Kurt Waldheim: Un métier unique au monde

Former UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s narratives about the most unique job in the world. It is not his memoirs, this one was written while he was still acting Secretary General in 1977. It was not actually written by him, he was interviewed by Éric Rouleau in between travels and summits in the course of fifteen months due to the Secretary General’s busy schedule.

This book is mostly about then current world affairs and how the UN dealt with them. What makes it interesting today is that most of these issues – Middle East peace process, Cyprus and economic help for the developing world – are still current. 

In the book Secretary Waldheim gives a unique insight to what was called “the most impossible job in the world” by another former Secretary General, Trygve Lie. He cites examples from his own terms when he needed to practice diplomacy in the highest levels. He explains how impossible indeed it is to please all parties when trying to negotiate in a conflict without taking sides or even doing anything that could be equivocal. He gives examples to proove how the UN is actually capable of fulfilling its mission and prevent wars when it is backed by the majority of its members (especially the P5).

In all, it is a really interesting read about the work of the United Nations, I can’t wait to read Secretary Waldheim’s memoirs about a much longer period.

*I read it in Hungarian actually, couldn’t find an English version of this one. Seems it only came out in French back then and later it was translated to other languages but not English. Or that’s what I found. But if any of you know about an English version, let us all know.