The United Nations in the 21st Century

Considering that the United Nations remains the legal – if not the political – cornerstone of the contemporary international system, how it is adapting to recent evolutions, major developments and the resulting challenges the contemporary international system has been experiencing in the last 25 years? Did the UN as an institution (or system of institutions) fully gauge the width and depth of these evolutions and their consequences? How did it adapt accordingly in terms of reforming its management, its structures, its institutions, policies and practice? What can we observe in terms of both actual change and persistent inertia regarding key issues such as the reform of the Security Council? What role is the UN playing in the crucial field of peacekeeping and international security or in a volatile region such as the Middle East? And what can we infer from past and present research and experience regarding the future of the UN and its adaptation to contemporary evolutions and challenges in these many fields? The questions behind this project were many.
Stemming from a symposium hosted in November 2016 by the Centre for International Crises and Conflict Studies, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), this edited volume wills itself an original contribution to the effort as it brings together junior and senior authors from various backgrounds ranging from military institutions involved in peacekeeping to prominent think tanks to research centers across Europe and beyond. In doing so, it keeps important issues in the forefront at a time significant developments are taking place all over the world and bear the potential to transform or at least question the role of the UN in the future.