Peacemonger - Hardcover

Goulding, Marrack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 071955540X ISBN 13: 9780719555404

Publisher: John Murray, 2002

Marrack Goulding joined the United Nations as the Under-Secretary-General in charge of peacekeeping operations in 1986, at a time of intense optimism. With the thawing of the Cold War it seemed that at last the UN could concentrate on the real issues affecting the world: preventing and resolving conflict and fighting poverty, disease, injustice and crime. At first there were spectacular successes - the withdrawl of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the Iran-Iraq ceasefire, the liberation of Kuwait, and peace settlements in Namibia, Angola, El Salvador, Cambodia and Mozambique. The UN, it seemed, could do no wrong. But by 1993 the bubble had burst, and the UN's credibility had been seriously undermined by its failure to halt the bloodshed in Angola, Bosnia and Somalia. Meanwhile, spending on peacekeeping had risen more than tenfold, from 260 million to 2.7 billion dollars.

In 1993 an exhausted Goulding was transferred by Secretary Boutros-Gali to head the UN's political department. In this account of seven years of peacekeeping, Marrack Goulding gives the reader an insider's view of what went wrong and also of what the UN achieved during this critical period, of what it was like to be on the front line of US peacekeeping activities, and also to work behind the scenes with two very different Secretaries-General, Javier Perez de Cuellar and Boutros Boutros-Gali. In this thought-provoking account of an organization in crisis, the author pulls no punches, but instead readily admits that many of the mistakes were my mistakes - I was as intoxicated as everyone else.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

"[An] excellent account of the brief golden age of peacekeeping." -- Martin Woollacott, Guardian "Goulding kept meticulous diaries throughout his time at the UN and he has used them well to provide what is perhaps the most detailed and incisive insider's account of how that bizarre but necessary organization works... Peacemonger is an invaluable account of how the end of the Cold War eradicated all the comfortable nostrums on which 40 years of diplomacy had been based. His book will be essential for anyone seeking to understand how that long-suffering icon, the international community, actually works -- or does not." -- William Shawcross, Times of London "�An� excellent account of the brief golden age of peacekeeping." -- Martin Woollacott, Guardian "A frank and perceptive account of what it was like to be at the heart of the UN at a time when its role in international relations was expanding at an astonishing pace... The core of this book is its account of the [UN's] individual peacekeeping operations. Never before has a UN official surveyed this aspect of the UN's work in such detail or with such style and distinction. Goulding is intellectually rigorous, always asking what the purposes of particular missions are, whether they can be realized, and what lessons might be drawn from them." -- Adam Roberts, Times Literary Supplement Goulding kept meticulous diaries throughout his time at the UN and he has used them well to provide what is perhaps the most detailed and incisive insider's account of how that bizarre but necessary organization works... Peacemonger is an invaluable account of how the end of the Cold War eradicated all the comfortable nostrums on which 40 years of diplomacy had been based. His book will be essential for anyone seeking to understand how that long-suffering icon, the international community, actually works -- or does not.--William Shawcross "Times of London " [An] excellent account of the brief golden age of peacekeeping.--Martin Woollacott "Guardian " A frank and perceptive account of what it was like to be at the heart of the UN at a time when its role in international relations was expanding at an astonishing pace... The core of this book is its account of the [UN's] individual peacekeeping operations. Never before has a UN official surveyed this aspect of the UN's work in such detail or with such style and distinction. Goulding is intellectually rigorous, always asking what the purposes of particular missions are, whether they can be realized, and what lessons might be drawn from them.--Adam Roberts "Times Literary Supplement " "A frank and perceptive account of what it was like to be at the heart of the UN at a time when its role in international relations was expanding at an astonishing pace... The core of this book is its account of the [UN's] individual peacekeeping operations. Never before has a UN official surveyed this aspect of the UN's work in such detail or with such style and distinction. Goulding is intellectually rigorous, always asking what the purposes of particular missions are, whether they can be realized, and what lessons might be drawn from them." -- Adam Roberts, Times Literary Supplement "Goulding kept meticulous diaries throughout his time at the UN and he has used them well to provide what is perhaps the most detailed and incisive insider's account of how that bizarre but necessary organization works... Peacemonger is an invaluable account of how the end of the Cold War eradicated all the comfortable nostrums on which 40 years of diplomacy had been based. His book will be essential for anyone seeking to understand how that long-suffering icon, the international community, actually works -- or does not." -- William Shawcross, Times of London "[An] excellent account of the brief golden age of peacekeeping." -- Martin Woollacott, Guardian

Book Description:

Marrack Goulding joined the UN as the Under-Secretary-General in charge of peacekeeping operations in 1986, at a time of intense optimism. This account of seven years of peacekeeping gives the reader an insider's view of what went wrong and also of what the UN achieved during this critical period.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.