The current volume is the eighth in a new and dynamic series on “global institutions.” The series strives (and, based on the initial volumes we believe, succeeds) to provide readers with definitive guides to the most visible aspects of what we know as “global governance”. Remarkable as it may seem, there exist relatively few books that offer in-depth treatments of prominent global bodies and processes, much less an entire series of concise and complementary volumes. Those that do exist are either out of date, inaccessible to the non-specialist reader, or seek to develop a specialized understanding of particular aspects of an institution or process rather than offer an overall.
