Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World

by Ban Ki-moon

Overview

Born just one year before the United Nations itself, Ban Ki-moon came of age with the world body. His earliest memories are haunted by the sound of bombs dropping on his Korean village and the sight of fires consuming what remained. The six-year-old boy fled with his family, trudging for miles in mud-soaked shoes, suffering from incessant hunger, and wondering how they would survive—until the United Nations rescued them. Young Ban Ki-moon grew up determined to repay this lifesaving generosity.

Resolved is Ban Ki-moon’s personal account of his decade at the helm of the organization during a period of historic turmoil and promise. Meeting challenges and resistance with a belief in the UN’s mission of peace, development, and human rights, he steered the United Nations through a volatile period that included the Arab Spring, nuclear pursuits in Iran and North Korea, the Ebola epidemic, and brutal new conflicts in Central Africa. As secretary-general, Ban also forged global agreements to fight extreme poverty and address the climate crisis.

Ban performed what has been called “the most impossible job on this earth” with a genuine belief in collective action and global transformation. Freed from the diplomatic constraints of a lifetime of public service, he offers a candid assessment of the people and events that shape our era and a bracing analysis of what lies ahead.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231552783
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Ban Ki-moon is a South Korean diplomat and former foreign minister who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations from January 2007 to December 2016. Throughout his career, Ban worked to mobilize international efforts against a slate of global pressures including climate change, extreme poverty, and armed conflict to make the world a safer and more equitable place.

Table of Contents

Preface
Part I. A Child of War, a Man of Peace
1. Early Life: From Tragedy to Strength
2. Diplomatic Life: Sharing Korea’s Traditional Values
3. Election of the Secretary-General: Seeking a Mandate to Lead
4. Danger: The Risk Is Real
5. Negotiation: Flow Like Water
Part II. Peace and Security
6. North Korea: The Difficult Cousins
7. September 11, 2001: The Complexity of Consensus
8. Peacekeeping: Without 360° Agreement, Every Step Is a Battle
9. Sudan: War Criminals, Refugees, and a Cow Called Ban Ki-moo~~
10. Gaza: Conveyor Bell Diplomacy
11. Arab Spring: Season of Discontent
12. Iran: The Importance of Promises
13. Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Opens the Hermit Nation
14. Sri Lanka: Access and Inaction
15. Haiti: From Earthquake to Heartbreak
Part III. Human Rights and Development
16. Human Rights: Born Free and Equal
17. Women: Expanding Opportunity Inside the UN 1and Around the World
18. The Sustainable Development Goals: Toward Dignity for All
19. Climate Crisis: Do or Die
20. Global Health: Preventing, Containing, and Curing Together
Part IV. Our Future
21. Accountability: No Justice, No Peace
22. UN Reform: Making Room for the Future
23. Mission Possible: It’s Our World, Nourish It
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

This book, which portrays Ban Ki-moon’s experiences and achievements during ten years at the helm of the UN, is a fascinating inside account of multilateral diplomacy at the global level. It takes the readers through a number of conflicts as well as development and human rights challenges at the UN in an insightful, open and succinct way. As deputy secretary-general, I worked closely with Ban on a broad array of issues, ranging from the war in Syria to the negotiations on Sustainable Development Goals and to the initiative Human Rights up Front. In all these issues, his efforts were untiring, persistent and well-timed. It is broadly recognized that he played an historic and decisive role in reaching the Paris climate agreement In December 2015. On a personal level, I highly appreciate his solid and courageous support of the launch of Human Rights up Front, an initiative which symbolizes the first three words of the UN Charter, "We the peoples.” It also reflects Secretary-General Ban’s constant quest for a life in dignity for all.

Jan Eliasson

Ban Ki-moon offers an incisive account of his history-shaping tenure as UN Secretary-General. With his unswerving commitment to human dignity and the common good, Ban repeatedly used his consummate diplomatic skills, honed over many decades, to overcome obstacles of ignorance, hate, confusion, and self-interest in order to reach major global agreements on sustainable development, climate change, and other momentous challenges. Ban vividly demonstrates the great powers of “personal diplomacy with compassion” to build cooperative global solutions, while he reminds us of the harrowing risks to humanity of narrow-mindedness, abuse of power, militarism, and vast disruptions of economic and technological change.

Jeffrey D. Sachs

Ban Ki-moon has had an extraordinary and inspirational life, not least given the extreme poverty in which he grew up. You admire his ambition, tenacity, and patience in achieving global consensus for the incredibly important Sustainable Development Goals. But you also appreciate the golden thread that weaves its way through this book—his humanity. A true public servant, whose compassion shines throughout.

Tony Blair

This is a warm, readable account by Ban Ki-moon of his ten-year term as UN secretary-general and of his aim from the beginning to prioritize the climate crisis. At a time of increasing skepticism, his humble humanitarian concern and intense dedication should do much to restore confidence in the core values of the UN.

Mary Robinson

Can we not only imagine but actually build a better world? In this book, a farsighted global statesman not only says yes—but also shows us how.

Graham Allison

In his momentous memoirs, Ban Ki-moon leads us through the exciting exchanges, communication, and interaction among world leaders, prominent personalities, citizens, and advocates as they craft a global agenda. This is a must-read for all interested in knowing the workings of the United Nations and its dedicated secretary-general.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Ban Ki-moon describes a lifetime of service to Korea and to the world as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations, where he put climate change at the top of his agenda. He provides fascinating details of the diplomacy and politics of what he describes as the ultimate threat to peace and security.

Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Ban Ki-moon describes a lifetime of service to Korea and to the world as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, where he put climate change at the top of his agenda. He provides fascinating details of the diplomacy and politics of what he describes as the ultimate threat to peace and security.

Joseph S. Nye

2021-03-02
A memoir from the diplomat who served as the secretary-general of the U.N. from 2007 to 2016.

In a workmanlike but historically and politically informative narrative, Ban (b. 1944) recalls his early years in South Korea and his motivations for fighting for health, human rights, and climate policies throughout his distinguished career. The eldest child in a large family, Ban grew up in a small rural town; when war erupted in 1950, he fled with his family. He writes movingly of his experiences as a child “surviving on UNICEF provisions and learning from UNESCO textbooks in the rubble of war.” During nearly four decades in public office, Ban oversaw most aspects of Seoul’s relationship with the U.N. and the U.S., pivotal partners since the Korean War. A diligent and hardworking student, he quickly worked his way up in the diplomatic corps. In 1978, he was posted as first secretary to Korea’s Permanent Observer Mission to the U.N. in New York. In 1991, Ban helped negotiate the response to North Korea’s buildup of nuclear weapons just as South Korea attained full partnership in the General Assembly, along with North Korea. Because he was largely conservative, Ban was surprised to be offered cabinet positions in liberal administrations. After months of careful diplomacy in 2006, Ban became the U.N.’s eighth secretary-general. Although there “was almost unanimous agreement that it was ‘Asia’s turn’ to field the next secretary-general,” South Korea was problematic due to its military ties to the U.S. Regardless, Ban got to work making the U.N. more efficient and transparent; addressing climate change; seeking a solution for the atrocities in Darfur; and alleviating extreme poverty. The author also delineates his extensive work in human rights activism; empowerment of women and LGBTQ+ people (the latter stance was unpopular in Korea); and, especially, the creation of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2016. Though the prose isn’t scintillating, the unique viewpoint on global history is invaluable.

An inspiring story of character and integrity on the world stage.

Kirkus Reviews