WFS - September-October 2001 Futurist

A magazine of forecasts, trends, and ideas about the future.
September-October 2001, Vol. 35, No. 5

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About This Issue
by Cindy Wagner, Managing Editor

An Insider's Guide to UN Reform

It began with a news story: Two of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, met aboard a battleship in August 1941. Before the United States had even become involved in World War II, the two far-sighted leaders knew the world after the war must be very different. The result of their meeting was the Atlantic Charter, an outline for a world that was free of fear and want and in which all people lived in safety.

This inspiring story of "world saving" led a 14-year-old Canadian named Maurice Strong to follow suit. When the United Nations was formed after the war, Strong, then 17, became its youngest employee, having managed to get a clerical job in the security department. Since then, Strong's world-saving ambitions led him to the helm of the UN's two major environmental summits, in 1972 and 1992, and now to the presidency of the council for the UN's University for Peace.

In this issue of THE FUTURIST, Strong gives his insider's perspective on how the United Nations could strengthen its role in the twenty-first century (see "Reforming the United Nations," page 19 of the printed edition). Also, FUTURIST Editor Edward Cornish offers an insightful profile of Maurice Strong. (See "The Global Struggle to Save the Environment," page 26.)

To order the print edition of the September-October 2001 issue of THE FUTURIST ($4.95 plus $3 postage and handling) or to become a member of the World Future Society ($45 per year).