Rating: 
Summary: Itinerant do-gooders try to clean up history's messes
Review: A single fair use excerpt of this book, about the aftermath of the Rwanda massacre, suffices to give the reader the truth about the UN:
"Sometimes he cries, sometimes he just sighs, but always he looks up into my face in panicked bewilderment and says, "_Monsieur Ken, eh la, comment?_" I don't know exactly what the _eh la_ means, but it punctuates everything; he says it in exasperation and passionate disbelief, exhaling, a low growl. But I understand "_Comment?_" How, Mr. Ken? How did you people let it happen? The UN was here when the massacres started, twenty-five hundred troops. UN Headquarters in New York knew it was being planned, they had files and faxes and informants and they sat in their offices, consulted each other, and ate long lunches.
"Most UN forces ran to the airport, they couldn't get out fast enough. This is not a case in which the UN failed to send troops to stop genocide. An armed, predeployed UN force evacuated as soon as it started. All those signatures on the genocide Convention, dozens of rapturously celebrated human rights treaties, a mountain of documents at UNHQ on the subject of genocide, law professors all over the world making a living talking about this, and we _evacuated_. Tanks and supply planes and helicopters and soldiers sat useless and stationary for six months in Somalia, two hours away by C-130, and then drunk peasants armed with machetes and lists of names killed 800,000 civilians in Rwanda. And we evacuated. _Eh la, comment?_"
This from one of the three authors, Kenneth Cain. He goes on to duly blame the Clinton administration for the atrocity, but the cat is out of the bag: The United Nations is mostly good for its forensic experts who exhume mass graves after the shooting stops. The UN cannot effectively head off evildoers--at times has vested interests in collaborating with them--and it is sheer lunacy to ask the American people to surrender their national defense to the smug equivocators of Turtle Bay. This not-unenjoyable tale of adventuresome adult drop-outs, searching for personal validation by plunging into the world of "the less fortunate", does nothing to reverse that verdict.
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrated, Niave Youth...
Review: First, as a disclaimer, I work for the UN and have been in similar experiences/countries. Second, I applaud the authors for noting that this is not a political narrative but rather a personal story. Third, I found the book poorly written and adolescent.
This book is not about the United Nations but rather three individual perspectives of working (or carousing) in some difficult circumstances. With all respect to the authors, who had the courage to touch upon some fairly revealing and delicate matters related to their persons, I find several anecdotes inaccurate. Without examining foreign policy decisions in the larger political environment, it is quite simple to belittle current events. And, furthermore, is it not hypocritical to continue to take a salary from the UN (as is the case with two of the authors) if it is so disliked?
With the exception of Andrew, the story comes off as describing alcoholic and promiscuous teenagers searching for an identity. I hope they find it. But, in the interim, in spite of many mistakes that the UN has made, don't confuse this book as a description of the institution. For every whiney Ken and lewd Heidi, there is a courageous, intelligent, and a strong staff member such as Sergio de Mello.
So, yes, I am disappointed with this book for several reasons.
Rating: 
Summary: Yes... Truth can hurt
Review: For those who describe this book as a piece of trash, I would suggest you re-evaluate the level of your useless lives. Oh yes... it is easy to criticize while seating cosily in your homes. No one is asking you to leave your job, loved ones and comfort behind and depart for the field full of dreams for peace. You would not have the courage anyway... This book is about humanity, hope and disillusions... but at least they tried to contribute. Did you?For those who want to save the world, this book is an excellent pre-departure briefing. Whatever happens out there... Do not loose your humanitarian fibre, but beware... it is not all rosy... it is a difficult but intense path of doubts, anger, achievements and loneliness... The coming back to reality and the "normal" world is not easy... For Miss Heidi, Doctor Andrew and Mr. Ken, thank you for sharing your dreams, disillusions and most intimate moments. It was brave. Those of us who have taken an identical path in life do understand and are still searching for our place in this world. The realisation of truth is not always easy. For Mr. Kofi Annan (Miss Heidi's, Doctor Andrew's... and my boss), please be kind to my colleagues. Please remind all your staff what the UN is all about, because this is what this book is all about... Please make us believe in peace one more time.
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring read
Review: Forget the ideology or the idealism, this book is a raw and honest account of working for the UN. It also gives some insight into the current situation of global terrorism.
The UN appeared to give the opportunity for the world to end the violence which regularly engulfs some nations. Yet, as this book reveals, when it came to the crunch, the opportunity was never taken. In Somalia and Haiti, faced with a rag-tag army or militia armed with either AK-47s or machetes, the UN and the US ran for their lives!
While some reviewers focus on the booze and sex, the real focus of the book is the failure of western nations to risk the lives of their soldiers to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of lives (especially in Rwanda). Clinton is thus labelled the 'pussy president'. One is left asking the question: Was US cowardice in Somalia and Haiti responsible for inciting violence against the US a few years later in New York by revealing the US to be weak at heart? It certainly suggests this is the case for the Rwandan massacre, which occurred soon after the pull out from Somalia.
