Deliver Us from Evil by William Shawcross - Book Report/Review Example

Order 328010 Topic: Book review, William Shawcross," Deliver Us from Evil" Introduction: The pages of human history, daubed in bloodshed, on account of conflicts and wars related to color, race, religion and territorial aggrandizement, ask the crying question. How to make this Planet Earth heaven-like? The answer is simple and straightforward. Eyes full of understanding, hears full of love and the life that refuses conflicts-enough! These alone are enough! “For only when our arms re sufficient beyond doubt, can we be certain beyond doubt, that they will never be employed,” said John F. Kennedy. The world leaders can not afford III world war, not because they love peace, but because they have no other alternative for survival. Unlimited powers, aided by astonishing schineitif and technological achievements have rendered the task or peace more difficult. A small mistake by the decision making authority could result in enormous losses to humanity. The war of push-buttons is unimaginably calamitous than the war of weapons that were used by the war-machine during the I and II World Wars. The purpose of the book William Showcross shows the great duress under which Kofi Annan functioned. Failure of men like Kofi Annan is the failure of UN, as Showcross puts it succinctly. The purpose of the book, broadly speaking, is to highlight why UN fails in its avowed objectives of establishing peace in the troubled regions. For example, about Iraq, he writes, when United States and Britain did bombings for four days, in 1998, Annan made a short statement, “This is a sad day for the United Nations, and for the world—it is also a very sad day for me personally.”(Showcross, p. 33) Showcross has highlighted in the book, how the Secretary General, has to work under very difficult circumstances, will be squarely blamed by the suffering people, for allegedly taking sides with the super powers like USA, UK and USSR. Another war will result in total destruction of the world. But regional conflicts are on the rise, threaten world peace, and the unexpected conflagrations can not be ruled out. Therefore, the legal arguments for humanitarian intervention, is necessitated and the world leaders have no other option but to pursue it vigorously. The book highlights the lack of international intelligence system to facilitate the global converge and public education required to mobilize and sustain multi-national peacekeeping operations. From the financial perspective, UN peace keeping operations depend upon the funding by the contributing nations. Whether they will provide the incremental assistance required during the big peace-keeping operations is the moot question. The objective of the peace-keeping operations is not to ignite the fires of local unrest. A tangible structure that takes into account doctorial and technological aspects of the operations, needs to be ready at hand. Preventive diplomacy needs to get the highest priority—all these issues are discussed in this book. A brief discussion of Shawcross underlined thesis: The lesson that this book has to offer has been summed up by Edmund Burke, who is quoted at the beginning: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." The credentials of William Shawcross are impeccable. He is a long-term British journalist and has remained active with writing assignments in many killing zones like Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, East Timor, Chechnya, Sierra Leone and Iraq. The success stories of UN are limited; failures are many. He writes, "...humility is important. Not everything can be achieved, not every wrong can be righted simply because the international community desires it. We cannot suddenly rebuild failed states or failing territories in our own image..."(Epilogue….) There are limits to power-- limits which, in the post-Cold War world, we have not, yet, learned how to successfully manage. With the areas of conflicts mounting, and rigidity of the stand by the concerned Nations, how UN would be able to play an effective peace-keeping role that is expected of it? Presentation and discussion of case studies: In the current scenario, review of the past mistakes, with a sincere intention to build the future course of action is the only alternative. If the plants and trees can live together, why not the human beings! Interventions by the international community have paid dividends, but they do not relate to the complete success stories. The author mentions about the success of UNTAC at Cambodia. But intervention in Somalia has been disastrous. Rwandan genocide is a slap on the face of those who sing the chorus, ‘world peace is an attainable reality.’ What were the compulsions of the conscience keeping powers of the world to allow Foday Sankosh to continue with the atrocious reign in Sierra Leone? The objective of peaceful transition to democracy was shown by the Australian-led INTERFET force in East Timor. Mozambique saw another success story that must have encouraged Kofi Annan. The main reason for problems of implementing the humanitarian rhetoric with the Western powers like US, France, UK etc is the fact that they play to the multiple audience. Being the democratic countries, their leaders think about the domestic vote-bank first than concern for the genuine suffering of the people where they deploy their fighting forces. Peace efforts are not meant to promote the hidden agendas of the powers that are involved in such operations. Failures of the UN peace keeping operations are many but its utter failure to prevent the genocide in Rwanda is highly regrettable and difficult to condone. This is, however, not to blame the UN body directly but to highlight with what constraints and limitations it is obliged to function. Rwandan population was clearly divided into two ethnic groups. The majority group Hutus began the killing operation of the minority group, the Tutis. Nearly 100,000 Tutis were murdered in a dastardly manner, and UN failed to take any action. Tutis fought back. A guerilla movement by them took control of the country. Hutus formed another strategy. They