The United Nations and Functional Conflict Management

Abstract

In his functional approach to world politics, David Mitrany envisaged a process whereby discrete and focused practical steps in interstate organizing, invigorated by non-governmental participation, would lead towards a working peace. This chapter considers Mitrany’s project in the light of United Nations conflict management. The historical record demonstrates that the incremental establishment of UN agencies half a century ago approximated important conditions specified by Mitrany. As Inis Claude suggested, the specialized agencies of the UN appeared to be modelled on the functional principle. This chapter will consider whether more recent developments similarly meet functional requirements. That is, do emergent intermediate patterns, the presumed harbingers of peace, similarly meet functional expectations?