1990年冷战结束时，联合国面临着前所未有的机遇和更高的期望。到1995年联合国成立50周年时，人们的情绪已经发生了变化。维和人员在波斯尼亚和索马里陷入困境。伊拉克继续考验联合国执行军控检查的决心。在世界许多地方，富人和穷人之间的差距正在扩大。所有人都同意联合国需要改革，但却缺乏实现变革的政治意愿。随着世界各地的挑战尚未得到满足，联合国的力量和效力正在受到限制。从地区冲突到环境恶化和侵犯人权的领域，联合国的成功比以往任何时候都更取决于三个困境的解决方式——主权与主权被侵蚀的现实之间的紧张关系，全球治理的要求与联合国机构的软弱性（以及各国不愿做出承诺）之间的紧张关系，在领导力的需要和权力的扩散之间。
在第二版中，作者进行了重大修订，并进行了彻底更新。他们探讨了联合国在世界政治中不断演变的角色背景下的三个困境，包括其在维护和平和促进发展、环境可持续性和人权方面的经验——这是一个全新篇章的重点。他们还考虑到联合国系统中各种行动者的作用，从主要大国（特别是美国）、中小型大国、联盟和非政府组织到秘书长。审查了机构改革的必要性和具体的改革建议。由于多边外交如今已成为世界政治的常态而非例外，联合国的效力受到了后冷战时代新要求的挑战。这份经过全面修订和更新的文本将联合国置于世界政治中一系列核心困境的中心，并提供了一系列案例研究，探讨联合国行动的政治和过程。
The United Nations In The Post-cold War Era, 2nd Edition
The United Nations faced unprecedented opportunities and heightened expectations when the Cold War ended in 1990. By the time of the UN’s fiftieth anniversary in 1995, the mood had shifted. Peacekeepers were bogged down in Bosnia and Somalia. Iraq continued to test the UN’s resolve to enforce arms control inspections. In much of the world, the gap between haves and have-nots was increasing. Everyone agreed that UN reform was needed, yet the political will to effect change was absent. With unmet challenges throughout the world, the limits to UN power and effectiveness were being realized. From regional conflicts to areas of environmental degradation and human rights abuses, the UN’s success depends more than ever on the way in which three dilemmas are resolved–the tensions between sovereignty and the reality of its erosion, between demands for global governance and the weakness of UN institutions (as well as the reluctance of states to commit), and between the need for leadership and the diffusion of power.
In this second edition, the authors have undertaken major revisions along with thorough updating. They explore the three dilemmas in the context of the UN’s evolving role in world politics, including its experience in maintaining peace and promoting development, environmental sustainability, and human rights–the focus of an entirely new chapter. They also consider the role of various actors in the UN system, from major powers (especially the United States), small and middle powers, coalitions, and nongovernmental organizations to the secretaries-general. The need for institutional reforms and specific proposals for reform are examined. Because multilateral diplomacy is now the norm rather than the exception in world politics, the UN’s effectiveness has been challenged by the new demands of the post–Cold War era. This completely revised and updated text places the UN at the center of a set of core dilemmas in world politics and provides a series of case studies that probe the politics and processes of UN action.
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