Could have been so much better, 08 Mar 2008
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".

The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Andrew, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).

So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavour of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. They all sounded curiously alike to me and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi comes across as Ken's fantasy girl with her limpid eyes and active sexual appetite. Andrew also comes across as Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfs in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavour of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been much better with judicious editing.

thrilling, captivating nonfiction, 18 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on a feeling it was good and I wasn't wrong. It's written by 3 very good authors, their writing style is sophisticated but simple enough not to boggle your mind. Three perspectives on a situation is a jewel in itself and it's nonfiction, an extra for me. You won't want to put it down.

The laughter & tears , 10 Nov 2007
I loved this book. I have recommended it to everyone- ex-Army, complacent city city kids. It doesn't have a sweet conclusion, but in that sense, nor does life. It starts off with the romantic dream of working for an NGO, and describes the kind of enlighenment that day to day living brings with any issue. On the eve of Remmberance, and with my closest friends who have been there, this has helped me to understand more so than any text book or lecture. My copy is well thumbed and I am proud.

Gritty and realistic, 04 Jul 2007
Having sent some time in some of these places during my Air Force days I was interesed to see a different perspective of these places. This book is not only gritty but honest and even when times seem boring this only punctuates the frustration and fear felt when times you thought things could not get worse, they do. As the entries (this is written in a journal style) continue you are drawn into the small group and begin to genuinely care about them.
Some of the atrocities recorded here are hard to stomach but have to read so that even when you are safe and comfortable at home you can appreciate that because you can't see evil in the world, it doesn't mean it's not there. This book is proof that there are good people who care but are constantly having their hands tied by those who just don't want to look bad.
Read it, read it, read it.


Amazing, 02 Jan 2007
I work in the sector and was fascinated by the account: it is very close to my own reality. It is fun, it is sad, it is enjoyable, it is scary. The best and the worst of the human kind.
The book is EXTREMELY well written, with the three authors overlapping their accounts/perspectives/stories chronologically.
I will certainly buy some few extra copies to give to some friends.

Could have been so much better, 08 Mar 2008
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".

The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Andrew, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).

So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavour of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. They all sounded curiously alike to me and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi comes across as Ken's fantasy girl with her limpid eyes and active sexual appetite. Andrew also comes across as Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfs in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavour of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been much better with judicious editing.

thrilling, captivating nonfiction, 18 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on a feeling it was good and I wasn't wrong. It's written by 3 very good authors, their writing style is sophisticated but simple enough not to boggle your mind. Three perspectives on a situation is a jewel in itself and it's nonfiction, an extra for me. You won't want to put it down.

The laughter & tears , 10 Nov 2007
I loved this book. I have recommended it to everyone- ex-Army, complacent city city kids. It doesn't have a sweet conclusion, but in that sense, nor does life. It starts off with the romantic dream of working for an NGO, and describes the kind of enlighenment that day to day living brings with any issue. On the eve of Remmberance, and with my closest friends who have been there, this has helped me to understand more so than any text book or lecture. My copy is well thumbed and I am proud.

Gritty and realistic, 04 Jul 2007
Having sent some time in some of these places during my Air Force days I was interesed to see a different perspective of these places. This book is not only gritty but honest and even when times seem boring this only punctuates the frustration and fear felt when times you thought things could not get worse, they do. As the entries (this is written in a journal style) continue you are drawn into the small group and begin to genuinely care about them.
Some of the atrocities recorded here are hard to stomach but have to read so that even when you are safe and comfortable at home you can appreciate that because you can't see evil in the world, it doesn't mean it's not there. This book is proof that there are good people who care but are constantly having their hands tied by those who just don't want to look bad.
Read it, read it, read it.


Amazing, 02 Jan 2007
I work in the sector and was fascinated by the account: it is very close to my own reality. It is fun, it is sad, it is enjoyable, it is scary. The best and the worst of the human kind.
The book is EXTREMELY well written, with the three authors overlapping their accounts/perspectives/stories chronologically.
I will certainly buy some few extra copies to give to some friends.

Useful account of law governing transitional administrations, 26 Oct 2004
Chapters cover the topics of colonies and occupied territories: transitional administration through the 20th century, the evolution of UN peace operations, the use of force to maintain law and order, the question of whether a benevolent foreign autocracy can build democracy, the rule of law in post-conflict territories, the politics of humanitarian and development assistance, elections and exit strategies, and the future of state-building.

