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Book Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development   Rio de Janeiro  3 14 June 1992   3 Vols

Download or read book Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development Rio de Janeiro 3 14 June 1992 3 Vols written by United Nations. Conference on Environment and Development and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development  Rio de Janeiro  3 14 June 1992

Download or read book Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development Rio de Janeiro 3 14 June 1992 written by Conference on Environment and Development (1992, Rio de Janeiro) and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

Download or read book Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development written by Conference on Environment and Development and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

Download or read book The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development written by Jorge E. Viñuales and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2015-02-05 with total page 831 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The international community has long grappled with the issue of safeguarding the environment and encouraging sustainable development, often with little result. The 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development was an emphatic attempt to address this issue, setting down 27 key principles for the international community to follow. These principles define the rights of people to sustainable development, and the responsibilities of states to safeguard the common environment. The Rio Declaration established that long term economic progress required a connection to environmental protection. It was designed as an authoritative and comprehensive statement of the principles of sustainable development law, an instrument to take stock of the past international and domestic practice, a guide for the design of new multilateral environmental regimes, and as a reference for litigation. This commentary provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the principles of the Declaration, written by over thirty inter-disciplinary contributors, including both leading practitioners and academics. Each principle is analysed in light of its origins and rationale. The book investigates each principle's travaux préparatoires setting out the main points of controversy and the position of different countries or groups. It analyses the scope and dimensions of each principle, providing an in-depth understanding of its legal effects, including whether it can be relied before a domestic or international court. It also assesses the impact of the principles on subsequent soft law and treaty development, as well as domestic and international jurisprudence. The authors demonstrate the ways in which the principles interact with each other, and finally provide a detailed analysis of the shortcomings and future potential of each principle. This book will be of vital importance to practitioners, scholars, and students of international environomental law and sustainable development.

Book International Organizations and the Law of the Sea 1992

Download or read book International Organizations and the Law of the Sea 1992 written by Netherlands Institute for the Law of the and published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. This book was released on 2023-08-28 with total page 908 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text provides a collection of documents related to ocean affairs and the law of the sea. It is issued each year by organizations, organs and bodies of the United Nations system.

Book Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

Download or read book Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development written by and published by United Nations Publications. This book was released on 1993 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Perspectives on International Law

Download or read book Perspectives on International Law written by Nandasiri Jasentuliyana and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-10-09 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spirit of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations and the United Nations Decade of International Law, the contributors to Perspectives on International Law honour with this legal treatise a devoted friend of the United Nations and international law, Judge Manfred Lachs - a noted judge, diplomat, humanist and, above all, teacher. The work includes a variety of perspectives on international law relating to what were Judge Lachs' four main areas of interest: the theory and practice of international law, the United Nations, the World Court, and space law. The book meets the need for a reference work covering selected subject areas and providing different perspectives on some of the key issues of current concern. Many eminent experts in various fields related to international law, including Judges of the International Court of Justice, diplomats, and professors of law - most of whom knew Judge Lachs personally - have contributed. Each chapter has been prepared specifically for the book. The contributors represent all political, legal and cultural regions of the world and provide a range of backgrounds and viewpoints, offering a variety of new ideas for strengthening international law, based on their assessment of the lessons of the past.

Book The Many Lives of Transnational Law

Download or read book The Many Lives of Transnational Law written by Peer Zumbansen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-02 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sixty years after Jessup's Transnational Law Lectures, this collection traces the field's development and significance to the present day.

