At the end of the millennium, the US is in danger of losing its vote in the General Assembly for non-payment of its arrears. There are troubling parallels between this situation and the struggles over and within the League of Nations in 1919. Why is America at once so eager to create international bodies and so quick to abandon them? What is it in American political culture that breeds the most ardent supporters and the most vocal detractors of international organizations? This volume seeks to uncover the roots of American ambivalence towards international organizations. It traces eight themes that have resurfaced again and again in congressional and public debates over the course of the 20th century: exceptionalism, sovereignty, nativism and racism, unilateralism, security, commitments, reform, and burden sharing.
Edward C. Luck, a leading commentator for a quarter century and president of the United Nations Association from 1984 to 1994, heads the Center for the Study of International Organization of the NYU School of Law and the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. His previous books include Arms Control: The Multilateral Alternative (NYU Press, 1983).
"...exceptional in three important respects. First, it focuses on relations between the United States and the UN in much greater detail than any of its predecessors. Second, it makes numerous illuminating comparisons with the League of Nations. Third, its scholarship is impeccable and complemented by the perspective of an insider-outsider." -Martin Ira Glassner, Perspectives on Political Science |"...provides a thorough and insightful analysis of America's enduring ambivalence toward international institutions [and] does a superb job of describing this ambivalence. " -Seymour Maxwell Finger, American Foreign Policy |"A vivid and insightful account of America's century-old ambivalence toward multi-lateral institutions." -G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs |"Anyone interested in understanding America's deep ambivalence toward the United Nations would do well to read Edward Luck's perceptive new book." -Jane E. Stromseth, Georgetown University Law Center, American Journal of International Law |"Provocative, thoughtful, and original. Mixed Messages speaks to Americans of all political stripes. An important book, on the eve of a national election, for anyone concerned about the prospects for rebuilding a coherent foreign policy and reasserting American global leadership. " -Brent Scowcroft, U.S. National Security Adviser |"Ed Luck has drawn on years of experience and a keen observer's eye to explain the origins and importance of the problems that have arisen in relations between the United States and the United Nations. What is more, he also suggests some practical solutions." -Joseph S. Nye Jr., Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Govt., Harvard University |"This is a remarkable book by a man who has a profound and wide-ranging knowledge of American politics and international organizations. For anyone interested in studying the subject, this book is a must!" -Lord Carrington, Secretary General of NATO
