Eight years after the U.N. Security Council established a Special Commission to "destroy, remove, or render harmless" Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Saddam Hussein declared that UNSCOM will no longer be permitted to conduct its disarmament work. In the face of such overt defiance, the Security Council has been paralyzed by the conflicting national interests of its permanent members. Iraq’s continuing refusal to fulfill its disarmament obligations has thus not only undermined the Security Council’s capacity to enforce its resolutions as international law, but it may also jeopardize the international commitment to the WMD non-proliferation regime. Ambassador Butler will study the implications of these developments, while writing a book based on his recent position as UNSCOM’s executive chairman. The book will present an analysis of specific events from his two-year tenure as the organization’s chief disarmament expert and negotiator. He will specifically draw upon his experiences in guiding all UNSCOM operations, directing negotiations with the government of Iraq, leading discussions with heads of government, foreign and defense ministers, and intelligence chiefs, and advising the Security Council on relevant policy matters. The book will present the disarmament of Iraq as a major test case for the international arms control regime. It will examine the key events leading up to the current crisis with Iraq and detail how the international community sought, or failed, to deal with this particular recalcitrant state. In this context, the book will consider the role of the U.N. in the management of global security system in the century ahead.