Sergio Vieira De Mello and the Fight to Save the World Pdf, Epub, Ebook

CHASING THE FLAME: SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO AND THE FIGHT TO SAVE THE WORLD PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

In , the year after the coup, a group of hard-liners held sway. But the generals turned on Lacerda, barring him from political office and dissolving all major political parties. But after he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Bahia in , he dropped out of politics, and the generals maintained their grip on power. Later that year he enrolled in the philosophy faculty at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, which was plagued by teacher strikes. In Switzerland he met up with Flavio da Silveira, a Brazilian friend from childhood whose family lived in Geneva. They spent a year studying the writings of Sartre, Camus, Aristotle, and Kant, with a faculty composed largely of Dominican priests. Their appetites whetted, they applied for admission to the Sorbonne in Paris. Sergio, who had been educated in French schools his whole life, was admitted, while da Silveira was not and went instead to the University of Paris at Nanterre. The gash he received above his right eye was so severe that he would require corrective surgery thirty-five years later. Arnaldo drove in an official car from the Brazilian consulate in Stuttgart to Paris to see his son. The students are burning all the cars there today! After a few weeks the French public began to turn against the protests, and workers who had joined the students in striking returned to work out of fear they would lose their jobs. After the student revolt had fizzled, Sergio penned a lengthy letter to the editor of the French leftist daily newspaper Combat complaining that the mainstream press was delighting in denigrating the student revolt. Street fighting had been necessary in order to get the attention of an indifferent public. We may be walking toward our most resounding failure, but their victory will also be their hell. Although he could not have imagined it then, May would prove the apex of his antiestablishment activism. Word of his contribution to Combat quickly reached his family in Brazil. His sister, Sonia, spotted a news item in one of the Rio newspapers describing a Brazilian student involved in the Paris clashes who had returned home and been abducted and murdered, presumably by the military regime. She panicked and passed the article along to a friend who was traveling to Europe. When Arnaldo saw it, he told his son that he should not risk returning to Brazil anytime soon. The French government had granted amnesty to foreign students arrested in the riots, but it required them to check in with the authorities at the police station on a weekly basis. This seemed a small price to pay for continuing his education at the Sorbonne, and Sergio went back to class in the fall of in the hopes of combining his credits from Rio, Fribourg, and Paris to graduate in Although he relished the educational rigors of the Sorbonne, he was lonely in Paris and nostalgic for Rio. But back in Brazil the military dictatorship was growing more repressive. Paramilitary forces roamed the country arresting and often torturing those suspected of subversive activity. As he scanned the list of civil servants whom the military regime had forced into retirement, his eyes fixed suddenly upon a name he had not expected to find: his own. He had been sacked by a government he had served for twenty-eight years. Sergio was in Paris when he learned the news. He raged at the Brazilian government for hurting his family and complained that his father had been fired for his political views. The military regime offered no explanation. As Arnaldo packed up his life in Europe, he told his son that he would not be able to pay for his graduate studies at the Sorbonne. In May, just two months before graduation, Sergio wrote again to the young woman he had dated when he was in Geneva. Sounding depressed and confused about his future, he informed her that his father had been fired. In June he wrote to her that he expected to receive high marks in his philosophy exams. He would in fact dazzle the Sorbonne faculty, finishing first out of candidates in metaphysics. After trying briefly to find a philosophy teaching job, Sergio made his way to Geneva, where the da Silveira home had become his European base. He decided to try to find work with one of the many international organizations there. UNHCR performed two main tasks—it gave people fleeing political persecution the material assistance they needed to survive in exile, and it tried to ensure that the displaced were not forced back to the countries that had driven them out. The United Nations required fluent English and two years of professional experience. Sergio spoke little English and had never held a full-time job, but he interviewed better than any of his fellow applicants and was given a temporary contract. Almost as soon as he took up his post at UNHCR, he began hearing tales of a man who was every bit his opposite. Vieira de Mello was a twenty-one-year-old Sorbonne-educated, multilingual Brazilian with a lean physique and a movie-star smile. And although Jamieson had lived in and out of French-speaking countries since the Second World War, he prided himself on having never bothered to master French. Vieira de Mello actively sought him out, peppering him with questions about his experiences. More than five thousand miles from his family and discouraged from returning to Brazil, Vieira de Mello seemed to prize the new bond. Jamieson urged him to be sure to distinguish the interests of the UN, his place of employment, from the interests of refugees, his reason for working. Jamieson often sounded contemptuous of diplomats. It was not uncommon for him to stroll fifteen minutes late into a coordination session that he was supposed to chair. Under the leadership of Sadruddin, UNHCR shifted its emphasis from Europe, where refugees from World War II and the Soviet Union had commanded attention in the s and s, to Africa and Asia, where decolonization wars had created new refugee flows in the s and s. It had already won one Nobel Prize—in , for resettling European refugees after the Second World War—and was on its way to another in , for managing the flight of refugees from Southeast Asia. