This English edition of the German "Lexikon der Vereinten Nationen" provides concise and comprehensive information not only about the structure of the UN system, its goals and functions, but about recent developments and reform efforts in the face of global opportunities and challenges. The contributing authors are academic scholars of international law, economics and political sciences; active and former diplomats and UN officials; journalists and members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and offer a variety of interesting perspectives. The entries are provided with Internet addresses for further information and are supplemented in the annex with a trilingual list (English-French-German) of the most important institutions and items of the official terminology and a list of information facilities concerning the UN. Readership: scholars and students of international law, international economics and political sciences, teachers, journalists, diplomats and politicians in the parliaments of the UN member states. "This new encyclopedia on the United Nations is a welcome addition to the works of academic research and political analysis covering the organization, its complex goals in the post-cold war era, and its ever broader role in the new millennium. While taking stock of more than half a century's achievements and setbacks, the encyclopedia also reflects the many ways in which the United Nations touches the lives of people everywhere." from the Preface by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan

The 1996 edition of the Yearbook of the United Nations is the single most comprehensive and authoritative reference book about the work of the United Nations and related international organizations and bodies. Fully indexed and reproducing all major General Assembly, Security Council and Economic and Social Council resolutions, the volume is not only useful for diplomats, government officials and scholars, but also for researchers, writers, journalists, teachers, students and others with a serious interest in international and UN affairs. This volume of the Yearbook details the many activities of the Organization and its organs, programmes and bodies, as they are carried out in all corners of the globe. It gives an account of their endeavours to create better and more peaceful conditions for all mankind and records their efforts to deal with matters of pressing concern in a variety of areas, including peacekeeping and peacemaking, disarmament, human rights, trade and development, control of drug abuse and illicit trafficking, crime prevention, assistance to refugees and other vulnerable populations. Building on the experience of its first 50 years, the United Nations continued in 1996 to confront major global challenges. The observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty can be seen as a benchmark for action to address a plethora of global ills that beset the majority of Earth's nearly 6 billion inhabitants - hunger, inadequate housing, disease, the deterioration of the environment, unemployment. During the year, the United Nations convened two major conferences - the `City Summit' in Istanbul, centering on the two themes of adequate shelter for all, and sustainable human settlement development in an urbanizing world, and the World Food Summit in Rome, whose main goal was food security for all. The Yearbook chronicles these events and many other milestones reached, making it an invaluable tool for anyone seeking in-depth information about the United Nations family. Also available from the UN, Sales No. E.97.I.1 As of volume 51 (1997) the Yearbook of the United Nations will no longer be published by Kluwer Law International. Please contact the United Nations Bookshops in New York or Geneva for future volumes at: UN Bookshop; Room GA-32; United Nations; New York; NY 10017; USA Tel. 1-212-963-7680; Fax 1-212-963-4910 or UN Bookshop; Door 40; Palais des Nations; 1211 Geneva 10; Switzerland Tel. 41-22-917-2606; Fax 41-22-917-0027

The United Nations Documents Index covers documents and publications issued by United Nations offices worldwide. The publication indexes a wide variety of documentation such as major reports and studies, resolutions and decisions, draft resolutions and meeting records, including documents of restricted distribution. The information in this publication is arranged in the following nine sections: documents and publications; official records; sales publications; United Nations maps included in UN documents; United Nations sheet maps; United Nations document series symbols; author index; title index and subject index.

After seven decades of existence has the UN become obsolete? Is it ripe for retirement? As Jussi Hanhimäki proves in the second edition of this Very Short Introduction, the answer is no. In the second decade of the twenty-first century the UN remains an indispensable organization that continues to save lives and improve the world as its founders hoped. Since its original publication in 2008, this 2nd edition includes more recent examples of the UN Security Council in action and peacekeeping efforts while exploring its most recent successes and failures. After a brief history of the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, Hanhimäki examines the UN's successes and failures as a guardian of international peace and security, as a promoter of human rights, as a protector of international law, and as an engineer of socio-economic development. This updated edition highlights what continues to make the UN a complicated organization today, and the ongoing challenges between its ambitions and capabilities. Hanhimäki also provides a clear account of the UN and its various arms and organizations (such as UNESCO and UNICEF), and offers a critical overview of the UN Security Council's involvement in recent crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Libya, and Syria, and how likely it is to meet its overall goals in the future. Regardless of its obstacles, the UN is likely to survive for the foreseeable future. That alone makes trying to understand the UN in all its manifold - magnificent and frustrating - complexity a worthy task. With this much-needed updated introduction to the UN, Jussi Hanhimäki engages the current debate over the organizations effectiveness as he provides a clear understanding of how it was originally conceived, how it has come to its present form, and how it must confront new challenges in a rapidly changing world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.