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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"
Report Released
Report Released
This past October, ACUNS partnered with the American Society of International Law and the One Earth Future Foundation to convene a workshop on the legal aspects of maritime piracy. Experts in international criminal law, the Law of the Sea, international governance, and naval security debated the prospects of prosecuting the crime of piracy before the various national and international courts.
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 for Sustainable Governance of the Caribbean Sea project.
ACUNS 23rd Annual Meeting
June 3-5, 2010, Vienna
New Security Challenges
Call for Papers
Registration Form
ACUNS - ASIL Summer Workshop
Civil - Military Relations in Peace Missions
July 19 - 28, 2010 • Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), Switzerland
2010 Dissertation Award Program
Call for Applications
Submissions for the Friends of ACUNS 5th Annual Book Award are now being accepted.
Featured Podcast
Global Environmental Governance
Dr. Maria Ivanova
Assistant Professor of Government and Environmental Policy at The College of William and Mary, Director of the Global Environmental Governance (GEG) Project at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center
Listen Now (October 2009) Resources
Research & Commentary
The United Nations Democracy Fund
Update - No. 5, 2010
How to really help Haiti
Haiti has barely survived our previous attempts at assistance through developing low-wage urban jobs -- let's take this opportunity to do it right
- By Yasmine Shamsie, associate professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University, co-editor of Haiti: Hope for a Fragile State and ACUNS Member
Haiti, Now and Next
Features
Podcast (September 2009)
by Dr. Yasmine Shamsie
Listen Now
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.
The University of Alberta's vision since its inception more than 100 years ago has been to be one of the world's great universities for the public good. In the words of its first president, Henry Marshall Tory, the U of A is an institution directed toward the "uplifting of the whole people" in Alberta, across Canada, and around the world. The vision endures in the university's current vision document, Dare to Discover, and its academic plan, Dare to Deliver. [less...]
Under the leadership of its 12th president, Indira Samarasekera, the U of A and its community have created a contoured roadmap for the future - a roadmap that guides this comprehensive, research-intensive university as one of the world's most respected public universities. At its foundation lie talented people - students, faculty, and staff - who with their creativity, ingenuity, and drive will join in advancing human knowledge and pursuing scientific discovery.
The vision of the U of A is as follows:
To inspire the human spirit through outstanding achievements in learning, discovery, and citizenship in a creative community, building one of the world's great universities for the public good.
The mission of the U of A is as follows:
Within a vibrant and supportive learning environment, the University of Alberta discovers, disseminates, and applies new knowledge through teaching and learning, research and creative activity, community involvement, and partnerships. The University of Alberta gives a national and international voice to innovation in the province of Alberta, taking a lead role in placing Canada at the global forefront.
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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