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. EMBED for wordpress. Want more? Vieira de Mello was born in The young Vieira de Mello was instinctively anti-American and cringed when he heard an American accent. After earning his degree, he found work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, traveling to southern Sudan, Mozambique and Vietnam, and passionately embracing the United Nations and international law as the embodiments of global justice. Before the end of the cold war, its peacekeeping operations involved interspersing lightly armed international troops to separate combatants who had signed peace deals and providing humanitarian assistance. The United Nations racked up some successes in places like Namibia, El Salvador and Mozambique, where security conditions were not terribly demanding. Its ethic of strict political neutrality between warring parties ended up favoring aggressors like the Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo. This led to disgraceful episodes like the one in Rwanda in when Belgian peacekeepers abandoned the Tutsis to rampaging Hutu militias. The fact of the matter is that some conflicts simply cannot be solved without resort to power: the Bosnian war ended only when the Croatian Army and NATO air power attacked Serbian forces, while ethnic cleansing against the Albanians in Kosovo was stopped only through NATO bombing of Serbia itself. Without being able to deploy force to fix the underlying cause of conflict, even the best-intentioned humanitarian interventions often had the perverse effect of prolonging conflict. Chasing The Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World by Samantha Power

Sort order. Apr 15, Ashley Clark rated it it was amazing. What you readin? Why you cryin? When this book started, I could not control my eye- rolls. I have read a few books about aggrandized heroes who often forget that their being male allows them to act in ways that would be intolerable in the opposite sex. And, don't get me wrong- Sergio does this. Samantha Power does not shy away from his less savory side: the neglect of his childre "Hey Girl. Samantha Power does not shy away from his less savory side: the neglect of his children, his multiple trysts, and his very awkward "promotion" of women. That said, this book won me over a thousand times. It did not win me over bc I left it thinking "Sergio is the best! Now, why did I cry? Well, not-so-spoiler alert: Sergio dies in Iraq. I knew this before I picked up the book, as he is a hero in Timor they even have an award named after him. It also tells you that I think in the first line of the book. But then when you get to the tragedy of the suicide bomb that took the lives of 19 UN personnel, I couldn't help it. The twenty or so pages that describe the incident are utterly heartbreaking. Overviews of crises that the UN handled in the past 40 years, including Vietnamese "boat people," Cambodian elections, returning of refugees and genocidaires from the Congo to Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and Iraq. People interested in the UN system 3. Anyone who has worked abroad, or wants to work abroad 5. Americans Ok, since that covers most of my five friends on Goodreads, that is my way of saying everybody should read it. Dec 22, Esther rated it really liked it Shelves: subject-biography- memoir-essays , subject-social-political-issues , nonfiction. Another great book by Samantha Power. As she did with Raphael Lemkin in her first book, she brings the person of Sergio Vieira de Mello to life, while giving the history of an institution - in this book, the UN, while in her first book, the concept of genocide. In the book we can follow the transformation of Vieira de Mello's approach toward his work as he deals with the facts on the ground in places such as Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, East Timor, and finally Iraq. Power also points out the Another great book by Samantha Power. Power also points out the strengths and limitations of the UN in these contexts. Through these experiences, however, Vieira de Mello became an expert in post-conflict reconstruction, knowledge that he tried to bring to Iraq but which the Americans and British ignored to their own detriment. The chapter on his death in the bombing attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad was particularly troubling to read. After giving his whole life to the UN, the institution failed him in his time of need. It was chilling to see how some of the UN staff picked up and continued the functions of the bureaucracy i. The only person with a sense of urgency was Larriera, his wife. Jun 22, Scott rated it really liked it. This book had an extremely powerful impression on me. For one, the life of Sergio Vierea de Mello was an incredible study of philosophy in action and metamorphosis. His ideals for how the UN could be a force for good and positive change, could help people in times of need, could bring together forces that were opposed, and could solve the problems of a not particularly pleasant human civilization are on display. A complex man who isn't? This is a must-read for anyone interested in the UN or who, like me, runs a Model UN club these are not mutually exclusive. It gives meaning to the purpose of the UN in a way that is so hard to define, and equally weighs its strengths, weaknesses, and - ultimately - failings. The whole book felt like a slow-moving train wreck, with Viera de Mello's death s prominently reported, but still managed to outline what is in effect - at least for me - a new charter of ideals and functions for what is a vital institution and forum of and for the United Nations. Vierea de Mello was chasing the flame, as the title suggests, but I would expect most people who read Samantha Powers' lucid, inexorable prose to see that the flame burns within us all - if we let it. As a final note, I'd just like to point out that my impression of John Bolton, who was a recess appointment as us ambassador to the UN why anyone would appoint someone who is anti-UN to the UN is beyond me as a total asshole was totally vindicated. Well done Powers. In when Israel invaded Lebanon in response to Palestinian attacks in northern Israel, Viera de Mello was serving as the senior political adviser to the UN interim force in Lebanon, loca Chasing the Flame examines the role of the UN in world politics through the life of Sergio Viera de Mello, a Brazilian-born official who spent his career in the UN. In when Israel invaded Lebanon in response to Palestinian attacks in northern Israel, Viera de Mello was serving as the senior political adviser to the UN interim force in Lebanon, located in the southern part of the country. This force , which was separate from the UN peacekeeping mission, assisted Palestinian fighters in evacuating Beirut and protected Palestinian refugees living on the outskirts of the city. Western forces retreated on September A few days later the president of Lebanon was assassinated. Israeli-backed Christian militia attacked the Palestinian camps in retaliation, killing more than refugees. In response to the massacres, US Marines were redeployed to Beirut. The Marines offered military backing to the Lebanese army. In October Marines were killed in a terrorist attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, and by February Reagan decided to withdraw US forces rather than risk further attacks. Viera de Mello identified a different lesson from the attacks. He was convinced that the US had made a mistake in siding wit the Lebanese army. He had a new appreciation for the importance of UN neutrality in peacekeeping operations. He opposed a NATO bombing campaign, arguing that unless NATO was willing to intervene with a ground force, the peacekeeping mission should not be asked to accept the risks that came from offensive air strikes. She shows how Viera de Mello later realized the limitations of that approach. When Serbia attacked the province of Kosovo, Viera de Mello gathered evidence of ethnic cleansing against the Kosovars. Like most UN officials, he had opposed the invasion. However, he thought that the UN could make a difference in the reconstruction of Iraq. He advocated a concrete timetable with an end date for the occupation. His mission was distrusted and marginalized by L. The massacre in Srebrenica and the genocide in Rwanda convinced him to speak up more about matters of principle, although he continued to engage with perpetrators of atrocities when and extracted concessions when possible. When he took up his position as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, he had a greater appreciation of the role of human rights in world politics. To preserve global order, human rights standards would have to become more binding. Oct 14, Ronnie rated it it was amazing. This book.. Sure the first five chapters were boring I have read loads of Vietnam East Timor Much like the killers of Ruwanda who went to college in France Powers has written a searing book I had had read her other book " A Problem from Hell" I cannot overemphasize it importance in the scheme of things that have occurred or will occur. Its the kind of book that as you read it and walk away to take a breather the scenes stay with you Sam has written such a good book Sep 06, CJ rated it it was amazing Shelves: have-copy , international-relations. Through the UN, Sergio Vieira de Mello worked his way from humanitarian coordinator to special envoy and discovered the tension of humanitarian aid versus human rights, might vs. Power claims that Sergio upheld the importance of dignity in his career. While Sergio clearly respected and inspired the people around him, and emphasized the pride and dignities of nations, I'm not sure if I caught a coherent vision of human dignity or the future of the international system. He modeled international leadership that wasn't afraid to transition to national leadership East Timor. Jul 30, Antoine Levie rated it it was amazing. Incredibly well-written, well-researched and heartwrenching biography of an exceptional diplomat who achieved more than was considered possible in abominable circumstances. Samantha paints a densely worded picture, that attempts to skip no detail in conjuring up the reality of this remarkable human being. He seemed to have specialized in understanding how to get aid to dispossessed people. Humanitarian aid. And he brings legitimacy and weight to the charter of the United Nations, in bringing peace and healing conflict. Through his person and projects, the reader accesses the United Nations - We witness with him, the many people who work in the UN, how they brave their way into conflict zones, that are horrifyingly fractured by war and genocide. Sergio, interpreted the UN charter as a force of good. And he practiced extensively in unconventional ways, on how to use the flag of peace and neutrality to get humanitarian aid to the dispossessed. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kosovo and East Timor. Sergio a life long scholar of history, politics and philosophy, donned the role with nuance and complexity. Samantha knits together this perspective, with skill Sergio harnessed his knowledge and expertise to dismantle the possibility of him mis-using power, and over the decades becomes the UN's exemplary steward. In East Timor he learns the language and immerses himself in understanding the needs of the people of the region, with the minimum of fuss. In his role, he recognized he would have to restore water, electricity, homes, schools, a postal service, hospitals, law courts and finally ensure a free and fair election, to peacefully hand over the reins of the country to the people's choice, before he will be free to leave. By the time he is assigned Iraq in , the situation has changed. His reputation as the man who ensures that the occupying force in this case the US respects the charter of the United Nations as a peacekeeping force, makes SG Annan pick