Deliver Us from Evil : Warlords and Peacekeepers in a World of Endless Conflict - Softcover

Shawcross, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747553122 ISBN 13: 9780747553120

Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2001

Synopsis

We have all seen press and television pictures of winding lines of refugees in Africa or on mountain passes in Europe and felt that 'something must be done'. In this urgent new book William Shawcross reveals what lies behind decisions by the 'international community' to intervene in a situation on humanitarian grounds, and what happens when the troops and aid agencies move in. It is a story of noble aspirations and often ignoble real politik. To tell the story of international peacekeeping in the last ten years Shawcross has gone where the warlords and the action are - Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Bosnia, Iraq, Kosovo, Somalia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and East Timor - and made full use of the privileged access he has had to the peacemakers, including global policy-makers, leading diplomats and key humanitarian aid officials. All of us would wish to be delivered from evil: Shawcross demonstrates what actually happens when our wish appears to be granted.

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Review

Foreign-affairs journalist William Shawcross travels around the world--Bosnia, Baghdad, and elsewhere--to paint a messy portrait of the post-cold-war world. Deliver Us from Evil is very much an on-the-ground book, full of reportage and descriptions of world leaders such as UN chief Kofi Annan. It includes a strong point of view: the dewy-eyed, do-gooder mentality that drives so much contemporary international relations is, as far as Shawcross is concerned, deeply wrongheaded. Peacekeeping missions often find that there's no peace to keep, and expectations of what they can accomplish soar far too high. "Today 'humanitarianism' often rules. It becomes a sop to international concern, and then it can be dangerous," writes Shawcross. Coupled with a world of instant media, where CNN broadcasts live from the killing fields, humanitarianism fuels a strong desire to have immediate reconciliation between warring factions. But it's a delusional goal, says Shawcross, pointing to the American Civil War and how long (even after Appomattox) it took North and South to reconcile fully. There's no reason to think other torn nations will respond more quickly. Peacekeeping missions often promise a heaven on earth they cannot deliver. "In a more religious time it was only God whom we asked to deliver us from evil," concludes Shawcross. "Now we call upon our own man-made institutions for such deliverance. That is sometimes to ask for miracles." --John J. Miller

About the Author

William Shawcross is an international correspondent and broadcaster. His articles have appeared in the Independent, the Guardian, the Sunday Telegraph, the Sunday Times, International Herald Tribune and Newsweek. His many books include THE QUALITY OF MERCY: Cambodia, Holocaust and Modern Conscience (1984) THESHAH'S LAST RIDE: The Story of the Exile, Misadventures and Death of the Emperor (1989) and RUPERT MURDOCH: The Making of a Media Empire (1992).

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0747553122
• ISBN 13: 9780747553120
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432