Chesterman looks at the UN's role in countries' transitions from war to peace through periods of international supervision. Elections can be part of a state-building project or peace process: in Cambodia in 1992-93 the UN empowered a transitional administration which held elections and then withdrew. But UN administrations have held election after election in Bosnia since 1995, and in Kosovo since 1999, but show no signs of leaving.

The 'Ombudsperson Institution' in Kosovo reported in 2002 that the UN 'Interim' Administration there "is not structured according to democratic principles, does not function in accordance with the rule of law, and does not respect important international human rights norms. The people of Kosovo are therefore deprived of protection of their basic rights and freedoms three years after the end of the conflict by the very entity set up to guarantee them."

In Iraq, troops will stay after the January election, till the end of 2005, we are told. But this hostile military occupation after an illegal invasion is neither building an independent state, nor achieving peace. Likewise in Afghanistan: rebuilding there is negligible (completed reconstruction projects totalled less than $200 million by May 2003), and warlords still rule the country.

The US state has interpreted civil wars, humanitarian crises, lack of democracy, and 'failed and failing states' as 'threats to international peace and security', and has taken control of such states. Its constants are military occupation for bases, pipelines and oil, in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq alike. Colonialism is now rightly condemned as an international crime, but the US state still does it, under UN cover. And the record indeed shows that a foreign autocracy cannot build democratic, sovereign states.

Could have been so much better, 08 Mar 2008
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".

The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Andrew, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).

So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavour of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. They all sounded curiously alike to me and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi comes across as Ken's fantasy girl with her limpid eyes and active sexual appetite. Andrew also comes across as Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfs in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavour of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been much better with judicious editing.

thrilling, captivating nonfiction, 18 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on a feeling it was good and I wasn't wrong. It's written by 3 very good authors, their writing style is sophisticated but simple enough not to boggle your mind. Three perspectives on a situation is a jewel in itself and it's nonfiction, an extra for me. You won't want to put it down.

The laughter & tears , 10 Nov 2007
I loved this book. I have recommended it to everyone- ex-Army, complacent city city kids. It doesn't have a sweet conclusion, but in that sense, nor does life. It starts off with the romantic dream of working for an NGO, and describes the kind of enlighenment that day to day living brings with any issue. On the eve of Remmberance, and with my closest friends who have been there, this has helped me to understand more so than any text book or lecture. My copy is well thumbed and I am proud.

Gritty and realistic, 04 Jul 2007
Having sent some time in some of these places during my Air Force days I was interesed to see a different perspective of these places. This book is not only gritty but honest and even when times seem boring this only punctuates the frustration and fear felt when times you thought things could not get worse, they do. As the entries (this is written in a journal style) continue you are drawn into the small group and begin to genuinely care about them.
Some of the atrocities recorded here are hard to stomach but have to read so that even when you are safe and comfortable at home you can appreciate that because you can't see evil in the world, it doesn't mean it's not there. This book is proof that there are good people who care but are constantly having their hands tied by those who just don't want to look bad.
Read it, read it, read it.


Amazing, 02 Jan 2007
I work in the sector and was fascinated by the account: it is very close to my own reality. It is fun, it is sad, it is enjoyable, it is scary. The best and the worst of the human kind.
The book is EXTREMELY well written, with the three authors overlapping their accounts/perspectives/stories chronologically.
I will certainly buy some few extra copies to give to some friends.

Useful account of law governing transitional administrations, 26 Oct 2004
Chapters cover the topics of colonies and occupied territories: transitional administration through the 20th century, the evolution of UN peace operations, the use of force to maintain law and order, the question of whether a benevolent foreign autocracy can build democracy, the rule of law in post-conflict territories, the politics of humanitarian and development assistance, elections and exit strategies, and the future of state-building.

Chesterman looks at the UN's role in countries' transitions from war to peace through periods of international supervision. Elections can be part of a state-building project or peace process: in Cambodia in 1992-93 the UN empowered a transitional administration which held elections and then withdrew. But UN administrations have held election after election in Bosnia since 1995, and in Kosovo since 1999, but show no signs of leaving.

The 'Ombudsperson Institution' in Kosovo reported in 2002 that the UN 'Interim' Administration there "is not structured according to democratic principles, does not function in accordance with the rule of law, and does not respect important international human rights norms. The people of Kosovo are therefore deprived of protection of their basic rights and freedoms three years after the end of the conflict by the very entity set up to guarantee them."

In Iraq, troops will stay after the January election, till the end of 2005, we are told. But this hostile military occupation after an illegal invasion is neither building an independent state, nor achieving peace. Likewise in Afghanistan: rebuilding there is negligible (completed reconstruction projects totalled less than $200 million by May 2003), and warlords still rule the country.

The US state has interpreted civil wars, humanitarian crises, lack of democracy, and 'failed and failing states' as 'threats to international peace and security', and has taken control of such states. Its constants are military occupation for bases, pipelines and oil, in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq alike. Colonialism is now rightly condemned as an international crime, but the US state still does it, under UN cover. And the record indeed shows that a foreign autocracy cannot build democratic, sovereign states.

Not a book to make you excited baout the UN, 06 Jun 2006
Beware: bias in favour of the US.
If you can ignore this (it's v. easy to spot) the book is interesting enough and a good source of background information. As a veteran of a few Model United Nations Conferences I already knew most of the information and I think that this book would only interest someone who already knew a bit about the UN and/or has a genuine interest in it. This book may be designed to build your interest in the UN but I personally don't think it would spark many people to find out more.

Interesting read, but tone is a bit too lightweight, 28 Jan 2004
As Fasulo notes, most Americans are aware that the large, media-covered sessions of the General Assembly and the Security Council are carefully prepared and scripted events. What is surprising is that even the day-to-day sessions are usually pre-determined. Most of the discussion and decision-making takes place not within the General Assembly or the Committees it breaks into, and often not even within the small, off-the-record groups that those Committees in turn become, but in the stereotypical backroom talks of two or perhaps three ambassadors at a time. Policy is argued, Fasulo shows, by a core group of players within the UN, with much of the political maneuvering off stage and unseen. The debate has been decided by vote-building and consensus beforehand, rather than by persuasion on the speaker's platform.

This book will appeal most to those with a solid knowledge of the UN who hope to understand better the reasons behind the UN's decisions, and how those decisions are made. Those seeking more general information on the UN will be able to find this, but may find as well some difficulty in separating that information from the entwined UN-derived descriptions of those workings.

Could have been so much better, 08 Mar 2008
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".

The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Andrew, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).

So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavour of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. They all sounded curiously alike to me and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi comes across as Ken's fantasy girl with her limpid eyes and active sexual appetite. Andrew also comes across as Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfs in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavour of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been much better with judicious editing.

thrilling, captivating nonfiction, 18 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on a feeling it was good and I wasn't wrong. It's written by 3 very good authors, their writing style is sophisticated but simple enough not to boggle your mind. Three perspectives on a situation is a jewel in itself and it's nonfiction, an extra for me. You won't want to put it down.

The laughter & tears , 10 Nov 2007
I loved this book. I have recommended it to everyone- ex-Army, complacent city city kids. It doesn't have a sweet conclusion, but in that sense, nor does life. It starts off with the romantic dream of working for an NGO, and describes the kind of enlighenment that day to day living brings with any issue. On the eve of Remmberance, and with my closest friends who have been there, this has helped me to understand more so than any text book or lecture. My copy is well thumbed and I am proud.

Gritty and realistic, 04 Jul 2007
Having sent some time in some of these places during my Air Force days I was interesed to see a different perspective of these places. This book is not only gritty but honest and even when times seem boring this only punctuates the frustration and fear felt when times you thought things could not get worse, they do. As the entries (this is written in a journal style) continue you are drawn into the small group and begin to genuinely care about them.
Some of the atrocities recorded here are hard to stomach but have to read so that even when you are safe and comfortable at home you can appreciate that because you can't see evil in the world, it doesn't mean it's not there. This book is proof that there are good people who care but are constantly having their hands tied by those who just don't want to look bad.
Read it, read it, read it.


Amazing, 02 Jan 2007
I work in the sector and was fascinated by the account: it is very close to my own reality. It is fun, it is sad, it is enjoyable, it is scary. The best and the worst of the human kind.
The book is EXTREMELY well written, with the three authors overlapping their accounts/perspectives/stories chronologically.
I will certainly buy some few extra copies to give to some friends.

