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Welcome to ACUNS
We are a professional association of educational and research institutions, individual scholars, teachers, and practitioners active in the work and study of multilateral relations, global governance, and international cooperation. Through our activities, we promote teaching, research, and dialogue on a range of issues related to the United Nations system.
News & Events
Suppressing Maritime Piracy: Exploring the Options in International Law
On October 16 - 17, 2009
ACUNS, the American Society of International Law and One Earth Future Foundation are hosting a workshop that will assess the various options that exist in international law to prosecute pirates, including the International Criminal Court, the Law of the Sea Tribunal, a special tribunal, and national prosecutions. >more
Workshop Program
News Release
Submissions for the Friends of ACUNS 5th Annual Book Award are now being accepted.
V I D E O
2009 ACUNS Annual Meeting Trinidad & Tobago
>>The Global Governance of Security
and Crime Prevention
>>The International Criminal Court and
Small States
>>The International Financial Crisis
>>2009 John Holmes Lecture
(The International Civil Service
Revisited by Thomas G. Weiss)
2010 Dissertation Award Program
Call for Applications
Research & Commentary
Sustainable Governance of the Caribbean Sea
ACUNS partners with One Earth Future and two research centres at The University of the West Indies, the Institute for International Relations and the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies to explore the prospects for sustainable, integrated, coordinated regional governance of the Caribbean Sea by studying the linkages that exist horizontally, across and within national borders, linking sectoral stakeholders, and vertically, amalgamating the views of relevant state and non-state actors, including sectoral and civil society stakeholders. >more
News Release
Books By Members
DANCING IN SHADOWS: Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge and the United Nations in
Cambodia
By Benny Widyono
International Protection of Human Rights: A Textbook
Edited by Catarina Krause and Martin Scheinin
The Evolution of Sustainable Development in International Law: Inception, Meaning and Status
By Nico Schrijver
Belgium in the UN Security Council: Reflections on the 2007-2008 Membership
Edited by Jan Wouters,
Edith Drieskens & Sven
Biscop
Concepts and Practice of Humanitarian Medicine
Edited by S. William A. Gunn & Michele
Masellis
CAN THE UNITED NATIONS BE TAUGHT?
Colloquium on Innovative Approaches to Teaching the UN System
Member Spotlight
The Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University operates within the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences and works in close cooperation with the Department of Law within the same Faculty.
The main functions of the Institute pertain to research and education in the field of human rights. The Institute has a long experience in arranging human rights courses of high standard. [less...]
In addition to various shorter, intensive courses arranged annually, a Master's Degree Programme in International Human Rights Law was introduced in the fall of 2006. This is a two-year full-time programme (120 credits) leading to a Master of Social Sciences degree awarded by the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences. Next deadline for applications to the Master’s programme for 2010-2012 will be in the beginning of 2010.
Since 2002 the Institute is coordinating a Finnish Graduate School in Human Rights Research. Those accredited as a doctoral candidate within the national Graduate School in Human Rights Research and other persons who have been admitted to pursue postgraduate studies at Åbo Akademi University, either majoring in international law or in some other subject closely linked to human rights, are offered by the Institute for Human Rights the possibility to study up to 60 ECTS credits within a postgraduate programme in human rights provided jointly by the Institute and the Department of Law. These 60 ECTS credits constitute a part of the doctoral degree. The Graduate School in Human Rights Research is an integrated part of the Nordic School in Human Rights Research, which the Institute is coordinating as well. The Nordic School is open for post-graduate students and doctoral candidates from the Nordic and Baltic countries or with a link to universities there.
The Institute's main areas of research are the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, economic, social and cultural rights, non-discrimination, fundamental standards of humanity, participation and democracy, human rights in development and human rights in domestic legal systems. The library of the Institute holds a large collection of human rights literature and the library reference database (FINDOC) is available on the Internet, free of charge, for search purposes. The Institute is also engaged in publishing activities. The new textbook "International Protection of Human Rights: A Textbook", eds. Catarina Krause and Martin Scheinin, Institute for Human Rights, Turku/Åbo, Finland, 2009 is forthcoming during summer 2009. For information about previous publications, click here.
Wilfrid Laurier offers an interdisciplinary, one year master's program in international public policy (MIPP). The program provides graduate training for individuals looking to pursue or enhance careers in international or global policy development, implementation and evaluation. A multidisciplinary and integrated curriculum is combined with a team-teaching approach to achieve the program's objectives. [less...]
The program offers four fields:
- International Environmental Policy
- International Economic Relations
- Human Security
- Global Governance
The program draws on faculty members from different disciplines including economics, political science,and geography and environmental studies to deliver the interdisciplinary curriculum.
This design ensures students gain a comprehensive understanding of the various perspectives and interests that shape international public policy. Guest lectures and workshops from policy experts and practitioners supplement the student’s formal training, providing valuable insights on current issues and on the practice of international public policy.
The Responsibility to Protect – known as R2P – refers to the obligation of states toward their populations and toward all people at risk of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This emerging international norm sets forth that:
- The primary responsibility to protect populations from human-made catastrophe lies with the state itself and the international community should assist states in upholding this responsibility
- The international community also has the responsibility to protect and should take action when a state is unable or unwilling to uphold its responsibility.
- The international community’s responsibility should be exercised through diplomatic, legal and other peaceful measures and, as a last resort, military force.
These principles were endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document paragraphs 138 and 139.
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, along with associated centres throughout the world, serves as a catalyst for moving from principle to practice. The Centre conducts, coordinates, and publishes research on refining and applying the R2P norm. It serves as an information clearing house and resource for governments, international institutions, and non-governmental organizations leading the fight against mass atrocities.
The Global Centre is housed at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York.
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