The United Nations and International Economic Relations
Strange, Susan. “The United Nations and International Economic Relations.” In The Evolving United Nations: A Prospect for Peace?, edited by Kenneth J. Twitchet, 100-119. London: Europa Publications for the David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies, 1971.
Contrasting a Unitarian (‘one-world’) or egalitarian vision of the United Nations mission with a reformist position, Strange argues that despite some early hopes that the UN might remake the global economy, its subsequent history has revealed it to be largely powerless over much of international economic relations. Where it has been able to influence the international economy this has been through symbolic actions rather than by direct intervention. Here, Strange stresses the political embeddedness of international markets, and relates the inability of the UN to intervene to the lack of any overarching international political authority, either represented by the UN or other international organisations.
Keywords: Political Economy; United Nations; International Economics