[Books](/books) ![Media Name: delusionsof.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/books/delusionsof.jpg?itok=8OxeczRX) Join the Conversation [\#CatoBooks](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoBooks) # Delusions of Grandeur: The United Nations and Global Intervention August 1997 • Published By Cato Institute By [Ted Galen Carpenter](https://www.cato.org/people/ted-galen-carpenter) Join the Conversation [\#CatoBooks](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoBooks) ##### About the Book This book, edited by Carpenter, includes 18 essays, all of which were presented at an October 1996 Cato Institute conference. The contributors assess the UN’s performance on a wide range of issues, offering both cautious hope for the organization’s potential as a modest diplomatic forum and a cautionary tale to those who contemplate entrusting the organization with an overly ambitious political, economic, and security agenda. ##### About the Editor [Ted Galen Carpenter](http://www.cato.org/people/ted-galen-carpenter/) is senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. Dr. Carpenter served as Cato’s director of foreign policy studies from 1986 to 1995 and as vice president for defense and foreign policy studies from 1995 to 2011. He is the author of eight and the editor of 10 books on international affairs, including [*America’s Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan*](Smart Power: Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy for America, and ).