Backstabbing for Beginners My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (Audible Audio Edition) Michael Soussan Maxwell Hamilton Hachette Audio Books
Download As PDF : Backstabbing for Beginners My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (Audible Audio Edition) Michael Soussan Maxwell Hamilton Hachette Audio Books
The year is 1997. Michael Soussan, a fresh-faced young graduate, takes up a new job at the UN's Oil-for-Food program, the largest humanitarian operation in the organization's history. His mission is to help Iraqi civilians survive the devastating impact of economic sanctions that were imposed following the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
As a gaffe-prone novice in a world of sensitive taboos, Soussan struggles to negotiate the increasing paranoia of his incomprehensible boss and the inner workings of one of the world's notoriously complex bureaucracies. But as he learns more about the vast sums of money flowing through the program, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems. Soussan becomes aware that Saddam Hussein is extracting illegal kickbacks, a discovery that sets him on a collision course with the organization's leadership.
On March 8, 2004, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Soussan becomes the first insider to call for "an independent investigation" of the UN's dealings with Saddam Hussein. One week later a humiliated Kofi Annan appointed Paul Volcker to lead a team of international investigators, whose findings resulted in hundreds of prosecutions in multiple countries, many of which are still ongoing.
Backstabbing for Beginners is at once a witty tale of one man's political coming of age and a stinging indictment of the hypocrisy that prevailed at the heart of one of the world's most idealistic institutions.
Backstabbing for Beginners My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (Audible Audio Edition) Michael Soussan Maxwell Hamilton Hachette Audio Books
I vaguely remember this going on years ago and therefore learned a lot. I especially enjoyed the young vs old point of view of the world around them. We are so eager and idealistic when we are young and oscillate between realistic and cynical when we have had quite a few years of experience.Product details
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Backstabbing for Beginners My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (Audible Audio Edition) Michael Soussan Maxwell Hamilton Hachette Audio Books Reviews
This is a unique account of the UN and Iraq from 1997 - 2007 to be read slowly, to savor its humor, its many thought provoking points which go far beyond bureaucratic backstabbing to the inadequacy today of the original structure of the UN Security Council. It is an accurate, insightful, and funny - and sad - account of working for the UN Organization which, like any bureaucracy, but more so at the UN, seems to breed petty bureaucrats who are overtaken by desires for small personal "empires" and a few who succumb to temptations for unethical advantage that diminish the intended public purposes of their jobs.
Soussan was a young, new staff member, in an unusual spot, at a rare time in UN history; thus his self noted neophyte experiences were much different than those of most UN staff who work diligently, unnoticed. Most importantly he explains, with self criticism, how he progressed to make his choice to become a whistle-blower on the UN-Iraq Oil-for-Food fiasco, a system that was put into place by the UN Security Council, namely the USA, UK, Russia, Francis and China, all of whom bear the major opprobrium for the failures, but which they have not accepted. One can also understand the sympathy the author feels for his boss who was tempted to take a few plentiful "apples from the tree" that he saw so many others also steal. Most of the thieves were identified by the Vloker Commission only after incriminating information unexpectedly became available as a side effect of the 2003 ouster of the Sadam.
The hilarious nicknames the author's boss used for other players adds to the flavor of this insider's account of human foibles in international government services. The reader will surely laugh at some of his descriptions of UN bureaucrats. Soussan also more importantly points out how the UN Security Council is accountable only to itself and therefore escapes final liability with the cover of sovereign acts. He also says, most significantly, how the UN Secretariat was only "designed to provide conference-support services to its member states, not to manage large and complex multi-billion dollar operations that dwarf its own yearly budget." So, the 1945 Yalta compromises of Stalin and Roosevelt seem no longer serve the purpose of saving "succeeding generations from the scourge of war", which today is threatened mostly from new Members of the UN which have risen from about 60 to 190 Members. The effect of this result was not fully contemplated at the end of WW II, exposing the flaws of the Security Council structure for today's world.
Now, what we need to see next from Soussan is his proposals of how the UN Security Council should be restructured to correct its flaws, for perhaps a few more generations.
I loved this book. I've spent some strange times in some strange places, and it describes depressingly well yet entertainingly exactly how things are. A must read for bored cynics or naive ideologues. If Olaya Street Could Talk -- Saudi Arabia The Heartland of Oil and Islam briefly touches on some of the same phenomena in a Saudi hospital, but this book does it the best and most explicitly of any I've read. I do have questions about the very last section, but I wasn't there, so its possible (I won't say more or I'll spoil it).
Author Michael Soussan was an idealistic college graduate who parlayed a job recommendation from a Brown classmate into getting a bit part in the largest financial and political scandal in the United Nation's history - the U.N.'s "Oil for Food" relief operation set up in 1996 to provide humanitarian aid to Iraqi citizens. He has written a gripping tale in "Backstabbing for Beginners/ My Crash Course in International Diplomacy" detailing what went on behind the headlines as the U.N. undertook the largest humanitarian relief effort in its history.
