Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy
Michael Soussan, . . Nation, $25.95 (332pp) ISBN 978-1-56858-397-6
Soussan, a former program associate for the United Nations, provides an insider's perspective on the U.N.'s oil-for-food scandal in this absorbing memoir. The author was a 24-year-old idealist when he went to work for the U.N.'s recently launched program to provide aid to Iraqi civilians suffering under the economic sanctions imposed after the Gulf War. He found a “culture of incompetence” where “there is no truth but consensus” and “initiative is highly risky.” Amid the turf wars and bureaucratic timidity at the U.N., Saddam Hussein was able to subvert the oil-for-food program with a regimen of bribes and kickbacks. Unable to persuade his superiors to expose the fraud, Soussan resigned in frustration after three years. When the massive fraud surfaced after Saddam's fall, the author published an op-ed piece in the
Reviewed on: 09/08/2008
Genre: Nonfiction
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Paperback - 352 pages - 978-1-56858-441-6