Overview
Worlds Apart tells of a well-meaning foreign policy establishment often deaf to the voices of everyday people. Its focus is the Bosnian War, but its implications extend to any situation that prompts the consideration of military intervention on humanitarian grounds. Ambassador Swanee Hunt served in Vienna during the Bosnian War and was intimately involved in American policy toward the Balkans. During her tenure as ambassador and after, she made scores of trips throughout Bosnia and the rest of the former Yugoslavia, attempting to understand the costly delays in foreign military intervention. To that end, she had hundreds of conversations with a wide range of politicians, refugees, journalists, farmers, clergy, aid workers, diplomats, soldiers, and others. In Worlds Apart, Hunt’s eighty vignettes alternate between the people living out the war and “the internationals” deciding whether or how to intervene. From these stories, most of which she witnessed firsthand, she draws six lessons applicable to current conflicts throughout the world. These lessons cannot be learned from afar, Hunt says, with insiders and outsiders working apart. Only by bridging those worlds can we build a stronger paradigm of inclusive international security.
Full Product Details
Author: Swanee Hunt
Publisher: Duke University Press
Imprint: Duke University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.20cm
, Height: 2.10cm
, Length: 23.80cm
Weight: 0.658kg
ISBN: 9780822349754
ISBN 10: 0822349752
Pages: 277
Publication Date: 02 September 2011
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
The book is narrated through a set of vignettes that tell of Hunt's wartime encounters with Bosnian people and politicians on the inside of the conflict, and policymakers and powerful international actors on the outside. These compelling accounts alternate between inside and outside in an effort to present opposing experiences of the conflict. In doing so, she offers a rich picture of the complexities and peculiarities of Bosnia in both war and peace, and the book's scope is vast... general readers, students and activists will find much of value in a book that is more accessible than most academic works on the conflict. - Jelena Obradovic-Wochnik, Times Higher Education The slaughter in Bosnia in the 1990s still haunts policymakers everywhere. With Worlds Apart, Swanee Hunt brings us all into the room alongside the decision-makers at the center of an international crisis, and simultaneously draws important lessons from those events for the resolution of future conflicts. It's a compelling read for anyone motivated to learn those larger lessons from a tragedy that tested the will of the free world. - Senator John Kerry, former Chair, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Good research. Brilliant analysis. Important book. These lessons about global security are especially urgent in light of today's headlines. - Dan Rather, internationally acclaimed veteran newscaster Ambassador Hunt has given us a bold, firsthand, outspoken book. It comes as close as we've gotten to answering the wherefores of Bosnia's stark violence. Her juxtaposition of inside realities and outside misconceptions is convincing support for the broader lessons she offers us. - General John Galvin, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, former Dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University Among the compelling stories in the book is the author's harrowing journey from Sarajevo to Lyons, France, where she briefed President Clinton before he addressed the international press at the G-7 meeting... Worlds Apart is a moving political and personal story, unique in its telling and in its voice. It is rich with narrative details and also with analysis that makes it a valuable text in the literature of the Balkan War. - Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Christian Science Monito
Swanee Hunt has written an intelligent, insightful, and highly readable account of the Bosnia conflict and America's response to it. She brings to her analysis the passion appropriate to a firsthand account, together with a critical and sophisticated appreciation for the larger political context. Those interested in lessons important to future policy will not be disappointed. The book is an important addition to the literature on Bosnia, and on the continuing debate over appropriate circumstances for military intervention for humanitarian purposes. --Ambassador Robert Gallucci, former Dean, Georgetown School of Foreign Service
Part apology, part cri de coer, [Hunt's] book culminates in a catalog of specific lessons applicable to much more than the Bosnian experience. she advises potential intervenors to 'test truisms' and to locate allies and partners within the local community rather than rely on outsiders who reside in the Pentagon or in sanctuaries protected by sandbags and concrete barriers. - Foreign Affairs [T]he book is an absorbing read... [G]eneral readers, students and activists will find much of value in a book that is more accessible than most academic works on the conflict. Academics and regional experts may not find much new material, but there are enough details and conversations with senior politicians to warrant reading it purely for the insight it offers into diplomatic and political life of the 1990s... - Jelena Obradovic-Wochnik, Times Higher Education Supplement Ambassador Hunt has long championed a greater and more substantive role for women in political and civil life and this book is rich with illustrations why that cause is both worthy today and should have been employed much earlier in the Balkan unraveling that led to the wars over Bosnia and Kosovo... Whether the reader may agree with Swanee Hunt's opinions on Bosnia or not, one can come away from this book with some useful lessons to apply to areas of conflict generally. - William P. Kiehl, American Diplomacy Worlds Apart reminds the reader how difficult and yet imperative is individual and collective action in the face of moral collapse... It took over a decade for Swanee Hunt to distill and to write the experiences from Bosnia. That history and its lessons remain eerily relevant today. - Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Christian Science Monitor Ambassador Hunt has given us a bold, firsthand, outspoken book. It comes as close as we've gotten to answering the wherefores of Bosnia's stark violence. Her juxtaposition of inside realities and outside misconceptions is convincing support for the broader lessons she offers us. -General John Galvin, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, and former Dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University Good research. Brilliant analysis. Important book. These lessons about global security are especially urgent in light of today's headlines. -Dan Rather, internationally acclaimed veteran newscaster Swanee Hunt has written an intelligent, insightful, and highly readable account of the Bosnia conflict and America's response to it. She brings to her analysis