drove their own people out of the country into neighboring Zaire to form a guerrilla army there. They fought for some time against Tutis, but Tutis invaded Zaire massacring a large number of Hutus and they also overthrew the government of Mombutu. UN peacekeepers intervened to prevent this happening but the mission was a failure. Another great failure of UN was in Somalia. With total breakdown in civil society, the small country was heading nowhere. A large number of people migrated to the capital, and this led to the collapse of food production in the rural areas. With no civil authority to control, the armed gangs ruled the roost. Instead of assessing the overall situation and take remedial measures that will benefit the majority of the people, the UN forces and United States began the hunt of one gang leader and spent their energies to capture him. No steps were taken to increase rural agricultural production. The confrontation with some gangs in capital resulted in US forces suffering casualties and the US came to the conclusion that the operation is no sustainable, and a pull out was ordered. When such a pullout happens what could be the conditions of the people, that have to face the renewed wrath of the gang leaders? Lessons learned about peacekeeping: The path of peace is more complicated than treading the war-front. In peace-keeping, a soldier is not expected to forget the benevolence aspect of his presence there. Paper and pen, the peace keeping plans, are more important than wielding the gun. Several competing forces are out to sabotage the peace process. For, they have vested interests in the continuance of the hostilities. For the criminal gangs, it is their business, and any businessman wants his business to thrive to make profits. It is very easy to ignite the fires of nationalism and ethnicity—that the community is in danger of being wiped-out etc—and create an environment of fear and vulnerability. The local resistance forces have the geographical advantage as they are well-versed about the topography and thick jungles of the region. Unnecessary meddling in the internal conflicts by external forces, including UN, needs to be avoided. But in case of mass genocide campaigns, interventions needs to be immediate and the operations must be carried out with speed and with ruthless efficiency. If the intervening powers make the mistake of siding with any one section, that is going to be the mistake of the lifetime. Serious malpractices are also committed in the matter of handling incoming relief supplies. From the operational aspects, Showcross highlights the political compulsions of the interventions. The disposition varies from country to country and sensitive issues like race, ethnicity, and regions come to the fore, when such operations are initiated and conducted. Unfortunately, White Western countries, Arab countries and African and Asian countries are not weighed in the same scale of justice. The pendulum of favors swings viciously. UNO peace-keeping operations are broad concepts. The same military strategies can not be applied everywhere. Showcross is aware that UN is a responsive organization. It decisions are the collective will of the members of the Security Council. These members can build or break the decision making capacity of UN. “They can either project the power of the United Nations or tie its hands.”(p.35) Financially, it is dependent of the member countries. In the late nineties USA nearly destroyed the UN financially. The internal politics of USA contributed to such a sorry state of affairs. During the Rwandan genocide the attitude of President Clinton and his top advisers was no helpful. Showcross avers, with the lack of political will, international problems can not be solved. Shawcross cites a number of instances where the humanitarian aid like food shipment, at the destination fell into the hands of the combatants and the suffering of the starving people further intensified as they got nothing from the food intended for them. The greatest blockade to the peace-keeping process was within the structure of the UN itself. The highest authority of the UN feels helpless to do something tangible. “With no enforcement capacity and no executive power beyond the Organization, “Annan told his audience at the Council on Foreign Relations, “a Secretary General is armed only with tools of his own making. He is invested only with the power that a united Security Council may wish to bestow, and the moral authority entrusted to him by the Charter.”(p.34) Support for Shawcross-- conclusion. The words ‘peace process’ gladdens the heart of every right thinking individual, but Shawcross explains how these conflict zones throughout the world, proved to be the failure-zones as far as UN peace keeping is concerned. UN functions with several constraints. It is not capable of delivering what is expected of it from the people of the countries that suffered and continue to suffer. Following the end of the Cold War, conflicts erupted in many areas, and the responses of UN were utter failures. Showcross focuses on Kofi Annan, the present Secretary General, and pictures that most intelligent and the man heading the ‘most powerful’ body of the world, finds himself helpless and how UN is unable to accomplish what is expected of it by the people. Notwithstanding the best intentions, Annan had to face bitter criticism, for his handling the Iraq issue. In the New York Times, the columnist A.M. Rosenthal, who had characterized Annan’s policy towards Saddam as “diligent appeasement,” now described the Secretary General as “Saddam’s greatest single asset at the UN. (p.33) UN is not a body descended from the heaven. A group of Nations with conflicting individual interests manage its operation. Their individual interests are strong and they will not compromise on it. The pivotal body of UN is the Security Council. Its members are armed with the veto power that cripples the functioning of UN. It can not act at will. ************* Works Cited Shawcross, William: Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless.. Simon & Schuster; 1st Touchstone Ed edition- August 7, 2001. Read More