Backstabbing For Beginners: My Crash Course In International Diplomacy (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
If you've ever worked at the UN, this book is for you. And if you haven't, here it all is. And it ain't pretty. But it is pretty funny, in a devastating, disheartening kind of way.(Tip: if you take the author's class at NYU -- "Writing for International Affairs" -- you will get even more out of it.)Moral of the story: a complete and utter failure of common sense. That about sums it up. I recall seeing the review of this book in the WSJ and remember thinking, I need to read this book. The effortless electronic link to Amazon had the book to my doorstep within three days. It was definitely worth reading although I could not give it my highest rating. I would have liked the author to have been a bit more principled. However, I realize that such an individual would never have lasted long within the UN and I could not have written this book. Still, one comes away with a sense that some of the culture within the UN had to have rubbed off. I have been skeptical of the UN and this book reinforces my own biases. It is not surprising that such a political organization becomes populated with those with the most honed political survival skills. Since they fall outside the bounds of our domestic legal and ethical structure, it is not surprising that the behaviors of the those who survive within the UN culture are so outrageous. If there is any universal truth from this book it is that in the right context really bad behavior can go on almost indefinitely and it will have fierce defenders despite repeated exposes (such as this one).
What do You think about Backstabbing For Beginners: My Crash Course In International Diplomacy (2008)?
I realized how naive I have been after reading this book. Truly an eyeopener for me.
—narot
Thanks to this book, I no longer have a deep respect for the UN.
—trinna
