For over 25 years, The Annual Review of United Nations Affairs (ARUNA) has been the print source for researchers needing a comprehensive document collection that highlights the work of the United Nations' six principal organs each year. Recognized as the only print and bound collection for these documents, ARUNA is an essential reference for academic researchers and policy-makers. Coverage spans important resolutions and decisions, focusing on the significant documents and collaborative work of the United Nations. Selected reports of intergovernmental bodies and expert groups are also included and documents are grouped together by subject matter for easy reference. Each year, a new guest author provides an introduction to the set, analyzing the major themes covered throughout that year. ARUNA provides an in-depth view to an organization that today has more the 63,000 employees located in nearly 175 countries and is responsible for implementing the decisions of the governing bodies.
2008-2009 Volumes (published March 2010)
The highlight of the 2008-2009 edition is the introductory essay written by the highly esteemed Jose Antonio Ocampo. Professor Ocampo, relying on his expertise as a policy economist and his own considerable experience working on economic issues at the United Nations, has written an incisive introductory essay focusing on the United Nations and the global economic crisis. Professor Ocampo's essay examines the history of the economic policy recommendations of UN institutions and concludes that they have often been more far-sighted and accurate than those of the Bretton Woods Institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He applies this analysis in particular to the recent global financial crisis, and shows how the Monterrey Consensus of 2002, which once again made the UN a forum for global economic issues, gave serious consideration to the concerns of developing countries and set many goals that might have helped to stave off the global financial crisis if they had been more actively pursued. Professor Ocampo also examines the UN's role in the wake of the global financial meltdown, particularly with regard to the Doha follow-up Conference and the Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, convened by the General Assembly and led by Joseph Stiglitz. In spite of some resistance to these initiatives from the United States and other developed countries, Professor Ocampo advocates in this essay for a more influential role for the UN's institutions in global financial reform, especially in light of their superior track record in anticipating economic problems resulting from "the inherent tendency of financial markets to experience boom-bust cycles."
The 2008-2009 volumes of ARUNA therefore also devote considerable attention to the financial crisis as well as other international crises. Among the documents in the 2008-2009 volumes are the complete General Assembly resolutions, as well as the Report and Resolutions of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Annual Reports of note include reports of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme and UN Population Fund, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugee in the Near East, and the World Food Programme. Mr. Muller and Dr. Sauvant have also selected progress reports on key peacekeeping, peace-building, and political missions, including those for Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, the Middle East, Somalia, Sudan, and West Africa.
ARUNA 1996-Present (set containing all volumes from 1996 to present)
ARUNA 1996-Present is the most current set in this comprehensive series that chronicles the United Nations involvement in addressing a rapidly changing international community. This set includes the ushering in of a new millennium, one with unforeseen successes and challenges. The content captures the United Nations' changing role in a post 9/11 society as it re-evaluated its priorities to reflect and reaffirm its mission of peace. Since its official inception in 1945, people have relied on the United Nations to safeguard what is fundamental for them, sustainable development to peace and security. The ARUNA 1996-Present set compiles the important resolutions and documents of the most important multilateral organization ever established. An authoritative reference, this set documents the United Nations as it responds to current issues among and between Nation-States.