Charles Petrie

The underlying theme of The Triumph of Evil is refusing to give up. I served with the United Nations for more than twenty years and I never ceased to believe in the importance of an institution born from the horrors of two world wars and created by an inspired group of world leaders who at the time understood that unchecked nationalistic self-interest could not guarantee long-term peace.

Though I resigned from the UN at the end of 2010 as the Secretary General’s representative in Burundi, I have been invited back numerous times to contribute to ongoing reflections. While this book may come as a shock to some within the UN, it should be understood as the latest attempt at getting the UN leadership to recognize the importance of reasserting the values enshrined in the UN’s Charter. The UN was created to confront the “scourge of war” and to “serve the peoples of the world”. Right now, it could do better.