the passion appropriate to a firsthand account, together with a critical and sophisticated appreciation for the larger political context. Those interested in lessons important to future policy will not be disappointed. The book is an important addition to the literature on Bosnia, and on the continuing debate over appropriate circumstances for military intervention for humanitarian purposes. -Ambassador Robert Gallucci, former Dean, Georgetown School of Foreign Service The slaughter in Bosnia in the 1990s still haunts policymakers everywhere. With Worlds Apart, Swanee Hunt brings us all into the room alongside the decision makers at the center of an international crisis, and she simultaneously draws important lessons from those events for the resolution of future conflicts. It's a compelling read for anyone motivated to learn those larger lessons from a tragedy that tested the will of the free world. -Senator John Kerry, Chair, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Worlds Apart reminds the reader how difficult and yet imperative is individual and collective action in the face of moral collapse... It took over a decade for Swanee Hunt to distill and to write the experiences from Bosnia. That history and its lessons remain eerily relevant today. -- Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Christian Science Monitor [T]he book is an absorbing read... [G]eneral readers, students and activists will find much of value in a book that is more accessible than most academic works on the conflict. Academics and regional experts may not find much new material, but there are enough details and conversations with senior politicians to warrant reading it purely for the insight it offers into diplomatic and political life of the 1990s... -- Jelena Obradovic-Wochnik, Times Higher Education Supplement Ambassador Hunt has long championed a greater and more substantive role for women in political and civil life and this book is rich with illustrations why that cause is both worthy today and should have been employed much earlier in the Balkan unraveling that led to the wars over Bosnia and Kosovo... Whether the reader may agree with Swanee Hunt's opinions on Bosnia or not, one can come away from this book with some useful lessons to apply to areas of conflict generally. -- William P. Kiehl, American Diplomacy Part apology, part cri de coer, [Hunt's] book culminates in a catalog of specific lessons applicable to much more than the Bosnian experience. she advises potential intervenors to 'test truisms' and to locate allies and partners within the local community rather than rely on outsiders who reside in the Pentagon or in sanctuaries protected by sandbags and concrete barriers. -- Foreign Affairs
The book is narrated through a set of vignettes that tell of Hunt's wartime encounters with Bosnian people and politicians on the inside of the conflict, and policymakers and powerful international actors on the outside. These compelling accounts alternate between inside and outside in an effort to present opposing experiences of the conflict. In doing so, she offers a rich picture of the complexities and peculiarities of Bosnia in both war and peace, and the book's scope is vast... general readers, students and activists will find much of value in a book that is more accessible than most academic works on the conflict. - Jelena Obradovic-Wochnik, Times Higher Education The slaughter in Bosnia in the 1990s still haunts policymakers everywhere. With Worlds Apart, Swanee Hunt brings us all into the room alongside the decision-makers at the center of an international crisis, and simultaneously draws important lessons from those events for the resolution of future conflicts. It's a compelling read for anyone motivated to learn those larger lessons from a tragedy that tested the will of the free world. - Senator John Kerry, former Chair, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Good research. Brilliant analysis. Important book. These lessons about global security are especially urgent in light of today's headlines. - Dan Rather, internationally acclaimed veteran newscaster Ambassador Hunt has given us a bold, firsthand, outspoken book. It comes as close as we've gotten to answering the wherefores of Bosnia's stark violence. Her juxtaposition of inside realities and outside misconceptions is convincing support for the broader lessons she offers us. - General John Galvin, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, former Dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University Among the compelling stories in the book is the author's harrowing journey from Sarajevo to Lyons, France, where she briefed President Clinton before he addressed the international press at the G-7 meeting... Worlds Apart is a moving political and personal story, unique in its telling and in its voice. It is rich with narrative details and also with analysis that makes it a valuable text in the literature of the Balkan War. - Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Christian Science Monito This is a remarkable collection of insights from someone who admittedly pushed herself onto the Balkan stage...Hunt displays a highly practical understanding of the countries and peoples she visited. She knows first-hand their capacity for evil, but sees nothing unique, historical or inevitable about their actions. On the contrary, she returns time and again to the same theme: that the image of the Balkans as a place of ancient enmity and irreconcilable differences is a myth cooked up by the populists who had most to gain from the conflict... What is appealing about Hunt's book is how she uses her view of the Balkans to promote a positive agenda both in Bosnia and elsewhere. This agenda starts with an admission of the flaws in the Dayton peace settlement. But it soon moves beyond that to embrace more gender awareness in conflict management, domestic politics and international affairs. This is more than just political correctness. Hunt makes a clear case that the more active inclusion of women would have made for a more durable settlement. She also has some keen observations on how a similar inclusiveness could help avoid repeating past mistakes. Erik Jones, Survival, Oct 2012
Author Information
Swanee Hunt chairs the Washington-based Institute for Inclusive Security. During her tenure as US ambassador to Austria (1993–97), she hosted negotiations and symposia focused on securing the peace in the neighboring Balkan states. She is a member of the US Council on Foreign Relations, the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the president of Hunt Alternatives Fund. She has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR, and she has written for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the International Herald Tribune, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and the Huffington Post, among other publications. She is the author of Half-Life of a Zealot and This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace, both also published by Duke University Press.
