The Chronicle Library Shelf

For over two decades, the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) has provided an informative and absorbing overview of matters before the General Assembly in its annual publication, A Global Agenda: Issues Before the General Assembly of the United Nations. Improvements introduced for the 2003-2004 edition on the fifty-eighth Assembly session make this requisite reference tool more accessible.

"The founders foresaw a UN that would serve as a bridge between principle and power, so that one need not have to choose between the two. Never has the revival of this vision been more needed, or more in question", writes Edward C. Luck in the new Essay section, one of several additions to the new and improved Global Agenda.

Eight thematic chapters incorporate commentaries by esteemed international relations scholars and practitioners.

In chapter one, United States Ambassador Jonathan Dean comments on nuclear proliferation and arms control, recommending that "a wise first of cooperation in a reinvigorated Security Council" would be to press for "universal agreement by all Non-Proliferation Treaty parties to this IAEA verification pledge". In chapter eight, "Managing, Financing and Reforming the UN", Anthony Mango provides commentary about the "cumbersome and time-consuming" process of "considering and approving the UN programme budget".

The Essay section, along with the expert Commentaries, provide for an in-depth look at some of the more controversial topics surrounding the UN system. "While the messages conveyed in these Commentaries and Essays do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UNA-USA", Association President William H. Luers writes in his introduction, "we do hope they will spark lively discussions in your classrooms and workplaces, as well as among family and friends".

The book covers issues from disarmament, terrorism, peacekeeping, human rights and trade, to the Millennium Development Goals and UN reform. Keeping pace with rapid worldwide developments, it also devotes special attention to topics such as the World Health Organization's response to SARS and state-building in Afghanistan. The up-to-date subject matter is enhanced with timelines, tables, photographs and several appendices, creating a fresh look for the annual publication.