Overview

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.

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9780719555404

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Sir Marrack Goulding was United Nations Under-Secretary-General in charge of Peacekeeping Operations from 1986 to 1993, a period during which the political shape of the world changed enormously and in which the UN played a defining (although not always successful) role in shaping that change. In this weighty book Goulding describes his time there, recalling how an era that began at the end of the Cold War with a sense of intense optimism turned sour as the UN bungled missions in Bosnia, Somalia and Angola, leaving a trail of bloodshed and bitterness behind. Goulding's unique vantage point allows him to unveil the personalities of the key players in conflicts we often regard as statistical rather than personal, from Afghanistan and Iran to Bosnia and Somalia, and put these disputes into context as human problems caused by the direct decisions and actions of individuals, rather than by the numinous influence of 'circumstance' or 'politics'. Rather like the late Alan Clark, Goulding's calm, authoritative style oozes charm and urbanity; whether describing spotting a Hume's Wheatear in Iraq or being lied to by Milosevic in Belgrade, his touch is light but firm, intellectually satisfying, honest and at times almost confessional. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the new world order and the UN's place in it. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Sir Marrack Goulding, after several diplomatic postings mainly to the Middle East, was seconded to the Cabinet Office where one of his projects was the CPRS review of Britain's Overseas Representation. Since leaving the UN, he has been Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford.

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