This is a revision of the original 1997 reference work of the same name by the original authors. Focusing principally on UNESCO's initiatives, programs, and projects, it contains new entries, reflecting the organization's evolution over the past 25 years and refreshing the first edition's content. Close to 700 pages (compared to 200 in the previous edition) with an updated introduction, bibliography, and chronology, this second edition both dwarfs and supplants its predecessor. Devoted to fostering scientific, educational, and cultural cooperation, UNESCO, one of the most prominent and controversial of the UN's specialized agencies, is engaged in a plethora of worldwide activities, many of them unknown, which this book highlights. Unfortunately, the organization's politicization, a topic that is intentionally not explicitly addressed here, has blemished if not undermined UNESCO's reputation and has often obscured its good work. [This] book's expansive treatment of the full range of UNESCO's involvement on the world scene makes for an excellent ready reference that may help to rehabilitate its image. Suitable for academic libraries that have the earlier edition and others with international relations collections. Recommended.

Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.