him to be his representative in Baghdad, i. Vieira de Mello in the course of 35 years of his career, had become a profound believer in the charter of the United Nations, President Bush of the United States has been a life long skeptic. The powerful nations in the UN Security Council, continually undermine the authority of the United Nations, refusing to sign onto treaties and charters that would regulate their field of action. Vieira de Mello had to find a space for the United Nations. The organization has been shoved around and marginalized, manipulated when needed How may the UN, gain the authority or legitimacy to govern nations to higher standards of conduct? Samantha Power is an astute observer of this unique role Sergio, had begun to craft for himself and the United Nations, that would be tested in extraordinary ways, if he had become Secretary General. Her perspective, sympathy and compassion for this man's extraordinary effort, is palpable. She presents him, with his many contradictions. But never makes an overarching statement or thesis… The last chapter before the epilogue, perhaps is the one that lays out her thinking about Sergio's role in history. Diving into the depths of the details, that expressively articulates what a role like Sergio's would involve - felt often for me, like I was rifling through a primer or a code book… on "operations" in the field… - this required stamina from me, and this would flag, now and then. Yet I must say Dec 30, Kevin McAllister rated it it was amazing. Chasing The Flame was one of the most depressing and tragic books I've ever read. Sergio Vieira de Mello dedicated his entire life to The United Nations, striving to improve the lives of millions of persecuted and impoverished people throughout the world. He risked his life, time and time again, in some of the most war torn corners of the world. How many can say they gave personal hand to han Chasing The Flame was one of the most depressing and tragic books I've ever read. How many can say they gave personal hand to hand, man to man, right in the trenches, help to the people of Lebanon, Cambodia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo,Rwanda, East Timor, Iraq The book is depressing on many levels levels. Sergio had to fight tooth and nail for every accomplishment he was able to achieve in these countries. Firstly, of course, he had to deal with the sadistic despots who ruled these countries. But often, almost as frustrating; he had to deal with in-fighting within the U. Not to mention the blatant incompetence of some of his fellow U. Then of course, there was the lack of support from the most important and influential Member Countries when Vieira de Mello and the U. Nowhere was this more evident than in Iraq. Remember of course, that the U. Security Council. Despite this, the U. Vieira de Mello was chosen to head this U. I'll end my review with 2 quotes from the book : "As a result, while the U. He died under the Canal Hotel's rubble -- buried beneath the weight of the United Nations itself. Apr 19, Kelly rated it liked it Shelves: unclassifiable-nonfiction , giving-away , social-sciences. Sergio Vieira de Mello was undoubtedly an interesting person who drew a wide range of people including Samantha Power into his orbit over the years he worked for the UN in places like Kosovo, East Timor, and Iraq. I expected the book to embody more of the charisma and intelligence and warmth that the man must have had, to bring this larger-than-life figure right into the room with the reader. It mostly failed in that regard, feeling dry and academic, especially for the first half. It picks up Sergio Vieira de Mello was undoubtedly an interesting person who drew a wide range of people including Samantha Power into his orbit over the years he worked for the UN in places like Kosovo, East Timor, and Iraq. He would reply that one must act as if the powerful did care or could be made to, even when it was clear that they didn't. Tirelessly, to anyone who would listen, he explained that human rights lay between civilisation and anarchy. Failure to believe in the cause of humanity meant that the world would pass into the hands of violent, thwarted men. Samantha Power is the author of a justly admired history of genocide. Until recently, when she referred to Hillary Clinton as 'a monster' in the course of an interview with the Scotsman, she was a key Barack Obama foreign policy adviser. She has since resigned. Power writes fluently, assembling large amounts of information with verve and understanding. Mercifully, she is lacking in coyness when it comes to describing her hero's failings. Until his last years, Vieira de Mello was unfaithful in the compulsive, trouser-dropping style of his own hero, Albert Camus. More seriously, the desire to please those capable of helping his career frequently warped his judgment. When he met George W Bush in the White House, the two middle-aged men exchanged banter about workouts. But Vieira de Mello did warn the President that neglect of human rights would prove to be a disaster, destroying America's reputation. When important truths needed to be told, he never lacked courage. It was this as much as his allure that won him the admiration of his peers and made him instantly attractive to those who met him for the first time. An al-Qaeda suicide bomber destroyed most of the hotel in which the UN were lodged, trapping Vieira de Mello beneath tons of rubble. He did not have the luxury of merely posing these questions; Vieira de Mello had to find answers, apply them, and live with the consequences. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Reviews Review Policy. Published on. Flowing text. Best for. Chasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World | Samantha Power

Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Sergio Vieira de Mello was born in , just as the post-World War II order was taking shape, and died in a terrorist attack on UN Headquarters in Iraq in , just as the battle lines in the 21st century's great struggle were being drawn. Get A Copy. Hardcover , First Edition U. More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Chasing The Flame , please sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Apr 15, Ashley Clark rated it it was amazing. What you readin? Why you cryin? When this book started, I could not control my eye-rolls. I have read a few books about aggrandized heroes who often forget that their being male allows them to act in ways that would be intolerable in the opposite sex. And, don't get me wrong- Sergio does this. Samantha Power does not shy away from his less savory side: the neglect of his childre "Hey Girl. Samantha Power does not shy away from his less savory side: the neglect of his children, his multiple trysts, and his very awkward "promotion" of women. That said, this book won me over a thousand times. It did not win me over bc I left it thinking "Sergio is the best! Now, why did I cry? Well, not-so-spoiler alert: Sergio dies in Iraq. I knew this before I picked up the book, as he is a hero in Timor they even have an award named after him. It also tells you that I think in the first line of the book. But then when you get to the tragedy of the suicide bomb that took the lives of 19 UN personnel, I couldn't help it. The twenty or so pages that describe the incident are utterly heartbreaking. Overviews of crises that the UN handled in the past 40 years, including Vietnamese "boat people," Cambodian elections, returning of refugees and genocidaires from the Congo to Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and Iraq. People interested in the UN system 3. Anyone who has worked abroad, or wants to work abroad 5. Americans Ok, since that covers most of my five friends on Goodreads, that is my way of saying everybody should read it. Dec 22, Esther rated it really liked it Shelves: subject-biography-memoir-essays , subject-social-political-issues , nonfiction. Another great book by Samantha Power. As she did with Raphael Lemkin in her first book, she brings the person of Sergio Vieira de Mello to life, while giving the history of an institution - in this book, the UN, while in her first book, the concept of genocide. In the book we can follow the transformation of Vieira de Mello's approach toward his work as he deals with the facts on the ground in places such as Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, East Timor, and finally Iraq. Power also points out the Another great book by Samantha Power. Power also points out the strengths and limitations of the UN in these contexts. Through these experiences, however, Vieira de Mello became an expert in post-conflict reconstruction, knowledge that he tried to bring to Iraq but which the Americans and British ignored to their own detriment. The chapter on his death in the bombing attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad was particularly troubling to read. After giving his whole life to the UN, the institution failed him in his time of need. It was chilling to see how some of the UN staff picked up and continued the functions of the bureaucracy i. The only person with a sense of urgency was Larriera, his wife. Jun 22, Scott rated it really liked it. This book had an extremely powerful impression on me. For one, the life of Sergio Vierea de Mello was an incredible study of philosophy in action and metamorphosis. His ideals for how the UN could be a force for good and positive change, could help people in times of need, could bring together forces that were opposed, and could solve the problems of a not particularly pleasant human civilization are on display. A complex man who isn't? This is a must-read for anyone interested in the UN or who, like me, runs a Model UN club these are not mutually exclusive. It gives meaning to the purpose of the UN in a way that is so hard to define, and equally weighs its strengths, weaknesses, and - ultimately - failings. The whole book felt like a slow-moving train wreck, with Viera de Mello's death s prominently reported, but still managed to outline what is in effect - at least for me - a new charter of ideals and functions for what is a vital institution and forum of and for the United Nations. Vierea de Mello was chasing the flame, as the title suggests, but I would expect most people who read Samantha Powers' lucid, inexorable prose to see that the flame burns within us all - if we let it. As a final note, I'd just like to point out that my impression of John Bolton, who was a recess appointment as us ambassador to the UN why anyone would appoint someone who is anti-UN to the UN is beyond me as a total asshole was totally vindicated. Well done Powers. In when Israel invaded Lebanon in response to Palestinian attacks in northern Israel, Viera de Mello was serving as the senior political adviser to the UN interim force in Lebanon, loca Chasing the Flame examines the role of the UN in world politics through the life of Sergio Viera de Mello, a Brazilian-born official who spent his career in the UN. In when Israel invaded Lebanon in response to Palestinian attacks in northern Israel, Viera de Mello was serving as the senior political adviser to the UN interim force in Lebanon, located in the southern part of the country. This force , which was separate from the UN peacekeeping mission, assisted Palestinian fighters in evacuating Beirut and protected Palestinian refugees living on the outskirts of the city. Western forces retreated on September A few days later the president of Lebanon was assassinated. Israeli-backed Christian militia attacked the Palestinian camps in retaliation, killing more than refugees. In response to the massacres, US Marines were redeployed to Beirut. The Marines offered military backing to the Lebanese army. In October Marines were killed in a terrorist attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, and by February Reagan decided to withdraw US forces rather than risk further attacks. Viera de Mello identified a different lesson from the attacks. He was convinced that the US had made a mistake in siding wit the Lebanese army. He had a new appreciation for the importance of UN neutrality in peacekeeping operations. He opposed a NATO bombing campaign, arguing