Since its founding, ACUNS has showcased cutting-edge scholarly work on the UN system, multilateralism, and international organizations, connecting academic research with UN practitioners. Our publications have included the ACUNS Series on the UN System, a Quarterly Newsletter, podcasts, and book reviews. As of 2021, the quarterly newsletter, podcasts, and book reviews have been discontinued (temporarily or permanently). Related information and archives for all past publications are available on their dedicated pages linked below.
Book Series on the UN System
In 2018, ACUNS partnered with Edward Elgar Publishing to design a book series as a forum for the very latest in academic research on topics that fall into the broad area of the United Nations and the UN system.
The “ACUNS Series on the UN System” is an interdisciplinary book series, and welcomed submissions for research monographs and edited books from scholars working in the fields of international politics, international organization, international law, human rights, justice, international development, human geography, security studies and global governance, amongst others. All books were subject to a rigorous process of peer review prior to publication. The Series Editors welcomed submissions from both established scholars and early career researchers.
Four books have been published in the series. For further details and to purchase the books, please visit Edward Elgar Publishing’s dedicated ACUNS Series site.
Published Books
Inclusivity in Mediation and Peacebuilding:
UN, Neighboring States, and Global Powers
Daisaku Higashi | Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan | Published: 2022
This book illuminates the key characteristics of inclusivity in mediation during armed conflicts and post-conflict peacebuilding. Based on first-hand experience and extensive research in conflict zones, Daisaku Higashi illustrates the importance of mediators taking flexible approaches to inclusivity in arbitration during armed conflicts, highlighting the crucial balance between the need to select conflicting parties to make an agreement feasible and the need to include a multiplicity of parties to make the peace sustainable. Higashi also emphasizes the importance of inclusive processes in the phase of post-conflict peacebuilding.
For further details and to purchase, please click here.
International Justice in the United Nations General Assembly
Michael Ramsden | Chinese University of Hong Kong | Published: 2021
International Justice in the United Nations General Assembly probes the role that the UN’s plenary body has played in developing international criminal law and addressing country-specific impunity gaps. It covers the General Assembly’s norm-making capabilities, its judicial and investigatory functions, and the legal effect of its recommendations. With talk of a ‘new Cold War’ and growing levels of plenary activism in the face of Security Council deadlock, this book will make for timely and essential reading for all in the field of international criminal justice.
For further details and to purchase, please click here.
UN Reform: 75 Years of Challenge and Change
Stephen Browne | City University of New York | Published: 2019
Over three-quarters of a century, the UN has been impacted by major changes in the balance of powers among its member states, and is today threatened by nationalistic instincts. In this book, former UN insider Stephen Browne documents the textured history and numerous faces of the UN, from peacekeeper to humanitarian and development actor to stalwart defender of global human rights.
For further details and to purchase, please click here.
Administrative Justice in the UN:
Procedural Protections, Gaps, and Proposals for Reform
Niamh Kinchin | University of Wollongong, Australia | Published: 2018
The UN’s capacity as an administrative decision-maker that affects the rights of individuals is a largely overlooked aspect of its role in international affairs. This book explores the potential for a model of administrative justice that might act as a benchmark to which global decision-makers could develop procedural standards. Applied to the UN’s internal justice, refugee status determination, NGO participation and the Security Council, the global administrative justice model is used to appraise the existing procedural protections within UN administrative decision-making.
For further details and to purchase, please click here.
Series Editors
Alistair Edgar
Associate Dean | School of International Policy & Governance | Balsillie School of International Affairs
Lorraine Elliott
Professor Emerita | Department of International Relations, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University | Past-Chair of the ACUNS Board of Directors
Charlotte Ku
Professor and Associate Dean for Global Programs and Graduate Studies | Texas A&M University School of Law | ACUNS Director and Past President
Quarterly Newsletter
From 1987 to 2020, ACUNS published a Quarterly Newsletter which provided updates about ACUNS and its programming as well as reflections on various contemporary issues and academic debates by ACUNS members. The first ACUNS Newsletter was published on 17 October 1987 and the last Newsletter was published on 28 July 2020. As part of its transformation into an independent nonprofit organization in 2021, ACUNS now issues a Monthly Bulletin to everyone in our network and has discontinued this publication. Access to all past Newsletters will be provided on this page shortly.
Podcasts
From 2009 to 2019, ACUNS recorded podcasts with prominent scholars and practitioners from around the world on various topics. The podcasts were grouped into three channels: (1) current issues, (2) book talks, and (3) professional development. In total, 122 podcasts were recorded over the decade. Although ACUNS is currently not recording new podcasts, we will provide access to all of the past issues, announcing their availability via our Monthly Bulletin when the upload of the podcasts has been completed.
Book Reviews
From October 2012 to August 2020, ACUNS published independent, online, peer-reviewed book reviews on works examining the United Nations system, international organizations, and related topics. A total of 109 books were reviewed over those years. At present, ACUNS is no longer conducting independent book reviews. Access to all past reviews will be provided on this page shortly. There will be an announcement when the upload of the past Book Reviews has been completed via the Monthly Bulletin.
Last Updated: Wednesday, 24 September 2025