Book International Organizations and the Law of the Sea

Download or read book International Organizations and the Law of the Sea written by Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea and published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. This book was released on 1994-03-01 with total page 914 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on the success of the International Journal of Estuarine & Coastal Law & Marine Policy Reports , The International Journal of Marine & Coastal Law addresses all aspects of marine (maritime) & coastal law. Its breadth of coverage extends to all of the legal issues arising from Ocean & Coastal Management, Marine & Coastal Conservation, Maritime Boundary Delimitation, High Seas, EEZ & Coastal Fisheries Management, Control of Marine & Coastal Pollution, Offshore Energy & Resource Exploitation, Sea Bed Mining, International Aspects of Shipping, Estuarine & Coastal Zone Resource Management, & Naval & Military Uses of the Oceans. An International Editorial Board supplies a distinctive feature: a vigorous current developments section which provides notes & commentary on international treaties & case law, national statute law, national court decisions, & other aspects of state practice; includes the relevant original documentation where appropriate; & monitors developments in relevant international organizations at a global & regional level. The format also includes in-depth articles, each preceded by an abstract; a book review section; & a current bibliography. An index & tables of cases, statutes, agreements, conventions, & treaties also enhance the accessibility of information.

Book The New Entrants Problem in International Fisheries Law

Download or read book The New Entrants Problem in International Fisheries Law written by Andrew Serdy and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-02-19 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are international fisheries heading away from open access to a global commons towards a regime of property rights? The distributional implications of denying access to newcomers and re-entrants that used the resource in the past are fraught. Should the winners in this process compensate the losers and, if so, how? Regional fisheries management organisations, in whose gift participatory rights increasingly lie, are perceptibly shifting their attention to this approach, which has hitherto been little analysed; this book provides a review of the practice of these bodies and the States that are their members. The recently favoured response of governments, combating 'IUU' - illegal, unregulated and unreported - fishing, is shown to rest on a flawed concept, and the solution might lie less in law than in legal policy: compulsory dispute settlement to moderate their claims and an expansion of the possibilities of trading of quotas to make solving the global overcapacity issue easier.

Book Swords Into Plowshares

Download or read book Swords Into Plowshares written by Roy S.K. Lee and published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. This book was released on 2006 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brings together contributions analyzing some pressing issues in the world, and suggests ways and methods to manage these problems. This book covers topics such as the decision-making in the UN Security Council; the position of the United States vis-a-vis the United Nations; human rights and economic and social development; and others.

Book Blockchain Applications for Smart Contract Technologies

Download or read book Blockchain Applications for Smart Contract Technologies written by Derbali, Abdelkader Mohamed Sghaier and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2024-04-09 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blockchain technology has garnered much attention in recent years from both academic and business spheres. At its core, this technology enables the implementation of smart contracts, automated software applications that execute agreements on a secure and distributed blockchain ledger. This ledger, known for its transparency, facilitates trustless transactions, eliminating the need for centralized authority. Smart contracts, stored on the blockchain, automate processes such as goods sales, contract execution, and currency exchange, making them accessible to all users. Blockchain Applications for Smart Contract Technologies aims to present an exhaustive compilation of academic and industrial endeavors that advocate for the integration of blockchain and smart contracts in various sectors. Beyond offering a comprehensive understanding of blockchain and smart-contract fundamentals, the book seeks to spotlight specific research themes within these domains. With dedicated sections focused on applications in healthcare, finance, e-government, the Internet of Things (IoT), energy, identity, telecommunications, Metaverse, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and notary services, the book becomes a valuable guiding resource for scholars and professionals alike. This book caters to scholars, researchers, and industry professionals that want to apply blockchain and smart-contract technologies in their fields.

Book Forest Resources and Sustainable Development

Download or read book Forest Resources and Sustainable Development written by Kailash Chandra Bebarta and published by Concept Publishing Company. This book was released on 2004 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Book Presents A Detailed Account Of Global Forest Resources And Principles Of Sustainable Development. It Will Be Useful For Researchers, Students, Professionals And Policy Makers.

