One main activity of the project is the preparation of 17 studies, each focused on well-defined economic or social areas of United Nations activity or on key ideas and norms linked to international peace and security.

Project co-directors are either authors or editors for about one-third of the volumes. The other volumes are being written by one or more professionals carefully selected for their scholarly credentials and intimate knowledge of the topic to be researched. Fifteen of the books are being published as a special series by Indiana University Press and are peer reviewed. A short summary of the initial conclusions of the Project, The Power of UN Ideas: Lessons from the First 60 Years, was issued in 2005 on the occasion of the UN’s sixtieth anniversary and can be downloaded below, and the Oxford Handbook on the United Nations, was published by Oxford University Press in 2007.

For orders outside North America, please click here. Otherwise, click on the book title or cover to purchase from Indiana University Press.

Ahead of the Curve? UN Ideas and Global Challenges
(2001)
Louis Emmerij, Richard Jolly, and Thomas G. Weiss
A Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 2003. For Copies in German, French, and Arabic, click here.

Quantifying the World: UN Ideas and Statistics
(2004)
Michael Ward

Unity and Diversity in Development Ideas: Perspectives from the UN Regional Commissions
(2004)
Yves Berthelot, ed. with Adebayo Adedeji, Leelananda de Silva, Paul Rayment, Gert Rosenthal, and Blandine Destremeau

UN Contributions to Development Thinking and Practice
(2004)
Richard Jolly, Louis Emmerij, Dharam Ghai, and Frédéric Lapeyre
A Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 2005

The UN and Global Political Economy: Trade, Finance, and Development
(2004)
John Toye and Richard Toye

The Power of UN Ideas: Lessons from the First 60 Years
(A Summary of Project Findings, June 2005)
Richard Jolly, Louis Emmerij, and Thomas G. Weiss
To download in pdf format click here. This publication may be freely dowloaded and reproduced. Accreditation would be appreciated. The Spanish translation, El poder de las ideas: Claves para una historia intelectual de las Naciones Unidas, is available through UNESCO ETXEA in Bilbao.

UN Voices: The Struggle for Development and Social Justice
(2005)
Thomas G. Weiss, Tatiana Carayannis, Louis Emmerij, and Richard Jolly

Women, Development, and the UN: A Sixty Year Quest for Equality and Justice
(2005)
Devaki Jain

Human Security and the UN: A Critical History
(2006)
S. Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong-Khong

The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations
(Oxford University Press, 2007)
Thomas G. Weiss and Sam Daws, eds.

Human Rights at the UN: The Political History of Universal Justice
(2007)
Roger Normand and Sarah Zaidi

Preventive Diplomacy at the UN
(2008)
Bertrand G. Ramcharan

The UN and Transnational Corporations: From Code of Conduct to Global Compact
(2008)
Tagi Sagafi-nejad, in collaboration with John Dunning

The UN and Development: From Aid to Cooperation
(2009)
Olav Stokke

UN Ideas That Changed the World
(2009)
Richard Jolly, Louis Emmerij, and Thomas G. Weiss

Global Governance and the UN: An Unfinished Journey
(2010)
Thomas G. Weiss and Ramesh Thakur

Development Without Destruction: The UN and Global Resource Management
(forthcoming 2010)
Nico Schrijver

What's New
PRESS: Global Governance and the UN: An Unfinished Journey and Development Without Destruction: The UN and Global Resource Management

RECENTLY PUBLISHED: UN Ideas That Changed the World; The UN and Development: From Aid to Cooperation; The UN and Transnational Corporations: From Code of Conduct to Global Compact; Preventive Diplomacy at the UN; and The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations (now in paperback)

BRIEFING NOTES: Read our newest notes

SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES: Check the calendar