PADM 5450. International Public and NGO Management

1. The Four Problems of the Apocalypse and the United Nations system

August 22, 24, 2023

This first session of the seminar will be given on August 22 at 13:25. It will be an introduction to the future in terms of four problems which, if not solved, will dramatically affect the human race. These are pandemics, climate change, nuclear weapons and cyber-security. All of these are borderless and as a result cannot be solved by the actions of individual States, or the magic of the marketplace. We will also look at quick case studies of two of these. First, since the beginning of the last century, there has been an effort to control the development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological) through a system of international treaties. In this, most attention has been paid to the relationships between the Nation-States involved, but, because the viability of the regime depends on the belief by all parties that the terms of the treaties are being followed, the verification of compliance is a central concern. This verification has been entrusted, by treaty, to international organizations, whose management will determine the success of the effort. A similar issue is management of global climate change, where negotiations continue on the implementation of the Paris Agreement reached in December 2015. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its operational protocols lacks a verification mechanism to complete the regime. The regime therefore constitutes an excellent case of how management can determine significant outcomes and can benefit from the eGenerxperience of the regime for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction.

Questions covered	Why is the elimination of weapons of mass destruction important and what are the parameters of the problem? How is management of climate change a similar issue? What is the role of verification in the process? What is the importance of the institutions set up to verify compliance? What are the main management issues within those institutions? What does this tell us about the role of management of international public institutions?
Lecture	Lecture You should read this before the class. PowerPoint presentation used on August 22, 2023
Required readings	General Assembly, Final Draft Declaration for the Commenoration of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations, 3 July 2020 You should read this before the class António Guterres, Vision Statement “Restoring trust and inspiring hope” The next five years for the United Nations, 22 March 2021 In Course Canvas You should read this before the class Secretary General of the United Nations, Repositioning the United Nations development system to deliver on the 2030 Agenda: ensuring a better future for all, Report of the Secretary-General (A/72/124-E/2018/3), 11 July 2017 John Mathiason, Preface to The Four Problems of the Apocalypse: Will the United Nations Save the Planet?, Preface. This is a draft book (in the course Canvas). Thomas Weiss and Rorden Wilkerson, Global Governance Futures, 1. Making Sense of Global Governance Futures? John Bolton, “Should We Take Global Governance Seriously?”, Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol. 1: No.2, Articles 2 (in the course Canvas). Berhanykun Andemicael and John Mathiason, "The Structure and Logic of the WMD Ban Regime", Chapter One of Eliminating Weapons of Mass Destruction: Prospects for Effective International Verification, London and New York: Palgrave, 2005. Berhanykun Andemicael, Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Management of Verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), paper delivered at the annual meeting of the Northeast International Studies Association, Albany, NY, November 2000 Robinson Meyer, "A Reader's Guide to the Paris Agreement," The Atlantic, December 16, 2015. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Taking the Paris Agreement Forward, 6 May 2016
Recommended readings	John Mathiason, Invisible Governance: International Secretariats in Global Politics, Preface. John Mathiason, The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization: Managing the First Global Burglar Alarm, paper delivered at the annual meeting of the Northeast International Studies Association, Albany, NY, November 2000. Kent Kille, "A View of Global Governance From an ‘Invisible Man’", International Studies Review (2008) 10, 112–115 John R. Bolton, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Remarks to the 5th Biological Weapons Convention RevCon Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, November 19, 2001 Arms Control Association, The Biological Weapons Convention at a Glance, October 2006 Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, "Update on Administrative and Financial Matters," April 21, 2009 Surf the Biological Weapons section of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs site.
Discussion questions	What are the main management issues in international organizations undertaking verification? What are the possible consequences of a management failure? How might this model applied to the emerging climate change regime?

Recordings

Recordings of session on 22 and 24 August 2023 will be in the course Canvas.

© 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 John R. Mathiason. All Rights Reserved.

Back to seminar schedule

---

© 2022 John R. Mathiason

Revised: May 29, 2022.