that unless NATO was willing to intervene with a ground force, the peacekeeping mission should not be asked to accept the risks that came from offensive air strikes. She shows how Viera de Mello later realized the limitations of that approach. When Serbia attacked the province of Kosovo, Viera de Mello gathered evidence of ethnic cleansing against the Kosovars. Like most UN officials, he had opposed the invasion. However, he thought that the UN could make a difference in the reconstruction of Iraq. He advocated a concrete timetable with an end date for the occupation. His mission was distrusted and marginalized by L. The massacre in Srebrenica and the genocide in Rwanda convinced him to speak up more about matters of principle, although he continued to engage with perpetrators of atrocities when and extracted concessions when possible. When he took up his position as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, he had a greater appreciation of the role of human rights in world politics. To preserve global order, human rights standards would have to become more binding. Oct 14, Ronnie rated it it was amazing. This book.. Sure the first five chapters were boring I have read loads of Vietnam East Timor Much like the killers of Ruwanda who went to college in France Powers has written a searing book I had had read her other book " A Problem from Hell" I cannot overemphasize it importance in the scheme of things that have occurred or will occur. Its the kind of book that as you read it and walk away to take a breather the scenes stay with you Sam has written such a good book Sep 06, CJ rated it it was amazing Shelves: have-copy , international-relations. Through the UN, Sergio Vieira de Mello worked his way from humanitarian coordinator to special envoy and discovered the tension of humanitarian aid versus human rights, might vs. Power claims that Sergio upheld the importance of dignity in his career. While Sergio clearly respected and inspired the people around him, and emphasized the pride and dignities of nations, I'm not sure if I caught a coherent vision of human dignity or the future of the international system. He modeled international leadership that wasn't afraid to transition to national leadership East Timor. Jul 30, Antoine Levie rated it it was amazing. Incredibly well-written, well-researched and heartwrenching biography of an exceptional diplomat who achieved more than was considered possible in abominable circumstances. Samantha paints a densely worded picture, that attempts to skip no detail in conjuring up the reality of this remarkable human being. He seemed to have specialized in understanding how to get aid to dispossessed people. Humanitarian aid. And he brings legitimacy and weight to the charter of the United Nations, in bringing peace and healing conflict. Through his person and projects, the reader accesses the United Nations - We witness with him, the many people who work in the UN, how they brave their way into conflict zones, that are horrifyingly fractured by war and genocide. Sergio, interpreted the UN charter as a force of good. And he practiced extensively in unconventional ways, on how to use the flag of peace and neutrality to get humanitarian aid to the dispossessed. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kosovo and East Timor. Sergio a life long scholar of history, politics and philosophy, donned the role with nuance and complexity. Samantha knits together this perspective, with skill Sergio harnessed his knowledge and expertise to dismantle the possibility of him mis-using power, and over the decades becomes the UN's exemplary steward. In East Timor he learns the language and immerses himself in understanding the needs of the people of the region, with the minimum of fuss. In his role, he recognized he would have to restore water, electricity, homes, schools, a postal service, hospitals, law courts and finally ensure a free and fair election, to peacefully hand over the reins of the country to the people's choice, before he will be free to leave. By the time he is assigned Iraq in , the situation has changed. His reputation as the man who ensures that the occupying force in this case the US respects the charter of the United Nations as a peacekeeping force, makes SG Annan pick him to be his representative in Baghdad, i. Vieira de Mello in the course of 35 years of his career, had become a profound believer in the charter of the United Nations, President Bush of the United States has been a life long skeptic. The powerful nations in the UN Security Council, continually undermine the authority of the United Nations, refusing to sign onto treaties and charters that would regulate their field of action. Vieira de Mello had to find a space for the United Nations. The organization has been shoved around and marginalized, manipulated when needed How may the UN, gain the authority or legitimacy to govern nations to higher standards of conduct? Samantha Power is an astute observer of this unique role Sergio, had begun to craft for himself and the United Nations, that would be tested in extraordinary ways, if he had become Secretary General. Her perspective, sympathy and compassion for this man's extraordinary effort, is palpable. She presents him, with his many contradictions. But never makes an overarching statement or thesis… The last chapter before the epilogue, perhaps is the one that lays out her thinking about Sergio's role in history. Diving into the depths of the details, that expressively articulates what a role like Sergio's would involve - felt often for me, like I was rifling through a primer or a code book… on "operations" in the field… - this required stamina from me, and this would flag, now and then. In the course of depicting events in a few key crises, Powers explains clashes between humanitarian and political approaches to problems, such as when Annan and the U. Powers gives much of her text over to periods of his life when Vieira de Mello was more of a political figure than a problem solver of aid operations. Interestingly, Vieira de Mello is one of the view individuals in