This accessible text looks at the impact of the globalization process on social policy. National social policy is increasingly determined by global economic competition and international organizations. Its substance is becoming more and more transnational and now has to be understood in terms of global social redistribution, social regulation, social provision and empowerment. Global Social Policy examines trends in global inequity and summarizes the diverse experiences of different welfare regimes across the world. The authors review the social policies of international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, UN Agencies and the European Union, and show them to be engaged in heated controversy regarding the future for welfare. They argue that this concealed global discourse needs to be brought into an accountable arena.

Presenting reflections on the historical perspectives and philosophical foundations of human rights, this book provides a detailed analysis of civil and political rights, as well as the rights of persons belonging to such vulnerable groups as women, children and minorities, indigenous people, refugees, displaced persons and migrant workers.

This text reviews the preventive diplomacy of the United Nations, suggesting that the Security Council is not well suited to the task. What is needed, it argues, is a less political and more professional approach, namely a larger (and more autonomous) role for the Secretary-General and the development of a greater specialist capacity within the Secretariat. The work gives appropriate weight to the importance of peace building, both before and after conflict, as an integral part of conflict prevention, and the United Nations' role therein.