This innovative book makes a significant contribution to the study of a special and hitherto neglected group of actors in the maintenance of international peace and security: Special Representatives of the UN Secretary-General (SRSGs). It does this by making use of the first comprehensive database on SRSG activity, by employing a framework for individual and international leadership and by bringing together contributions from academia and practice. The basic structure of the book mirrors a series of international workshops dedicated to one specific arena of SRSG leadership, namely leadership vis-a-vis the Security Council, the parties to a given conflict situation and the diverse components of a peace mission in the field.

The increase in SRSG activity is connected to the overall decrease in intrastate-conflict that databases such as the Human Security Report detail since the 1990s. SRSGs thus emerge as a highly relevant tool of the international community in addressing conflict. As a group of actors they show some commonalities but also differences to the more commonly known "Blue Helmets" which are usually associated with the UN's work for international peace and security.