ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS, FROM A TO Z
(ABC des Nations Unies, Groupe de Boeck, Bruxelles, Édition Bruylant,
2012, ISBN 978-2-8027-3552-6, 342 pp.)
Ștefan – Iaroslav DANIEL
Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Vasile Goldiș Western University of Arad, Arad, Romania
Tel: 0040 – 257 – 250599
E-mail: danieliari@yahoo.com
In 2011, the Department of Public Information of the United Nations published the updated edition of a book published regularly since 1947, which plays the role of a key introduction in the UN universe. Later, in 2012, the book was also translated and published in French.
In the fundamental bibliography of the domain, ABC des Nations Unies is a “sine qua non” presence, whilst also being a key element in the important book collection regarding international relations; it showcases the UN’s structure, its organizational mechanisms, its activities and main preoccupations. With a preface written by Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the organization, the book can be read in several ways, depending on the interest and professional level of each individual. An official document on the one hand, a manual on the other hand, the text has its temporal limits (which justifies its regular editing and reprinting) and limits its terms of its perspective (the self-critical vision is almost non-existent).
The emphasis falls on the organization’s contribution to international peace and security in the political, technological, socio-economic development, human rights, humanitarian actions, disarmament policy, international law and decolonization domains.