This is the second updated English edition of the German "Lexikon der Vereinten Nationen". The book provides in addition to concise and comprehensive information on the UN system, insight into recent UN developments and reform efforts in the face of global opportunities and challenges, such as the Millennium Summit 2000 and World Summit 2005, and the establishment of important new UN organs, the Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, in 2006. 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.

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

Praise for the previous edition:" ... a first-rate job ... Recommended for all libraries."

This thoroughly revised and updated edition is the most comprehensive and detailed reference ever published on United Nations. The book demystifies the complex workings of the world's most important and influential international body.

This is a concise history of the United Nations is presented in two parts. Part One features an original narrative and analysis of historiographical questions, emphasizing the impact of the Cold War on the United Nations, the emergence of a postcolonial Third World bloc, the U.N.'s role in the Middle East and Africa, and the prospects for change and reform in the post-Cold War era. Part Two contains the most significant U.N. resolutions of the last 60 years, including dramatic General Assembly and Security Council debates and memorable addresses.