The Early Security Confederations ― From the Ancient Greeks to the United Colonies of New England

Offers a history the confederal-type unions of the Greeks, the Hansa, the Swiss, the Dutch, and the New England Puritans, and analyzes the potential and limitations of this form of governance in an effort to reveal confederal-type unions of states as the missing link between intergovernmental organizations and full-fledged federal states. Aims to stimulate interest in an obsolescent form of governance whose potential may be greater than previously thought. The author is a veteran of 34 years of service in the United Nations Secretariat. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

FREDERICK K. LISTER is a veteran of 34 years service in the United Nations Secretariat where he helped coordinate the many interlocking activities of the UN and its 15 specialized agencies. In his retirement he has engaged in research on international organizations as a senior research fellow of the Ralph Bunche Institute of the City University of New York. Among his earlier publications isThe European Union, the United Nations and the Revival of Confederal Governance (Greenwood Press, 1996).