From September 2011 to September 2012,Ambassador Nasser Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar presided over the 66th sessionof the "world's parliament" - the United Nations General Assembly. It was acritical moment in international affairs as the UN responded to a range ofglobal challenges, from the world financial crisis to the Arab Spring. In AYear at the Helm of the General Assembly, Al-Nasser presents a high-levellook inside the organization, assessing its strengths and weaknesses, itssuccesses and struggles. He recounts dramatic moments, such as replacing theLibyan delegation, and a tireless schedule of overseas travel, including jointvisits with the Secretary-General to Libya and Somalia. His work takes him frommajor international summits such as the Conference on Sustainable Developmentin Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Rio+20) to the European Parliament, which he was thefirst General Assembly President to address, to academic institutions fromOxford to Moscow to Morocco. Al-Nasserstructures the book as he did his 66th session, around four mainthemes or "pillars:" mediation, UN reform, natural disaster prevention andresponse, and sustainable development.He offers a wide range of recommendations to intergovernmentalinstitutions, to states, to the public sector, and to individuals. Al-Nasser was determined to leave behinda General Assembly that the people of the world could look up to and depend on.This volume is a testament to all that he accomplished in that regard, and aunique resource for those interested in knowing more about the world's mostrepresentative body at a crucial moment in history.
