The end of the Cold War brought the United Nations to renewed prominence. Increasingly, the U.S. and its allies turned to the UN to make, keep, or enforce the peace where virulent new nationalisms and ethnic hatreds exploded. Increasingly, the UN operations have failed. Today, reporters and politicians are quick to blame "the UN" for the continuing horrors in Iraq, Rwanda, East Timor and elsewhere. Few look beyond the headlines to the primary responsibility of the United States for what are all too often called "UN failures". Calling the Shots challenges this conventional view and documents how U.S. domination threatens the once-democratic character of the world body. Filled with behind-the-scenes stories of UN intrigue and diplomatic carrots and sticks, the book gives the reader a deeper understanding of the problems facing today's United Nations. It examines U.S.-UN relations at the beginning of the 21st century and suggests possible ways forward for the world body, providing hope that the UN can fulfill the pledge made in its Charter in 1945, to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war".