Useful account of law governing transitional administrations, 26 Oct 2004
Chapters cover the topics of colonies and occupied territories: transitional administration through the 20th century, the evolution of UN peace operations, the use of force to maintain law and order, the question of whether a benevolent foreign autocracy can build democracy, the rule of law in post-conflict territories, the politics of humanitarian and development assistance, elections and exit strategies, and the future of state-building.

Chesterman looks at the UN's role in countries' transitions from war to peace through periods of international supervision. Elections can be part of a state-building project or peace process: in Cambodia in 1992-93 the UN empowered a transitional administration which held elections and then withdrew. But UN administrations have held election after election in Bosnia since 1995, and in Kosovo since 1999, but show no signs of leaving.

The 'Ombudsperson Institution' in Kosovo reported in 2002 that the UN 'Interim' Administration there "is not structured according to democratic principles, does not function in accordance with the rule of law, and does not respect important international human rights norms. The people of Kosovo are therefore deprived of protection of their basic rights and freedoms three years after the end of the conflict by the very entity set up to guarantee them."

In Iraq, troops will stay after the January election, till the end of 2005, we are told. But this hostile military occupation after an illegal invasion is neither building an independent state, nor achieving peace. Likewise in Afghanistan: rebuilding there is negligible (completed reconstruction projects totalled less than $200 million by May 2003), and warlords still rule the country.

The US state has interpreted civil wars, humanitarian crises, lack of democracy, and 'failed and failing states' as 'threats to international peace and security', and has taken control of such states. Its constants are military occupation for bases, pipelines and oil, in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq alike. Colonialism is now rightly condemned as an international crime, but the US state still does it, under UN cover. And the record indeed shows that a foreign autocracy cannot build democratic, sovereign states.

Not a book to make you excited baout the UN, 06 Jun 2006
Beware: bias in favour of the US.
If you can ignore this (it's v. easy to spot) the book is interesting enough and a good source of background information. As a veteran of a few Model United Nations Conferences I already knew most of the information and I think that this book would only interest someone who already knew a bit about the UN and/or has a genuine interest in it. This book may be designed to build your interest in the UN but I personally don't think it would spark many people to find out more.

Interesting read, but tone is a bit too lightweight, 28 Jan 2004
As Fasulo notes, most Americans are aware that the large, media-covered sessions of the General Assembly and the Security Council are carefully prepared and scripted events. What is surprising is that even the day-to-day sessions are usually pre-determined. Most of the discussion and decision-making takes place not within the General Assembly or the Committees it breaks into, and often not even within the small, off-the-record groups that those Committees in turn become, but in the stereotypical backroom talks of two or perhaps three ambassadors at a time. Policy is argued, Fasulo shows, by a core group of players within the UN, with much of the political maneuvering off stage and unseen. The debate has been decided by vote-building and consensus beforehand, rather than by persuasion on the speaker's platform.

This book will appeal most to those with a solid knowledge of the UN who hope to understand better the reasons behind the UN's decisions, and how those decisions are made. Those seeking more general information on the UN will be able to find this, but may find as well some difficulty in separating that information from the entwined UN-derived descriptions of those workings.

The UN and Kofi Annan - Yes or No? , 20 May 2007
James Traub puts a human face to the United Nations through Kofi Annan, providing a detailed account of his time as secretary general. Traub takes the difficulties posed to the UN during the 1990s onwards and explains how Annan was involved during some of the worlds biggest crisis. He gives general accounts of conflicts such as Somalia, the Rwanda Genocide, the gulf wars, and how the different players in the world and more importantly the Security Council acted regarding each case.

The book shows the gentle and hopeful nature of a very intelligent man that wishes to point the world in the right directions and great difficulties he is having due to bureaucrat that is holding him back, as well as having his hands tied by the US Administration, or the threat of veto by any one of the 5 nations holding that right within the Security Council. It asks the question of what is the UN, and how does it fit in with the political agendas of some of the worlds most powerful states.
Most importantly it is a grabbing read that lets you into a world of an elite that is otherwise untouchable.

Strongly recommend to anyone who wants to have a broader view.


Actor or Theatre, 23 Jan 2007
James Traub has written a lucid account of Kofi Annan's time as Secretary General. He shows how Annan's personality, a mix of hopeful idealism and bureaucratic caution, and the members' self-interest alternatively energized and frustrated the UN's ability to act usefully in the face of world crises. The old dilemma of the UN as, alternatively, an actor or merely a theatre, sometime of the absurd, is persuasively elucidated.