Danilo Türk
A World Transformed
Reflections on the International System,
China and Global Development
PETER LANG
New York • Bern • Berlin
Brussels • Vienna • Oxford • Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Control Number: 2020000241
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ISBN 978-1-4331-7711-8 (hardcover)
ISBN978-1-4331-7708-8 (ebook pdf)
ISBN 978-1-4331-7709-5 (epub)
ISBN 978-1-4331-7710-1 (mobi)
DOI 10.3726/b16849
© 2020 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
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About the author
Danilo Türk is Emeritus Professor of International Law, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and former President of the Republic of Slovenia (2007–2012). He had served as Ambassador to the UN (1992–2000), including to its Security Council, and was UN Assistant Secretary- General for Political Affairs (2000–2005).
About the book
The main theme of the book are transformations of the world community at the political level and at the level of the international institutions. The book explores the currently precarious state of an emerging multipolar world at the time of the peaceful rise of China. It starts with the basic political and geopolitical features, followed by a discussion on norms, values and institutions of the organized international community, and the potential of international law in the face of political instability and crises. The rise of China is discussed in its various aspects: economic and political, with particular regard to the recent turning of China outward, the Belt and Road Initiative and its evolving cooperation with the European Union. The third part of the book is devoted to development as seen from the perspective of the United Nations and the evolving conceptualization of development. In the fi nal chapters emphasis is placed on the issues of multilateralism and the basic precepts for the future peaceful transformation of the world. There exist different types and sources of state legitimacy and different development models that can co-exist and co-evolve. Signifi cantly, such a transformation requires respect for the fundamentals of international law, in particular sovereignty of states. Building new or reforming existing international institutions is possible only on this basis. This book could be used in courses on international relations and law at universities in all countries, either as a basic or a supplementary source. It would be also useful to journalists and researchers.
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This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.
Table of Contents
Part One: The International System
Chapter One: A Unipolar or Multipolar World?
Chapter Two: The Role of Norms, Values and Institutions in International Politics
Chapter Three: An Organized International Community: The United Nations
Chapter Four: The Global and the Regional in the Contemporary International System
Chapter Five: The Threat of Terrorism and International Responses
Chapter Six: The Potential of International Law in Times of Crises
Chapter Seven: Ethics and Creativity in International Relations
Part Two: China
Chapter Eight: The Peaceful Rise of China
Chapter Nine: A Case for Partnership: The European Union and China as Actors and Objects of Global Change
Chapter Ten: Three Messages of an Anniversary
Chapter Eleven: The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the World
Chapter Twelve: Greening the Belt and Road – Creating Durable Peace
Chapter Thirteen: The Belt and Road Green Development
Chapter Fourteen: The Promise of E-Commerce
Chapter Fifteen: In Search of Balance: Intellectual Property and Transfer of Technology
Chapter Sixteen: Contours of a New International Economic Order
Chapter Seventeen: Davos
Part Three: Global Development
Chapter Eighteen: A Concept of Development: From Growth to Sustainability and Social Responsibility
Chapter Nineteen: The Human Right to Development
Chapter Twenty: What We Cannot Measure, We Cannot Manage: Indicators for Measuring Progress
Chapter Twenty-One: Greening Urban Living
Chapter Twenty-Two: Water as an Instrument of Development and Peace
Chapter Twenty-Three: China and Global Trade
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Future of Multilateralism
Chapter Twenty-Five: A World Transformed
About the Author
Index
This book is the result of my experience. I have participated in a variety of policy discussions related to questions about the functioning of the international system and global development over the past two decades. In these discussions, I was engaged as the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political