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 The definitive textbook by University of Delaware faculty members on international organizations, focusing particularly on the United Nations but also on nongovernmental organizations, is now in its seventh edition and is used all over the country and the world--from Japan and India to Great Britain and Europe.
The first edition of “International Organizations: Principles and Issues” was written by A. Leroy Bennett of Newark, professor emeritus of political science and international relations, in 1977 and five editions followed.
The recently publsihed seventh edition was written by Bennett, with coauthor James Oliver, Emma Smith Morris Professor of Political Science and International Relations at UD.
“I have always regarded Prof. Bennett as very much my mentor,” Oliver said. “He is a man of immense compassion, intelligence and dignity – in a word, wisdom.”
“When Prof. Bennett retired a number of years ago, he maintained his interest and involvement with the department. He and I met frequently and discussed the future of his classic book, ‘International Organizations.’ I had used the book in my own classes and found it–as many of our colleagues around the country–the single best book of its kind available.”
Oliver offered to help Bennett revise the book, and Bennett suggested he become coauthor.
“There was a seven-year gap between the sixth and seventh edition,” Bennett said, “which meant a great deal of revision and updating, as so many changes had taken place. Jim Oliver had the expertise and background to rewrite the book, so when a new editor at Prentice Hall said she wanted to publish a new edition, we were ready.”
The format of the book is the same, Bennett said, with the same chapter headings, such as “Peaceful Settlement of Disputes,” “Collective Security and its Alternatives,” “The Search for Justice Under Law” and “Controlling the Instruments of War.”
“Our interests dovetailed–disarmament and arms controls, regionalism and globalization are Jim Oliver’s specialties. He also revised the first chapter, which is the introduction and framework of the book. I did extensive work updating the survey of disputes considered by the Security Council and the General Assembly. I also replaced a study of the Congo with a section on East Timor and its independence of Indonesia that is topical now and will be for sometime to come,” Bennett said.
The book explores the roots of international organizations, analyzes the League of Nations and gives an in-depth look at the United Nations–its principles, structure, peace-keeping efforts, network of agencies and effectiveness in different areas.
“By the third edition, ‘International Organizations’ was the only comprehensive book in the field. One of the major differences between this textbook and others on the U.N. is that it includes nongovernmental agencies and discusses international corporations,” Bennett said.
Oliver said, “I regard this edition as still very much ‘his’ book. In sum, the book has been and remains a classic in the field, and its stature is very much a tribute to Prof. Bennett.”
Bennett, who is a graduate of Western Illinois University and joined the UD faculty in 1962, has been interested in the U.N. for his entire academic career, and he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the U.N. at the University of Illinois. He also had a Ford Foundation fellowship to study the U.N. in New York in 1951-52 when the organization was comparatively young. As an observer, he attended agency meetings and the daily news briefings for U.N. employees about all that was happening in the organization.
In the spring of 1980 while on sabbatical, Bennett studied the U.N. in its Geneva headquarters for a semester. “I met with top executives of U.N. agencies such as the World Health Organization, the World Labor Organization and the World Meteorological Organization, as well as observed U.N. sessions.”
U.N. publications, the “U.N. Chronicle” and “Issues Before the General Assembly of the United Nations” also were a good source of information for the book.
Bennett, who retired in 1984 but continued to teach for some years, also is the author of the “Historical Dictionary of the United Nations.”
Oliver joined the UD faculty in 1969 and has held a joint appointment with the College of Marine Studies since 1978. He chaired the then-Department of Political Science from 1984-89.
His research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and national security policy and policy making and international relations and organizations.
He is the coauthor of “Foreign Policy Making and the American Political System,” “The Future of United States Naval Power” and “United States Foreign Policy and World Order.”
A Salzburg Seminar fellow, Oliver was a U.S. Information Agency and Department of State lecturer on American foreign and defense policy at several European nations.
He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Florida State University and his doctorate from American University.
Article by Sue Moncure
Photo by Kathy Flickinger
March 29, 2002
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