The UN's political record

Two major chapters of the book cover the innovative compromises that strengthened UN peacekeeping operations and military actions after the end of the Cold War

The Legitimacy of Power: The Permanence of Five in the Security Council  

Dilip Sinha

Vij Books and Indian Council of 

World Affairs; 321 pages, Rs 595

The word “power” is high fashion in Indian books on international affairs, but apt for a work that examines the behaviour of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC). The author’s rich credentials in multilateral diplomacy legitimise this comprehensive study.

This is foundational work, covering the entire history of the UN’s political record since its creation in 1945, also going back further to the origins of the international system and the evolution of international law, and