¹Louis Emmerij is a senior research fellow at the Graduate Center of the City University New York and Co-Director of the United Nations Intellectual History Project there. He was Rector of the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, President of the OECD Development Centre, Paris, Special Adviser to the President, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington DC, and Director, ILO World Employment Programme, Geneva.

Abstract

Louis Emmerij gives an overview of the United Nations Intellectual History Project, which aims to produce a comprehensive intellectual history of the international organization. He analyses three separate periods: the early years (1940s and 1950s), the middle years (1970s), and the last 25 years (1980s onwards). Finally, he discusses some of the organization's failures and challenges ahead.