Demography
24 (Spring 2008)
The United Nations in Today’s World (P/NP)
Professor John R. Wilmoth
Day/Time, Location (TBA)
The United Nations is an organization of governments that
exists for the promotion of peace and security, development, and human rights
throughout the world. Formed after World
War II, the UN has played a unique role in world history during the past 60
years, yet it role and authority in today’s world are often challenged. This seminar will examine both the history of
the United Nations and its current activities.
Is the UN a feckless organization of incompetents that is doomed to
failure? Is it a power-hungry incipient world
government that threatens the authority of sovereign states? Or is it a complex system of key
international organizations that are playing critical roles in the promotion of
widely shared ideals, including peace, prosperity, and personal freedom?
John R. Wilmoth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Demography. Most of his research concerns the revolution
in human longevity during recent centuries and methods for the statistical
monitoring of human population trends. He
has taught at UC Berkeley since 1990.
However, he recently spent two years on leave from