The year is 1997, Michael Soussan, a fresh-faced young graduate takes up a new job at the U.N.’s Oil-for-Food Program, the largest humanitarian operation in the organization’s history. His mission is to help Iraqi civilians survive the devastating impact of economic sanctions that were imposed following the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
As a gaffe-prone novice in a world of sensitive taboos, Soussan struggles to negotiate the increasing paranoia of his incomprehensible boss and the inner workings of one of the world’s notoriously complex bureaucracies. But as he learns more about the vast sums of money flowing through the program, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems. Soussan becomes aware that Saddam Hussein is extracting illegal kickbacks, a discovery that sets him on a collision course with the organization‘s leadership. On March 8, 2004, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed editorial, Soussan becomes the first insider to call for “an independent investigation” of the U.N.’s dealings with Saddam Hussein. One week later, a humiliated Kofi Annan appointed Paul Volcker to lead a team of sixty international investigators, whose findings resulted in hundreds of prosecutions in multiple countries, many of which are still ongoing.
Backstabbing for Beginners is at once a witty tale of one man’s political coming of age, and a stinging indictment of the hypocrisy that prevailed at the heart of one of the world’s most idealistic institutions.
"[Michael Soussan's] tale is one of a profound institutional corruption, infinitely more significant than that of any single individual. The next time you hear anyone mention the United Nations and moral authority in the same sentence, tell them to read this book." -Sunday Times "Fascinating... [an] excellent source of information about corruption among leading participatory nations and the UN itself [and] an important revelatory work." -The Morning Star"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Michael Soussan's first book, the ironically titled "Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course In international Diplomacy (available in Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle) has recently been optioned by Hollywood after receiving exceptional critical acclaim, including from by the Sunday Times, which praised its humorous insight and Catch-22-like tone, and the Wall Street Journal, which named it a "best book of the year." The Washington Film Institute described it as "NBC's THE OFFICE meets CLOONEY's SYRIANA"- And yet it is a true story - the story of our collective behavior, as an international community, toward the people of Iraq, from the end of the cold war to the onset of the war on terror.
See digest of critical reviews at:ttp://www.michaelsoussan.com/pages/book_praise.html
Soussan's experience takes us behind the scenes of the world stage and offers a truly original first hand account of world events, seen from the eyes of an absolute beginner in the world of international diplomacy. His early gaffes and his determination to make logical sense of a deeply incoherent environment provokes a mix of darkly comical experiences, which in turn offer original insight into forces at play, both on and off the world stage
After resigning from the UN, Michael Soussan made a transition to writing, producing, and teaching. He contributed editorial articles to the New York Times' International Herald Tribune, The New Republic, Prospect Magazine (UK), Salon, The Irish Times, The New York Post, CNN,Online, FoxNews.com, Commentary Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, among others. An independent observer, his stories have attracted interest from a wide range of publishers from all sides of the political spectrum. He is a regular contributor to the Providence Journal editorial pages, which published his first professional article while he was still an undergraduate at Brown University. He holds an MA in International Relations from Science-Po in Paris, a certificate in film directing from NYU, and a BA from Brown, where he founded and edited The Brown Journal of World Affairs, also available twice yearly in bookstores nationwide
Soussan has been invited to lecture by various organizations including the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), the Ditchley House in Oxford, the Harvard Club of New York, the London School of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, the MIT book club, and the World Affairs Council. He has also testified before the House International Relations Committee of the US Congress. Soussan has been interviewed by over a dozen of NPR radio stations, as well as the BBC, CNN, FOX News, ABC News, SKYNEWS, among others. Prior to becoming an author, Soussan worked at CNN and at the United Nations, where he served as Program Coordinator for the United Nations Iraq Program. He currently teaches international affairs and the Iraq conflict at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, and lives in New York City. He recently developed a new popular course called "writing About Global Affairs" through which he mentors a number of aspiring writers in the field
Michael is reachable at michaelsoussan@yahoo.com and has a habit of responding to mails from readers.
This review is from: Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (Hardcover)
Michael Soussan's memoir of his time as UN Oil for Food Programme Coordinator is all at once informative, provocative, witty, intelligent, and poignant. Far from your ordinary historical review, Mr. Soussan paints a detailed and engaging insider's picture of what was going on within the iconic international organization, complete with a description of the specific contents of Benon Sevan's office and a cast of nicknamed characters (including "Spooky," "Smiley Face," and his own - "The Kid"). In addition, Mr. Soussan demonstrates a strong grasp of the conflicting international interests and current affairs at the time.
Insofar as this book also serves as a "coming-of-age" piece, again, the author manages to accomplish much more, describing a young man, naïve and hopeful, who was convinced he was going to make a difference - and he does, just not at all in the way he ever imagined. Mr. Soussan's writing is clever and will have you laughing out loud as you relate to some of the many mistakes he made in his younger days and gape at others you never would imagine happening to yourself (like nearly kissing your life goodbye as you pee in a mine-laden wasteland). At the same time, the book includes some very sobering scenes, and you will be engrossed in the tragedy Mr. Soussan aptly describes. The overall message of the book is powerful, reminding us to never forget our ability to achieve a greater good no matter what the odds.
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This review is from: Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (Hardcover)
I am surprised this book has not been given more attention and that there aren't more customer reviews on it. Then it dawned on me: the book is critical of the UN; no wonder it hasn't received more media attention. That being said, it is a very, very good read. I have seen first hand the damage that a large government bureaucracy can dish out. Mr. Soussan's account of turf wars, bickering, egos and backstabbing is spot on. One point made in the book that probably miffed the nattering nabobs of negativism is the fact that he doesn't blame everything on President Bush. The author, being Danish with French ethnicity, rightly points out that the Iraq WMD issue preceeds Bush's term and that "regime change" was in fact the official US policy under President Clinton. He certainly doesn't praise Bush, but he gives insight into why Bush had to bypass the UN after the organization initially backed him.
Saddam Hussein is depicted, rightfully, as a lying madman who was bribing France, Russia and other nations to get sanctions lifted. The author goes into detail about the propaganda war waged by Hussein to create worldwide sympathy, hoodwink passive nations, and scam billions of dollars to build palaces and God knows what else.
For an in-depth description of why the UN fails to execute its resolutions and one of the reasons why the second Gulf War came to be such a mess, this book is a must read.
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This review is from: Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (Hardcover)
This book is really wonderful! It's a must read for students, journalists, government employees, diplomats and anyone interested in international affairs. Funny and heart wrenching at the same time --- it's a coming of age story of a young man who thinks he has found his calling in a UN job until he realizes the sobering truth behind the UN's Oil-for-Food program in Iraq. Educational and relevant --- the author writes in a manner that will have you staying up late to finish the book. And while most of today's commentary about the UN comes from a particular political vantage point, Mr. Soussan is clearly not out to simply bash the UN or to defend it. He is neither from the political right or the political left and this makes his behind the scenes account particularly stinging. Buy a copy now!
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
oil overseers, oil allocations, status sheet, canned cheese, security coordinator, humanitarian program, humanitarian goods, secret list, oil minister, humanitarian community
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Security Council, Saddam Hussein, United States, United Nations, Kofi Annan, New York, Father Benjamin, Gulf War, White House, Vieira de Mello, Denis Halliday, Tariq Aziz, President Bush, Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq War, Volcker Committee, Hans von Sponeck, Middle East, Smiley Face, General Assembly, Brown University, Fox News, Iqbal Riza, Desert Storm, Jacques Chirac
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