Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy

by Michael Soussan

Overview

The year is 1997. Michael Soussan, an idealistic young graduate, has recently accepted his dream job at the United Nations' Oil-for-Food Program, helping Iraqi civilians survive the impact of economic sanctions. Under conflicting guidance, he would help to oversee the use of 64 billion petrodollars against a backdrop of simmering international tension that constantly threatens to erupt into an all-out war.

An absolute beginner in the world of international diplomacy, Soussan finds himself embroiled in a world of spies, corrupt oil tycoons, and dysfunctional diplomats. Backstabbing for Beginners is at once an unsettling tale of one man's political coming of age, and a stinging indictment of the hypocrisy that prevailed at the heart of the United Nations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568584416
Publisher:	Nation Books
Publication date:	06/01/2010
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.88(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Michael Soussan is a journalist and screenwriter whose writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Time, NPR, BBC, and a range of international media. His has worked at CNN, the UN, and K Street in Washington, DC, and has taught writing and public communication at NYU and advised a range of global organizations and corporations. A native of Denmark, he lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Author's Note xi

1 Whistleblower 1

Part 1

2 Do-Gooder 8

3 Welcome to the Game 14

4 Fasten Your Seat Belts 22

5 Cowboys and Bunny Huggers 38

6 Coffee With Criminals 48

7 The Great Minsunderstanding 62

8 From Russia With Love 68

9 Never Say Kurdistan! 75

10 The Rebels 86

11 On the Edge 95

Part 2

12 The Baghdad Diet 106

13 A Can of Worms 120

14 The Rules of the Game 133

15 Conflict Resolution 148

16 Cigars With Criminals 155

17 The Propaganda War 171

18 Memorandum 186

19 A New Wind 188

20 Turf Warriors 194

21 Exit Strategy 215

22 Just When I Thought I Was Out ... 219

23 The Clash of Civilized Nations 226

24 Weapons of Mass Distraction 238

Part 3

25 There Will Be Blood 250

26 The Road to Hell 252

27 Saddam's Secret List 265

28 Boomerang 284

29 The Man Who Could Have Been a Millionaire 288

Epilogue: Back to The Edge 309

Index 319

Editorial Reviews

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 Wall Street Journal, which launched an independent investigation that uncovered billions of dollars in bribes and implicated global corporations, sovereign governments and U.N. officials-including Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son. Soussan brings provocative wit, a keen eye for detail and a knack for revealing anecdotes to this important account of the rampant greed, hypocrisy and cynicism festering behind the United Nations' humanitarian credo. (Nov.)

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Publishers Weekly

Soussan (Ctr. for Global Affairs, NYU) worked at UN headquarters in New York as a program coordinator on the UN Oil-for-Food humanitarian project in Iraq from 1997 to 2000. The program was established to sell Iraq's crude oil at market prices and to use the funds to purchase food, medicine, and civilian equipment to be delivered inside Iraq in order to relieve the privations caused by economic sanctions against the regime. Those who worked on the program soon knew that it was corrupt (with bribes paid by oil buyers and goods vendors) and that staff working in country were monitored by Iraqi intelligence and unable to monitor the program itself properly. Soussan's story of his job is a wry account of his errors and gaffes learning to negotiate the UN headquarters bureaucracy (where personal turf and feuds took precedence over the mission goal) and of growing frustration at the UN's refusal to investigate reports of corruption in the Oil-for-Food program. He ultimately resigned in frustration. Since the story broke, he has been active in calling for reforms. A worthwhile addition to current events collections.
—Marcia L. Sprules

Library Journal

"A great book and a fun read."
—Fareed Zakaria, GPS Book of the Week

From the Publisher