shared between states and other institutions, the interstate system is not a realm of anarchy. Sovereignty is distributed among institutions that have power because



they are perceived as legitimate. This book's innovative approach to international organizations and international relations theory lends new insight into interactions between sovereign states and the United Nations, and between legitimacy and the exercise of power in international relations.