This work is designed to provide a framework for understanding contemporary United Nations (UN) human rights machinery.

Author Biography

Julie Mertus is Assistant Professor in the School of International Service, American University, Washington DC, USA. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of ethnic conflict, human rights, refugee and humanitarian law and policy, gender and conflict, transnational civil society and post-conflict transition. She is author or editor of over two dozen academic articles and six books. She was formerly a fellow in human rights at Harvard Law School and a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace.