The Emerging Image of U.N. Politics

Abstract

Empirical research on the United Nations has been characterized as fragmented, noncumulative, and lacking in the coherence necessary for conceptual integration—a condition at least partly due to the variegated nature of the institution itself. Yet in some important respects the research literature projects a rather homogeneous image. This image is shaped by a prevailing research perspective that treats the U.N. as (1) an arena for the political maneuvering of member states rather than an actor in its own right, and (2) as a resultant of exogenous forces governing world politics rather than as a source of influence affecting the larger world community. One or both of these traits may be found in 36 of 41 research articles published between 1970 and 1977. This perspective probably derives from numerous factors, including the state-centric orientation dominating our discipline and the tendency to view the U.N. as a convenient source of data for the study of world politics.