Book Annual Review of United Nations Affairs 2009 2010 VOLUME III

Download or read book Annual Review of United Nations Affairs 2009 2010 VOLUME III written by Joachim Muller and published by . This book was released on 2011-04-15 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: a. The set generally Since the publication of its first edition in 1950, the Annual Review of United Nations Affairs has stood as the authoritative resource for scholars, students, and practitioners researching the latest developments of that august body. From the insightful introduction, prepared each year by a distinguished expert on UN affairs, to the full-text presentation of reports and resolutions and the helpful subject index, ARUNA provides a practical tour of each year's U.N.actions and debates. The expert selection of documents by Joachim Muller and Karl Sauvant and the topic-based organization of those documents make any researcher's task much easier than the vast searching, sorting, and pruning required by the U.N.'s website. The series' topic-based organization of the materials and subject index lend invaluable guidance to all researchers. ARUNA presents comprehensive documentation of the work of the UN on an annual basis, starting in September of each yearwith the beginning of the regular sessions of the General Assembly. Coverage of the UN's key organs is provided, including the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. In addition, selected reports of intergovernmental bodies and expert groups are included. Solely official UN documentation is used. ARUNA occupies a special place in the publications on the work of the UN, as it allows readers toobtain an overview of the principal developments in its key organs. This makes it an important reference source for policy-makers and academic researchers. b. The 2009-2010 volumes This year's edition continues to focus on the world financial crisis and the reaction of the United Nations and the international financial system to that crisis. The Overview to this year's edition, written by Joachim Muller and Karl Sauvant, examines the changing role of the United Nations and explores waysin which the management of the financial crisis has impacted that role. The Introduction to this year's edition also examines the effects of this crisis; this Introduction is drawn from the "Report of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System," as well as a slightly edited version of a Preface to that report written by Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz. The Introduction discusses the findings ofthe Commission and proposes the creation of a new institution, a Global Economic Coordination Council, which would be supported by an International Panel of Experts with a geographically diverse membership that would represent the interests of emerging and developing countries as well as those of developed countries. Dr. Joseph E. Stiglitz, who served as Chairman of the Commission and wrote the Preface to the Commission's Report, holds joint professorships at Columbia University's EconomicsDepartment and its Business School. He is also Co-founder and Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue. From 1997 to 2000 he was the World Bank's Senior Vice President for Development Economics and Chief Economist. From 1995 to 1997 he served as Chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers and as a member of President Clinton's cabinet. From 1993 to 1995 he was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers. He was previously a professor of economics at Stanford, Princeton, Yale,and All Souls College. Dr. Stiglitz is also a leading scholar of the economics of the public sector and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 in addition to the American Economic Association's biennial John Bates Clark Award in 1979. His recent publications include Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy (2010), Making Globalization Work (2006), Fair Trade for All (2005), and Globalization and its Discontents (2002). The 2009-2010 volumes of ARUNA therefore also devote considerable attention to the financial crisis as well as other international crises. Among the documents in the 2009-2010 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 HighCommissioner for Refugees, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees 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, the Middle East, Sudan, and West Africa. c. Volume III (this volume) This volume contains the following: Chapter 1: General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session (continued) 3. Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly at Its Sixty-fourth Session (continued) (Resolutions 64/104 through 64/199) d. Guest Authors of previous years' editions Each annual edition of ARUNA is introduced by a Guest Author, a distinguished expert on UN affairs, who highlights the outstanding themes of the year in review. Together with an overview provided by the editors, this introduction is intended to facilitate access to the material and, above all, to make it easer for users of ARUNA to "see the forest for the trees." This year's ARUNA includes excerpts from the "Report of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System" (21 Sept. 2009), and from a slightly edited version of a Preface to that report written by Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz. However, the roster of distinguished experts who have contributed this introduction in the past is also worthy of mention: Jose Antonio Ocampo: ARUNA 2008/2009 edition Professor Jose Antonio Ocampo is Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue. He is also Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs and Fellow of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. Professor Ocampo previously held the positions of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Minister of Finance, Agriculture, and Planning of Colombia. In 2009, he was a member of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System. Professor Ocampo is also the author of numerous books and articles on macroeconomics policy and theory, economic development, international trade, and economic history. His recent publications include Stability with Growth: Macroeconomics, Liberalization and Development, with Joseph E. Stiglitz, Shari Spiegel, Ricardo Ffrench-Davis and Deepak Nayyar (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006). Jeffrey D. Sachs: ARUNA 2007/2008 edition Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs is Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the UN on the Millennium Development Goals. Professor Sachs's introduction to ARUNA 2007/2008 was titled "Towards a New Global Protocol on Climate Change," in which he arguedthat solving the climate change problem will demand four steps: scientific consensus, public awareness, the development of alternative technologies, and a global framework for action. He dealt, in particular, with the science underpinning the negotiations for a new global protocol on climate change, as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Professor Sachs argued that climate change crises can only be solved through the goals, leadership, and treaty mechanisms of the UN. Edward C. Luck: ARUNA 2006/2007 edition Professor Edward C. Luck is UN Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect and Vice President and Director of Studies at the International Peace Academy. From 1984 to 1994, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the UN Association of the USA (UNA-USA). Professor Luck's introduction to ARUNA 2006/2007 covered "The responsible sovereign and the responsibility to protect," in which he addressed the scope and content of what was agreed at the 2005 World Summit, the implications of the responsibility to protect (RtoP) for notions of state sovereignty, and some of the conceptual, architectural, and policy challenges then facing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's commitment to "operationalizing" the responsibility to protect and translating it "from words to deeds." Louise Frechette: ARUNA 2005/2006 edition Ms Louise Frechette is Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ontario. Until March 2006, shewas the first Deputy Secretary-General of the UN; before that, she was Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN. Ms Frechette's introduction to ARUNA 2005/2006 covered "United Nations reform: an unfinished story." As the first Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Ms Frechette was uniquely positioned to undertake a personal assessment of what has changed and what has not changed in the past decade at the UN and why. She examined if the UN is functioning better than it was 15 years ago, why reform is so difficult to achieve and what the future holds for the institutions. Rubens Ricupero: ARUNA 2004/2005 edition Mr Rubens Ricupero is Dean of the Fundacno Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP), Sao Paulo and was formerly Secretary-General of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Minister of Finance of Brazil. Mr Ricupero's introduction to ARUNA 2004/2005 covered "The difficulty of building consensus in an age of extremes" and examined the mysteries of the negotiating process leading to the outcome of the 2005 World Summit. Rather than a "Grand Bargain" of a comprehensive UN reform in the areas of development, security and human rights, it is argued that the Summit ended more on a note of lamentation and regret over a missed opportunity. Mr Ricupero concludes that contrary to the daring proclamation at the outset by the Secretary-General, the conditions indispensable to succeed were not in place. Indeed, it was hard to imagine that an ambitious and balanced reform package for the UN could have had any real chance of succeeding.

