The United Nations 30 Years After the Cold War: a Theoretical Analysis of Changes in the International Organization

Abstract

This paper outlines the contours of a conceptual examination of the trends of UN change that have emerged in the post-bipolar era. The author seeks to understand what the results of the changes are and how they manifest themselves. Due to the complexity of the object under study, the duration of the analyzed period and its eventfulness, the paper takes into account only some typical fragments of the general picture, and some judgments and conclusions are expressed in a discussion manner. I analyze the following patterns of change have characterized the main UN bodies: new goals and activities of the bodies themselves and the organization as a whole, more topics under discussion, greater organizational autonomy, higher costs, greater involvement of civil society organizations and experts in agenda setting and various activities, structural reforms, summitization of the General Assembly and Security Council, the creation of high-level segments of ECOSOC, and strengthening of the coordinating role of the Committee of Senior Management. In methodological terms, the article is based on a multilevel model of an international organization developed in the framework of the sociological approach.