United Nations, Iran, and Iraq: How Peacemaking Changed (An Institute for the Study of Diplomacy) - Hardcover

Hume has written a ground-breaking study... his analysis is thoughtful and objective in the best tradiiton of the practitioner scholar." -Choice ... a ground-breaking book written by a rising star of the American diplomatic service who was himself intimately involved in the Beekman Place negotiations... Mr. Hume... guides the reader through the complex diplomacy that surrounded the Iraq-Iran war, showing how the great powers came to recognize that ending the conflict was in their interests." -Paul Lewis, New York Times Book Review Cameron Hume shows how the problems and perils arising from the war served as timely grist to the mills of the Security Council at the UN... This is something that well deserves to be saved from oblivion." -The Economist ... well-informed... an ably written diplomatic history that will be referred to for years to come by those who want to understand how the United Nations is meant to operate."-Foreign Affairs This book describes how the member states operate, in good times and bad. And it does so with grace and insight." -Gary Sick, Middle East Journal ... a serious and insightful account of the changing role of the UN in the Iran-Iraq conflict... by an able diplomat who was directly involved." -Shibley Telhami This insider's account of the revolutionary changes in the U.N. Security Council... is a major contribution to understanding why the U.N. and the Council are now more effective and more used.... a well-written, important book." -U.S. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering Hume's authoritative account follows the transformation of the Security Council, since 1985, from a stage for acrimonious public diplomacy into a forum where governments collaborate to settle regional disputes.

In 1985, faced with conflicts involving Iran and Iraq, the United Nations Security Council's permanent members joined forces for the first time to mobilize the U.N. against threats to international peace and security. Cameron R. Hume's authoritative account follows the transformation of the Security Council from a stage for acrimonious public diplomacy into a forum where governments collaborate to settle regional disputes. Hume underscores three interconnected themes: changes in Security Council diplomacy during forty-five years of successive conflicts involving Iran and Iraq (including Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait); the Council's progression from invoking gentler means within its authority (under the U.N. Charter) to a more muscular assertion of its will; and the growing congruence between diplomacy as practiced in the Security Council and the bilateral policies of the major powers. Based on U.N. documents and the author's firsthand experience, The United Nations, Iran, and Iraq is important for students and practitioners in international organizations, multilateral diplomacy, and conflict resolution.