Dear ACUNS members, and others who we hope will decide to become members, rather unexpectedly I am back to serve you as executive director after Dr. Patricia Goff made the commendable decision to leave the office in order to look after important family concerns.

I first would like to take this opportunity to thank Patti for her excellent work; and second, to re-introduce myself and let you know what I have been doing in the intervening years since I completed my term as ED in 2008. I spent much of my time conducting field research, looking into the problems, progress and/or prospects for different approaches to transitional justice as elements of war-to-peace transition and post conflict peace building. My work took me to Serbia (living in or visiting Serb and Roma enclaves in Kosovo), Cambodia, Uganda and Afghanistan, as well as to conferences in Germany, Croatia and India. It was a fascinating, sometimes quite difficult, and very rewarding period of intense micro-level research with the opportunity to present my ideas in a number of venues. On a broader level, I also contributed a piece to the ISA Compendium Project, and The International Studies Encyclopedia, on "International Organization and Ending Conflicts".

I now face the task of balancing my executive director responsibilities for ACUNS with my personal goal of putting my research notes and papers together as a coherent, policy-relevant monograph. Of course I have the benefit of 5 years of experience as ED, a solid and innovative set of projects and programs handed on to me by Patti, an excellent administrative assistant (Brenda Burns), a very supportive Chair (Christer Jonsson) and an active and engaged Board of Directors.

I look forward to working with (and for) ACUNS for the next three years, and to hosting ACUNS members - current and new - to the 2011 Annual Meeting that will take place 2-4 June here in Waterloo, Ontario at the home institution of the secretariat Wilfrid Laurier University and in cooperation with the world-class Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). Details of the program will follow in later e-updates and newsletters and on our website www.acuns.org as they are firmed up.

Thanks to all those members who have been in touch with me already. I am looking forward to reconnecting with everyone I knew from 2003-8, and to making many new connections with scholars and practitioners, younger and "more experienced",  from around the world.

Dr. Alistair D. Edgar
Executive Director, ACUNS
E-mail: aedgar@wlu.ca