Future Positive: International Co-Operation in the 21st Century

... Make no mistake, this is a rigorous treatment of the international cooperation debate, packed with detailed evidence that is all footnoted at the end. At times this makes for some heavy reading, but it is worth it, since the evidence and the argument all hang together to illumine what has gone wrong in the world since 1945 and what we can do about it. Yes, this does mean "re-balancing the competitive and co-operative rationalities that motivate each one of us" (from the Preface), but in the aftermath of September 11th you would have to be crazy not to understand the importance of global cooperation in addressing threats like terrorism, pollution and poverty. What Edwards shows, better to my mind than any other recent book I've read, is how the original ideals of "international community" after World War II were corrupted into a system of threats and bribes that can never be effective in eliciting real cooperation between countries. Some of his prescriptions for correcting this situation may sound idealistic, but better this than the emptiness and cynicism of much current political debate. Especially since September 11th, I do believe that the world is heading in the direction of a "Future Positive", and this book is a pretty good roadmap to help us along the way.

After over a decade of dealing with international co-operation in various capacities, in different locations and on many sides of the equation, this is the first time that I find a book that actually translates my experiences in a way that helps me deeply understand the reasons behind my successes and failures. Would like to highly recomend this book to anyone who has lost faith in international co-operation, or who is looking for a compass to guide them through the complexities of such an art.Insightful, inspiring, informed, committed, refreshing and very useful are some of the adjectives that come to me as I write this.Happy reading