Book Environment  Growth and Development

Download or read book Environment Growth and Development written by Peter Bartelmus and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-09-26 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2004. Environment, Growth and Development offers a unique analysis of sustainable economic growth and development and the implications for policy and planning at the local, national and global scale.

Book Annual Review of United Nations Affairs 2008 2009

Download or read book Annual Review of United Nations Affairs 2008 2009 written by Joachim Müller and published by . This book was released on 2010-04-15 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the publication of its first edition in 1950, the Annual Review of United Nations Affairs has stood as the authoritative resource for scholars, students, and practitioners researching the latest developments of that august body. From the insightful introduction, prepared each year by a distinguished expert on UN affairs, to the full-text presentation of reports and resolutions and the helpful subject index, ARUNA provides a practical tour of each year's U.N. actions and debates. Theexpert selection of documents by Joachim Muller and Karl Sauvant and the topic-based organization of those documents make any researcher's task much easier than the vast searching, sorting, and pruning required by the U.N.'s website. The series' topic-based organization of the materials and subject index lend invaluable guidance to all researchers. ARUNA presents a comprehensive documentation of the work of the UN on an annual basis, starting in September of each year with the beginning of the regular sessions of the General Assembly. Coverage of the UN's key organs is provided, including the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. In addition, selected reports of intergovernmental bodies and expert groups are included. Solely official UN documentation is used. ARUNA occupies a special place in the publications on the work of the UN - it allows readers to obtain an overview ofthe principal developments in its key organs. This makes it an important reference source for policy-makers and academic researchers. The highlight of this year's edition is the introductory essay written by the highly esteemed Jose Antonio Ocampo, who is Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, Director of the Program in Economic and Political Development at the School of International and Public Affairs, and Fellow of the Committee on Global Thought, ColumbiaUniversity. Professor Ocampo previously held the positions of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Minister of Finance of Colombia. In 2009, he was a member of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System. Professor Ocampo is also the author of numerousbooks and articles on macroeconomics policy and theory, economic development, international trade, and economic history. His recent publications include Stability with Growth: Macroeconomics, Liberalization and Development, with Joseph E. Stiglitz, Shari Spiegel, Ricardo Ffrench-Davis and Deepak Nayyar (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006). 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 HumanRights, 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. Each annual edition of ARUNA is introduced by a Guest Author, a distinguished expert on UN affairs, who highlights the outstanding themes of the year in review. Together with an overview provided by the editors, this introduction is intended to facilitate access to the material and, above all, to make it easer for users of ARUNA to "see the forest for the trees". As has been mentioned above, ARUNA is fortunate this year to have Jose Antonio Ocampo as the author of its introduction, but the roster of distinguished experts who have contributed this introduction in the past is also worthy of mention: Jeffrey D. Sachs: ARUNA 2007/2008 edition Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs is Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the UN on the Millennium Development Goals. Professor Sachs's introduction to ARUNA 2007/2008 was titled "Towards a New Global Protocol on Climate Change", in which he argued that solving the climate change problem will demand four steps: scientific consensus, public awareness, the development of alternative technologies, and a global framework for action. He dealt, in particular, with the science underpinning the negotiations for a new global protocol on climate change, as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Professor Sachs argued that climate change crises can only be solved through the goals, leadership, and treaty mechanisms of the UN. Edward C. Luck: ARUNA 2006/2007 edition Professor Edward C. Luck is UN Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect and Vice President and Director of Studies at the International Peace Academy. From 1984 to 1994, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the UN Association of the USA (UNA-USA). Professor Luck's introduction to ARUNA 2006/2007 covered "The responsible sovereign and the responsibility to protect", in which he addressed the scope and content of what was agreed at the 2005 World Summit, the implications of the responsibility to protect (RtoP) for notions of state sovereignty, and some of the conceptual, architectural, and policy challenges then facing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's commitment to "operationalizing" the responsibility to protect and translating it "from words to deeds". Louise Frechette: ARUNA 2005/2006 edition Ms Louise Frechette is Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ontario. Until March 2006, she was the first Deputy Secretary-General of the UN; before that, she was Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN. Ms Frechette's introduction to ARUNA 2005/2006 covered "United Nations reform: an unfinished story". As the first Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Ms Frechette was uniquely positioned to undertake a personal assessment of what has changed and what has not changed in the past decade at the UN and why. She examined if the UN is functioning better than it was 15 years ago, why reform is so difficult to achieve and what the future holds for the institutions. Rubens Ricupero: ARUNA 2004/2005 edition Mr Rubens Ricupero is Dean of the Fundacno Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP), Sao Paulo and was formerly Secretary-General of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Minister of Finance of Brazil. Mr Ricupero's introduction to ARUNA 2004/2005 covered "The difficulty of building consensus in an age of extremes" and examined the mysteries of the negotiating process leading to the outcome of the 2005 World Summit. Rather than a "Grand Bargain" of a comprehensive UN reformin the areas of development, security and human rights, it is argued that the Summit ended more on a note of lamentation and regret over a missed opportunity. Mr Ricupero concludes that contrary to the daring proclamation at the outset by the Secretary-General, the conditions indispensable to succeed were not in place. Indeed, it was hard to imagine that an ambitious and balanced reform package for the UN could have had any real chance of succeeding.