From an insider's perspective, Juergen Dedring offers a systematic overview of the work of the United Nations Security Council following the end of the Cold War. He explores the nature of the Security Council's decision-making process and its transformation as a result of the basic learning taking place among its fifteen members and other participants on the one hand, and the challenges presented by a constantly changing world on the other. He examines the increasing transparency of the Council's political process and the increased participation of nonmember states and organizations. Discussions of numerous agenda items and thematic issues not usually covered by the media are included, along with case studies of situations in the occupied Arab territories, Tajikistan, and Sierra Leone. Dedring argues that the Security Council, whose purpose is to maintain international peace and security, has not only continued to perform its charter-based function, but has also experienced a phase of resurgence and renewal that has been effective in changing the Council's role in the center of the global system.