The chronicle library shelf.

A global agenda: Issues Before the 58th General Assembly of the United Nations.

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.

UN Yearbook 2001 A comprehensive account of UN efforts to address global problems

The UN Department of Pubic Information has published the fifty-fifth volume of the Yearbook of the United Nations. This comprehensive and authoritative reference work covers all major activities undertaken by the United Nations system in 2001 to address pressing global problems and strengthen international cooperation.

The 2001 edition is fully indexed and reproduces the texts of and votes on all major resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly, Security Council and Economic and Social Council issued during the year. The 1,530-page volume comprises 52 chapters covering political and security questions, human rights, health, the environment, economic and social questions, legal questions, institutional, administrative and budgetary questions, and intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations,

The Yearbook highlights the UN response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September, including the establishment of the Counter-Terrorism Committee to monitor the implementation of Security Council measures, as well as efforts to elaborate a comprehensive convention on international terrorism. The reference work describes the endeavours of 47,000 military and civilian personnel deployed in 15 UN missions worldwide. It also covers the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and chronicles UN efforts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Israel and Palestine. Afghanistan, Timor-Leste and Kosovo.

The volume includes a demonstration version of the United Nations Yearbook Collection on CD-ROM, which gives users a taste of having direct access to 54 editions of the reference book, from 1946 to 2000. Users receive a form with which to order the complete Yearbook CD-ROM, which was honoured with the "Notable Government Documents" award by the American Library Association.

The Yearbook of the United Nations 2001 is available for purchase from United Nations Publications, Two United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-853, New York, NY 10017, USA; Tel. [phone] or 212-963-8302; Fax. [phone]; E-mail: [e-mail] or [e-mail]; Internet: http://www.un.org/publications.