history to have been, to some degree, the sovereign ruler of multiple countries. Where Powers describes aid operations, she focuses on protection and security primarily, or on positions of authority, so the book does little to enlighten about lessons in what actually works in hunger, health, shelter, or other aid programs. Her vignettes involve numerous road-blocks, impasses, and bridles-rivers, but next to nothing about the work being sponsored by the UN, or about the affected populations. Indeed, his diplomacy and accessibility is one of many reasons that Vieira de Mello was widely believed to be a sure-bet to someday be Secretary General of the United Nations. Working diligently and sincerely within a multilateral system, Vieira de Mello exemplified nobility in the cause of humanitarian aid. Steven Hansch is a member of the board of the World Hunger Education Service, serves on several other non-profit boards, teaches about humanitarian aid at several universities, and has worked overseas conducting nutrition and public health programs, primarily in emergencies. Samantha, quickly tell us why you chose to take him on as a person and write a biography of him. There were times when he would pull his punches, certainly made mistakes, but had a thirty-four-year head start making those mistakes. It was September They have suffered enough. And One of the untold stories and the devastating parts of this book and the last four years of reporting the book is to realize he was actually alive for three-and-a-half hours under the rubble. No preparation whatsoever. There were no stretchers, so they had to use curtains from the Canal Hotel windows and a curtain rope as a kind of amateur pulley system. I mean, first of all, the war in Iraq was over-determined. It was a disaster, of course, from the beginning. But I think if Sergio had stayed, what he would have done is damage control. You know, he was trying to get Bremer to scale back the de-Baathification decree that — to put the soldiers who had been demobilized back in power to hemorrhage power quickly, he said. But I learned very quickly that if you hoard responsibility, you hoard blame.

Review: Chasing the Flame by Samantha Power | Books | The Guardian

The UN posted twenty-six additional security staff to Baghdad, a dramatic expansion of the tiny squad that had been overwhelmed all summer. Coalition intelligence officers, who had tended to shun UN requests for information on the insurgency prior to the bomb, were suddenly forthcoming. On September 1 they warned the UN that they had intelligence that three heavy sewage trucks had disappeared and one of them might be used to target the UN between September 5 and Since the Canal Hotel had been reduced to rubble, Lopes da Silva, Kennedy, and others scouted Baghdad for other properties. He and Lopes da Silva soon concluded that it would be easier to fortify the Canal complex and consolidate UN staff there than to find a new, safe space. Containers where UN staff would now work and sleep were flown in from Kuwait and set up on the Canal grounds near the ruins of the hotel. But because UN staff remained concerned about the signal such a partnership sent, the UN went back to reviewing bids from private security firms that might guard the vulnerable premises. All of the security precautions that had not been taken—or that had been taken halfheartedly—before August 19 now got full attention. They created an inventory of available resources: radio and communication equipment; protected vehicles; flak jackets; helmets; Mylar plastic film for the windows; and ballistic blankets that could shield doors, windows, and people. The security staff went about setting up emergency medical facilities, a security operations room, and new external wall barriers at the Canal. They expanded the number of bunkers meant to shelter staff during mortar attacks and pasted luminescent arrows on the ground between the containers to guide staff to the exits in the event that an attack caused darkness or occurred at night. It also repainted part of its fleet of vehicles from navy and orange back to plain white and removed the UN decals. When that bombing took place, it had a devastating impact on reconstruction and development, which was exactly what the terrorists wanted. On September 13 a ninety-minute gun battle erupted outside the perimeter of the Canal Hotel complex. The staff felt intensely vulnerable, but Annan remained determined to show the UN flag. Senior UN staff in New York were naturally caught up in a blame game that intensified with time. Just as people had speculated as to what the Jordanian government had done to earn the ire of the August 7 attackers, everybody seemed to have a theory as to why the UN had been so savagely struck. UN officials in New York walked around like zombies for a month and then gathered on September 19 for a large commemoration in the giant General Assembly hall. The day of the memorial service, the UN flag at the Canal Hotel was raised to full mast for the first time since the attack. Guarded only by her brothers, who did not wield weapons, she was shot in her abdomen and died five days later. Prior to her murder, Iraqi politicians were not given Coalition bodyguards or police escorts, disproportionately endangering independents on the council who did not have their own militias. The insurgents were not finished with the UN. On September 22 at a. When he did, the driver detonated two sets of explosives—one in the trunk and one that he was wearing as a belt. The blast blew the car in half, killing the Iraqi guard and the bomber instantly and injuring nineteen others. The attack that killed Vieira de Mello and twenty-one others the month before had occurred at the end of the day. Amid the frenetic focus on rescue and identification, the UN Security Management Team in Baghdad had not had the chance to recommend a full staff withdrawal before Annan had announced that the UN was staying. But this second attack on the UN occurred in the morning, Iraq time. Annan, however, ignored the advice of his Iraq team and that of his senior staff all but one