Oral history interview with Thomas G. Weiss, 2006.

Biographical Note

Professor of Political Science, Co-Director of UN Intellectual History Project, and Research Director of International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty

Scope and Contents

Thomas G. Weiss was born on February 26, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan. Education: St. Scholastica; University of Detroit Jesuit High School, 1964; BA Economics Harvard University,; MPA Princeton University; French Studies Institute de Hautes Etudes Internationales (Geneva),; PhD Political Science, Princeton University Career: Special Assistant to Vice President of Lincoln-Mercury; Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) Youth Informatory at Riker's Island; International Labor Organization (ILO) International Institute of Labor Studies, 1970; World Law Fund; World Food Conference publication with Director of Research at United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Research Manager International Peace Academy (IPA); Research Professorship and Deputy Director at the Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University; Co-director of Humanitarianism and War Project at Brown University; Professor and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute, The Graduate Center at the City University of New York, August; Founder and co-author of research volume at International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), 2001; editor of Global Governance (2001); and Co-author of International Displacement: Conceptualization and Consequences (2006) Jesuit influence on education and work ethic; influence of Vietnam War and conscientious objector (CO) status on educational and career choices; transition to political science and international relations at Princeton; UNCTAD intellectual and professional culture; World Food Conference Publication; UNCTAD relationship to New International Economic Order (NIEO); career transition to peacekeeping, conflict resolution, and humanitarian intervention at IPA and the Ralph Bunche Institute; collapse of the Soviet Union; relationship between non-state, state actors, and UN; discussion of UN research publications; UN policy transition from peacekeeping to military intervention in 1990s; military intervention in Africa; ICISS, 2005 UN World Summit, and adoption of "responsibility to protect" in humanitarian intervention; limitations of human security policy; significance of UN global conferences; gender; global governance; UN Intellectual History Project and institutional memory; UN achievements; United States relationship to UN; United States hegemony; Kofi Anan's legacy; Oil-for-Food scandal; Security Council reform

Subjects

• Annan, Kofi A.--(Kofi Atta)
• Conflict management.
• Conscientious objectors.
• Emmerij, Louis, interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Human rights.
• International Peace Academy.
• International economic relations.
• International organization.
• Interviews.
• Neutrality.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Peace.
• United Nations--Officials and employees--Interviews.
• United Nations. General Assembly.
• United Nations. Oil-for-Food Program.
• United Nations. Security Council.
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
• Vietnam War, 1961-1975.
• Weiss, Thomas G. (Thomas George), 1946---Interviews.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 2006