This text reviews the preventive diplomacy of the United Nations, suggesting that the Security Council is not well suited to the task. What is needed, it argues, is a less political and more professional approach, namely a larger (and more autonomous) role for the Secretary-General and the development of a greater specialist capacity within the Secretariat. The work gives appropriate weight to the importance of peace building, both before and after conflict, as an integral part of conflict prevention, and the United Nations' role therein.

In April 1996 the ICJ/UNITAR Colloquium on Increasing the Effectiveness of the Court brought together from all corners of the world judges, legal advisers, practitioners of international law and jurists. It provided an unprecedented opportunity for an in-depth and detailed exchange of views not only on the Court's performance to date, but also on its future role, as well as on possible ways and means of enhancing its operation. There were some fifteen panels, covering subjects ranging from the Court's jurisprudence to its working methods, from assessment of its achievements to...