World Bulletin
UNA-USA and Korea University Sign 5-Year Book Contract
UNA staffers and members of Korea University at a signing ceremony for UNA’s book, “A Global Agenda.” Denise De Marco/UNA-USA.
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March 25 – The United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) is pleased to announce a five-year agreement between UNA-USA and Korea University to jointly publish UNA-USA’s annual book, “A Global Agenda: Issues Before the UN.”
Korea University, based in Seoul, is providing a grant that will enable UNA-USA to produce and edit “A Global Agenda” in time for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in 2010.
The signing ceremony took place last week in the New York offices of UNA-USA, with A. Edward Elmendorf acting on behalf of UNA-USA and President Ki-Su Lee representing Korea University. Professor Suh-Yong Chung of Korea University and staffers of UNA-USA were also present.
“It is a great honor to have the support of Korea University to not only publish ‘A Global Agenda,’ but to also work with such a strong academic institution that has such a worldwide reach,” Elmendorf said at the ceremony. “We see this arrangement as a way for both UNA-USA and Korea University to help convey the good work of the UN and to advance substantive awareness of the issues facing the United Nations in today’s world.”
Korea University will contribute essays to the book and serve on the advisory board. A third party, the World Federation of United Nations Associations, will also participate by serving on the book’s advisory board and by contributing essays.
“A Global Agenda” is UNA-USA’s hallmark annual publication, focusing on the major topics before the UN: international security, peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, development, human rights, international justice, climate change and UN reform. The 2009 edition featured an introduction by Sir Brian Urquhart and essays by top journalists, academics and policy experts as well as an exclusive interview on Afghanistan with Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, UNA’s co-chairman and a former permanent representative to the UN.
The book’s advisory board this year will include Barbara Crossette, a former UN bureau chief for The New York Times; Stephen Schlesinger, who wrote “Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations,” which PBS is turning into a documentary; Dr. Courtney Smith, associate dean of the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University; and Steven A. Dimoff, vice president of advocacy and policy at UNA-USA.
Ed Elmendorf was elected president of UNA-USA in March 2010. He most recently served as president of United Nations Association of the National Capital Area, the largest local division of UNA-USA. Before that, he worked for 30 years at the World Bank; since retiring, he has consulted for the bank as well as for WHO, UNDP and the US Institute of Medicine. He graduated magna cum laude from Yale University, has a master’s in economics from George Washington University and a master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins University.
Ki-Su Lee has been president of Korea University since 2008. He is a law professor at the university, a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and president of the Korea Law Professors Association. He has served as president of many other organizations, including the Korean Society of German Studies and the Korean Association of Arbitration Studies. He has a bachelor of law degree from Korea University, a master’s of law from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. from Tűbingen University in Germany. His coursework for the Ph.D. was also conducted at Korea University.
Korea University, a nonsectarian private research institution, is ranked second in South Korea by THE-QS World University Rankings. It was founded in 1905 by Lee Yong-ik and is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the country, with 15 colleges and divisions and 18 graduate programs, including a renowned law school, business school, college of engineering and division of international studies. Enrollment is approximately 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
UNA-USA is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to building understanding of and support for the ideals and work of the UN among the American people through its education, policy and advocacy programs. It is affiliated with the World Federation of United Nations Associations, which began in 1946 as a public movement for the UN.
For more information, contact Dulcie Leimbach at UNA-USA (212) 907-1390, dleimbach@unausa.org; or Professor Suh-Yong Chung at +82-2-3290-2424, mahlerchung@korea.ac.kr.
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