United Nations Studies at Yale — UNSY — has been awarded grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford Foundation, announced Gustav Ranis, director of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies — YCIAS — and the Frank Altschul Professor of International Economics.
The Carnegie grants will provide:
* $150,000 for research to study “Democracy, Interdependence, International Organizations, and the Reduction of International Conflict” and “Public Opinion toward Multilateralism and International Organizations,” both led by Professor Bruce Russett, director of UNSY and the Dean Acheson Professor of International Relations and Political Science;
* $100,000 to assist in the preparation and publication of “The Public Papers of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali,” edited by Charles Hill, lecturer in International Studies and former special consultant on policy to Dr. Boutros-Ghali;
* $25,000 for the completion of “An Independent History of the United Nations Development Programme — UNDP,” by Ruben Mendez, former career economist at UNDP.
The Ford Foundation grant will provide:
* $300,000 for three years of core programmatic support at UNSY, directed by Professor Russett.
“Democracy, Interdependence, International Organizations, and the Reduction of International Conflict” is an ongoing project that began with a study of whether and why democracies are less likely than other states to fight one another. Its focus has since expanded to exploring the role of economic interdependence and multinational organizations in reducing conflict. The project has produced numerous academic publications and substantial interest in the policy community.
“Public Opinion toward Multilateralism and International Organizations” involves faculty members from American University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Connecticut who have held workshops and published articles with a view toward conducting a national public opinion survey on the topic.
“The Public Papers of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali,” to be published by Yale University Press in two volumes, will cover the secretary-general’s term in office from January 1992 through December 1996 — a watershed period in the history of the United Nations.
“An Independent History of the United Nations Development Programme — UNDP” will be an analytical history that goes back to the UNDP’s pre-United Nations antecedents, in an effort to trace the beginnings and evolution of international technical and other development assistance. The book will present a chronological narrative as well as analyze global economic developments and the UNDP’s interaction with donors and recipients of aid, aid agencies, the private business sector and civil society.
Founded in 1993, UNSY brings together many of Yale’s resources for studying international organizations. In its brief existence, UNSY has established itself as one of the world’s foremost centers for the study of the United Nations and served as secretariat for the international report, “The United Nations in Its Second Half Century.” UNSY, a unit of YCIAS, staffs undergraduate and graduate level courses in addition to sponsoring research, conferences, and public outreach activities. Associates of UNSY contributed to “The Once and Future Security Council,” a book edited by Professor Russett and published last spring.
Beginning in July 1998, the headquarters office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System will be established within YCIAS, and associated with UNSY and UN Legal Studies at Yale. Jean Krasno, postdoctoral associate for UNSY, will serve as executive director. This international professional organization of scholars and policy-makers concerned with the United Nations is currently located at Brown University.
