The UNHCR and World Politics: A Perilous Path

by Gil Loescher

Overview

Over fifty years ago, governments established the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to be a human rights and advocacy organization. This is the first independent history of this highly important establishment. Gil Loescher, one of the world's leading experts on refugee affairs, draws upon decades of personal experience and research to examine the origins and evolution of the UNHCR, identifying many of the major challenges facing the organization in the years ahead. A key focus is the extent to which the evolution of the UNHCR has been framed by the crucial events of international politics during the past half century and how, in turn, the actions of the eight past High Commissioners have helped shape the course of world history. In the end, Loescher offers a series of bold policy recommendations aimed at making the agency a more effective and accountable advocate for the millions of refugees in the world today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199246915
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/18/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	446
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

University of Notre Dame

Table of Contents

1. The UNHCR at 50: State Pressures and Institutional Autonomy2. International Recognition of Refugees3. The Cold War Origins of the UNHCR under Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart4. The Emerging Independence of the UNHCR under Auguste Lindt5. 'The Good Offices' and Expansion into Africa under Felix Schnyder6. The Global Expansion of the UNHCR under Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan7. The New Cold War and the UNCHR under Poul Hartling8. The UNHCR's 'New Look', Financial Crisis, and Collapse of Morale under Jean-Pierre Hocke and Thorvald Stoltenberg9. The Post-Cold War Era and the UNHCR under Sadako Ogata10. Towards the Future: the UNHCR in the Twenty-First Century