Soussan found himself in a dysfunctional (and later found to be corrupt) bureaucracy surrounded by spies, corrupt oil tycoons, big power politics, multibillion-dollar business interests, and self-serving diplomats all working to line their pockets and those of their sponsors while dedicated U.N. relief workers tried to meet the humanitarian needs of Iraq's civilians who suffered from dramatic shortages of basic necessities due to the stringent economic sanctions that followed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
Sousson has been blamed by some for revealing the depth and breadth of the whole charade after he left the U.N. and called for an independent investigation. But his revelations and warnings led to knowledge that the UN Security Council operated much like a drug cartel, fighting over access to Iraq's oil and, in so doing, let Saddam Hussein cannibalize his own country in partnership with respectable international corporations and allies of the United States. We have also learned that the Clinton and Bush administrations were intimately aware of the massive fraud and found evidence that French and Russian government officials had directly participated in it, as had officials from all over Europe, South Africa, Australia, India, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, among others.
Sousson admits in "Backstabbing" that he helped his bosses pervert the democratic process in Washington with increasing skill and crossed the line when serious moral issues were at stake. "The line between serving the public interest conserving one's personal interest was an easy one to cross." He sank into a deep depression towards and eventually had to get out.
Sousson provides an insider's peek at how
* Saddam used this operation to erode the U.N. sanctions and siphon money from "Oil for Food" to rebuild his military machine, and break out of his international isolation.
* Saddam held his people hostage.
* Saddam impeded the work of U.N. inspectors the UN.
* Saddam to use his oil wealth to play nations against one another due to the twisted mandate given the UN - enforce sanctions on Iraq on one hand and alleviate them on the other,
* UN observers were thwarted in making sure relief goods were not diverted.
* The program became known as the "oil for nothing" program with Americans calling it "the oil for palaces program."
* Saddam succeeded in dividing the international community for years until he finally succeeded in shattering its unity. The "Oil for Food Program allowed the member states of the Security Council to systemically violate their own laws and participate in the fraud.
* Inept U.N. General Secretary, Kofi Annan, was (and how inept most U.N. officials are). He had presided over a most corrupt enterprise without once moving a finger to set it right before was too late. And the political forces that the secretary-general had enraged by calling the invasion of Iraq illegal were not about to let him off the hook. The entire international community have been involved in the fleecing of a rack. Booker learned how systemically the member states of the Security Council participated in the fraud by violating their own laws.
* Poorly run the U.N. is. The U.N.'s was unable to enforce the minimum standards of accountability on its members, staff, and agencies. "Expecting accountability from UN system was akin to expecting a blind dog to catch a flying Frisbee. Having the UN in charge guarantees a high level of inefficiency."
Sousson also shares with us the four rules of survival in the U.N.
Rule one - the truth is not a matter of fact; it is a product of consensus.
Rule two - never get stuck with the buck. The safest decision for bureaucrats to make was often no decision at all.
Rule number three - the assistant of your enemy is your friend. Divide and rule. The deputy would be given responsibility for management, though not the authority to manage. Decisions would remain firmly controlled by commands Chief of Staff. The core nature of the UN's management culture was that it ensures that people with responsibility had no authority; and vice versa, it protected the people with authority from having to take responsibility.
Rule number four - even the paranoid have enemies. This was a world of out-of-control, spineless cowards who were out to undermine the authority. Paper flow paranoia is a disease that is proper to large bureaucracies and is especially rampant the United Nations - every detail of paper communication is designed with the intent of harming.
"Backstabbing" was an eye-opener for me. I have remained neutral on the U.N. and its overall effectiveness in geopolitics with some good and some bad. I am now in the camp that funding for the U.N. must be reduced. It is a corrupt bureaucracy with multiple vested interests that are out of control. Yes, it can remain a symbolic place for debate but no longer can it be trusted to execute as a unified force for good in the world. Michael Sousson has done us a great favor with "Backstabbing." And I urge all Americans and others around the world to pick this book up and learn about the dark side of the U.N. It is now a danger to world peace.
Would be funnier if it wasn't true. This is a must read for all who pin their hopes on the UN and a highly recommended read for everyone else. It has it all international politics, US politics, and most powerful of all office politics. Amazing story of real folks, most of whom start out with heroic naivete. Told with the great storytelling skills of someone who could hold court at any happy hour in DC complete with voices in a variety of dialects. Probably more entertaining than it should be since the story is of such overwhelming corruption. Please read & be ready to laugh & then go hmmmmm....
I vaguely remember this going on years ago and therefore learned a lot. I especially enjoyed the young vs old point of view of the world around them. We are so eager and idealistic when we are young and oscillate between realistic and cynical when we have had quite a few years of experience.
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