Physical
Available| Language | English |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 8177584537 |
| ISBN-13 | 9788177584530 |
| No of pages | 328 |
| Font Size | Medium |
| Book Publisher | Dorling Kindersley |
| Published Date | 30 Dec 2007 |
Chinmaya Gharekhan, a distinguished member of the Indian Foreign Service, served in Egypt, the Congo, Laos, Vietnam, and former Yugoslavia. He has spent nearly a quarter century dealing with the United Nations in various capacities, first as first secretary in the Indian mission in New York, later as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and the Specialised Agencies in Geneva, and lastly as India's Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York for over six years.
He also served as advisor for foreign affairs to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He was appointed Under Secretary General in the United Nations in January 1993, first as a Senior Political Advisor and later as United Nations Special Coordinator for Occupied Territories with headquarters in Gaza.
He was the Personal Representative of the Secretary General to the Security Council which provided him the unique opportunity to observe and record the working of the Security Council from both sides, delegation as well as secretariat. He has had the unique experience of having served as India's representative on the Security Council, including twice as its President as well as the Secretary General's personal representative on the Council for four years during which he had the rare opportunity to closely follow its working.
He lives in New Delhi with his wife.
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We the Peoples', in whose name the United Nations was created in 1945, assess the success or failure of the organisation primarily by its effectiveness in maintaining or restoring peace and stability in the world.
The work of the Security Council, which has been charged with the responsibility of securing and preserving peace, is shrouded in secrecy for the most part, except for the occasional public show case meetings which it holds from time to time. How does the Security Council conduct its business? How does it deal with the challenges which it is called upon to handle every time a serious crisis breaks out?
How does it arrive at its decisions which ~re embodied in the form of resolutions or presidential statements? How do the permanent members strike deals among themselves and take care to accommodate each other's concerns? What role does the Secretary General play in this crucial field? What is the state of relationship between him and the Security Council?
In this unique and unprecedented and intimate account, Chinmaya Gharekhan takes us through the meetings of the Security Council as it debated emergency situations during the First Gulf War of 1991, Iraq's WMD programme and the work of the Special Commission set up to eliminate them, the beginnings of the Oil-for-Food programme, the Balkan War of the early 1990s, the Rwanda Genocide, the Lockerbie Disaster involving Libya and so on.
There are two chapters giving graphic accounts of the election of the Secretary General, a process which is shrouded in complete secrecy. The Horseshoe Table gives a ringside view of the functioning of this most vital organ which, in theory, is an instrument at service of the international community but over which it has hardly any control.