Peacemaker (eBook)

U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World

Thant Myint-U (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
384 Seiten
W. W. Norton & Company (Verlag)
978-1-324-05198-5 (ISBN)

Infos

A wonderful subject, beautifully written, evoking a world startlingly like and unlike our own. Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins and possibilities of our current global crisis.Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the EdgeA new history of the turbulent 1960s told through the life of U Thant, the first UN secretary-general of color, whose decisions once shaped global war and peace.In the early 1960s, a peaceful world was an imaginable goal. The still-young United Nations was widely respected and regarded as humankinds best hope for resolving global conflicts. African and Asian nations, having recently won their freedom from colonial domination, sought dignity and influence on the world stage. At the helm of their international efforts was U Thant, a practicing Buddhist from a remote town in Burma who, as the UNs first non-Western secretary-general, became the Cold War eras preeminent ambassador of peace.From the moment of his predecessors mysterious death in 1961, Thant faced a deluge of violent conflicts in Congo, Yemen, Cyprus, and Nigeria, as well as one between India and Pakistan, that threatened larger conflagrations.Crucially, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he played an indispensable rolevirtually hidden until nowin defusing tensions and helping both superpowers find a way back from nuclear confrontation. For years Thant also challenged Washington over its war in Vietnam, identifying paths to peace that could have saved the lives of millions.Drawing on newly declassified documents, Thants grandson, historian Thant Myint-U, gives a riveting account of how his grandfathers gentle yet willful disposition shaped his determination to avoid a third world war, give voice to the newly decolonized world, create a fairer international economy, and safeguard the environment. Rather than a vestige of an idealistic past, U Thants fight for peace is central to a fresh understanding of our world today.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 9.9.2025
• Zusatzinfo: 15 black-and-white illustrations
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Schlagworte: Bangladesh • Biafra • Burma • Cold War • cuban missile crisis • Diplomacy • Globalism • International Politics • post-colonilism • secretary-general of the united nations • six day war • U Thant
• ISBN-10: 1-324-05198-1 / 1324051981
• ISBN-13: 978-1-324-05198-5 / 9781324051985