This book appears superficial on the surface, and this is mostly due to the everyday language used and the emphasis on the feelings of the writers, but at its heart are serious questions. The weakness of the US and the UN is the focus of this book, and the frustration of the writers of the book - particularly the two men - is not hidden.
Perhaps the book also points a finger at all those people safe at home, desperately looking for the perfect mate to watch late night television with. The book shows how easy it is to join the UN, and make a difference (as in Cambodia). A great and inspiring read.
Rating:
Summary: At last - some reality!
Review: Heard about the book from a good frien. Bought it at amazon. Once I started reading, couldn't put it down. Great work guys. Quiet an expose. Hope to see more of these books, to bring home the truth.
:-)
Rating:
Summary: powerful, moving, important and timely
Review: Here's a book for anyone who'd like to learn something about what's going on around the globe, in human language--not development jargon, not bulleted press notes, not preachy moralistic speaches, but real human language, from real people, who lived ten years of their lives in some of the world's toughest places, and who lived, loved and lost in those places. A gripping, moving, funny account.
I used to work with the UN myself, and the experiences that the authors write about are in some ways familiar (and in other ways, totally unfamiliar). This is not just a book about UN scandals or failures, as the media (and some reader reviews) suggest. This is largely, and maybe more to the point, a coming-of-age story, about three young people who confront their own life values and beliefs. It will make you think about your own role in the world -- and the roll those who are in positions of relative power, who have been given the "official" authority to proclaim moral judgement over the globe's hot spots. This is an important, moving book, that's sad in some parts, but also immensely rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: Should be on the Adult Human Required Reading list
Review: I have a good friend at church who is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide back in the 1990s--and while she survived, most of her family did not. As a result, this book had an additional impact on me. This book made me laugh, shudder, and weep, the last both in sorrow and in pride of what we humans do. It is also a powerful indictment of the United Nations and its approach to humanitarian crises.
My only complaint is that Postlewait's detailed description of some of her sexual encounters was far more than I cared to know, and I suspect that may hold true for other readers as well. But even with that, the book is a must-read. ..bruce..
Rating:
Summary: Read this book, and learn about the UN and Clinton
Review: I read a lot of press about this book before it came out. How the UN was not to thrilled about it. But the UN isn't the only one who should have been upset, Bill Clinton and his foreign policy team should have been worried as well. This book is a ground up look at the result of UN and Clinton era foreign policy decisions and mistakes. The book is about three people trying to do the right thing. A lawyer who decides not to become another shark but lends his skills to monitor elections, a doctor who tries to help people who really need help, and a young woman who gave up the easy life to give back. I really felt for the three authors and am glad they tried to make positive contributions. Much has been said about the parties, sex, and drug use talked about by the authors while on their UN missions. This is interesting stuff and interesting to read. But again, this is small stuff compared to the books overall and first hand look at the results of Clinton policy and UN policy weakness. Anyone who favors an increased role of the UN in American foreign policy decisions needs to read this book. I highly recommend this book
Rating:
Summary: Gripping!
Review: I'm typically the guy who gets half or two-thirds of the way through a book and then forgets about it. This one, I was done with in two days. It's tough not to put it down. The stories make you feel like you lived through the slaughters they witnessed. Granted, these folks aren't authors, so the flow seems more conversational than illustrative; however, their words make you read page after page!
Rating: 
Summary: deja vu
Review: Living as I do in a conflict scarred part of Africa,I find it absolutely appalling that it had to take this book - which I must admit as usual I have not read because I cant afford it - for the wider world to know the salacious goings on in the unwieldy UN bureaucracy. At one level, I am mindful of the fact that folks will now see why some projects dont get off the ground and that its not because of daft locals but at another I am shocked that the content is funny, making people laugh.As we speak, young girls are being raped and defiled by UN "peacekeepers" in the Eastern DRC.There was a similar case in Sierra Leone.These are people who are getting huge salaries and allowances,balancing their bank accounts, clearing the mortgage,getting their own kids through school and college, probably going to graduate school after this tour of duty. However ordinary people in some of these countries -and this includes forcibly retired local civil servants - cannot even afford ONE meal a day, children are dying of treatable diseases, women dying from lack of elementary reproductive health care. The list is endless.Yet the UN will never employ these locals,some of whom might be better prepared and more conversant with local situations in its sacrosanct missions,only doling out subaltern positions like the proverbial hewers of wood and drawers of water. Of course I am furious.As a young student I campaigned for the UN and its programmes same time as I was cutting my teeth in the anti apartheid movement.As things stand now, these overpaid bureaucrats have opened our eyes to another more virulent apartheid,That propelled by individual greed,class indifference and racial spite.In other words how does a grown man in his right mind wearing Peacekeeper uniform impose his will on a starving 14 year old Conglolese girl, on a homeless Cambodian widow or organise paedophile rings with young war orphans as the Sierra Leone case demonstrated? Sheer patriarchal power politics at the personal level.Through this UN outrage,one can now see a facet of apartheid has global.Resistance must also be global!
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