In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and in its wake there was a wave of essays by political scientists around the world. The overall theme of the essays was that the fall of the Soviet Union would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity that the world had never known before. However, the events following the collapse of the Soviet Union were exactly the opposite. There was a growing need to restore political order in countries around the world, promote human rights and pacify conflict zones. The chaotic times following the Cold War revealed something missing in the mainstream realist and liberal theory that had defined the international relations debate. What was missing was historical and cultural context. Liberal and realist theory only used generalizations about states at the heart of their arguments. These broad generalizations no longer adequately described the new world, and new questions began to emerge about how states transition from peace to conflict. These questions would then transform into a more essential question; How does change happen? Martha Finnemore, in her essay, Dynamics of International Norms and Political Change, argues that change is actually a gradual process and is based on the development of norms. In his article he describes how standards have a three-stage life cycle. The first phase is known as stage emergency. This is where a normative entrepreneur uses organizational platforms to promote new norms. The next stage is the norm cascade where the norm becomes institutionalized by organizations and states. This phase is essentially unpredictable and difficult to detect. The final phase is the one in which the norm is accepted by the international community and is no longer questioned (Finnmore894). My... middle of paper......ganization. 52.4 (1998): pp. 887-917. Network. March 26, 2013.Finnemore, Martha. “Building norms for humanitarian intervention.” the culture of national security. Page No. PrintGowan, Richard. 2011. “Floating Down the River of History: Ban Ki---moon and Peacekeeping, 2007-2011.” Global Governance 17(4): 399-416.Traub, James. The best intentions. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, Girux, 2006. Print. Annan, Kofi. The United Nations. Office of the Secretary General. Into wider freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all. . New York, NY: , 2005. Print.Dunne, Tim, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith. Theories of international relations. 2nd. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010. 178-194. Press.United Nations. The United Nations Mission in Ivory Coast. Background. Peace and Security Section of the Department of Public Information, 2004. Web.