of whom voted to evacuate Iraq , and again rejected the recommendation to pull out. The staff in Baghdad were incredulous. The insurgent attacks on soft targets which only began with the bombs at the Jordanian embassy and the UN continued. On September 25 the hotel housing the staff of NBC News was hit, a sign that the media had become a target. Two days later three projectile rockets were fired at the Rashid Hotel inside the Green Zone. This marked the first time a civilian target inside the Green Zone had been hit. On October 9 a Spanish diplomat was assassinated. On October 12 the Baghdad Hotel, which housed American contractors and Governing Council members, was bombed, killing eight and wounding thirty-eight. On October 14 the Turkish embassy was struck. On October 26 the Rashid Hotel, where U. And on October 27, the first day of Ramadan, in a devastating coordinated assault, four bombs were detonated simultaneously, including one at the Baghdad headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which killed thirty-four and wounded two hundred. Three days later, after the Red Cross announced it was leaving, Annan finally declared Phase V, and all UN international staff were at last withdrawn from Baghdad. The secretary-general launched two investigations into staff safety and security surrounding the Canal Hotel attacks. The first, chaired by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, produced a short report nine weeks after August The second, chaired by Gerald Walzer, the former deputy high commissioner for refugees who had been the one to give Vieira de Mello a flak jacket as his going-away present from UNHCR, yielded a page report, with six volumes of supporting documents, and was delivered to Annan on March 3, Additionally, the UN took disciplinary action against Paul Aghadjanian, the chief administrative officer, and Pa Momodou Sinyan, the building manager, who had failed to ensure that the windows were coated with Mylar or that the concrete wall was completed. Since Lopes da Silva had been the designated security official, Annan demoted him, stripping him of his assistant secretary-general rank and barring him from taking UN posts with security functions. UN staff and bomb survivors felt let down by the secretary-general. Why did he send his finest staff to enforce an almost nonexistent mandate? What would it take for the UN secretary-general, in fact, to learn to say no to powerful countries? Friends and family of those attacked on August 19 speculated that Annan found the Iraq experience so searing that he could not face it. Some were furious that Annan himself did not step down. They blamed him for allowing junior staff to take the fall for what were above all leadership failures. And the heavyweight countries on the Security Council seemed to care no more about UN staff in the aftermath of the bomb than they had in May when they sent the UN to Iraq in the first place. But when it came to the murder of UN staff, the Security Council seemed indifferent. As the violence in Iraq escalated, the memory of the UN attack faded. On September 2 Loescher regained enough consciousness to begin mouthing words and asking about the pain in his legs. But only in late September, more than a month after the attack, did he realize he had been permanently handicapped. For more than a year after the attack, tiny shards of glass would work themselves free from his skin. He returned to the book he had been writing on protracted refugee crises, and in he managed to travel to the northern Thai border to interview Burmese refugees. In one of the camps, he made a special point of trying to visit an out-of-the-way care center for disabled refugees run by Handicap International. But after wheeling himself across the camp, he found that the facility had been built atop a steep mud bank that his wheelchair could not ascend. Resigned to turning back, he suddenly saw five Burmese faces peering down at him from the top of the bank. He also thinks about refugees. If they can bounce back, I certainly can. Gaby Pichon, the French close protection officer who was just twenty feet away from his boss when the bomber struck, says his dreams are haunted by his failure to save the man entrusted to him. It is not like a TV that you can turn off. Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. EMBED for wordpress. Until his last years, Vieira de Mello was unfaithful in the compulsive, trouser-dropping style of his own hero, Albert Camus. More seriously, the desire to please those capable of helping his career frequently warped his judgment. When he met George W Bush in the White House, the two middle-aged men exchanged banter about workouts. But Vieira de Mello did warn the President that neglect of human rights would prove to be a disaster, destroying America's reputation. When important truths needed to be told, he never lacked courage. It was this as much as his allure that won him the admiration of his peers and made him instantly attractive to those who met him for the first time. An al-Qaeda suicide bomber destroyed most of the hotel in which the UN were lodged, trapping Vieira de Mello beneath tons of rubble. It appears he had been targeted personally, in revenge for the UN's collusion in the invasion, and he would have reluctantly accepted this reasoning. He had opposed the war, accepting the assignment unhappily because he was asked to go there by Kofi Annan. Ignored by the American occupiers, patronised by the arrogant and incompetent US pro consul Paul Bremer, he knew that his presence in Baghdad was a terrible mistake. Our contemporary world scene isn't blessed with heroes and it is hard not to feel that we require not one, but many Sergios. Inspirational, wise in its rueful acknowledgement of the limitations placed on humanitarian action by the powerful, Power's book is a fitting memorial to a great and generously flawed life. It is also one of the most engrossing and frightening accounts of our troubled, conflicted century. Topics Biography books The Observer. Politics books reviews.

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