The Fog of Peace: A Memoir of International Peacekeeping in the 21st Century

(Paperback)

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In The Fog of Peace, Jean-Marie Guhenno reflectson some of the most difficult questions facing internationalinterventions today. Guhenno draws on his experienceas the head of the United Nations Department ofPeacekeeping Operations from 2000 to 2008, a periodthat included intense negotiations and spiraling crises inAfghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan. He returned to the UnitedNations in 2012 to act as Kofi Annans deputy in negotiationsdesigned to find aso far elusivesustainablesolution to the war in Syria.

Reviews

The corresponding chapters offer pointed and precise narratives of thesecrises, of their underlying causes, of the local, regional and international interests at stake, and of the role the UN played in each of them. That in itself should suffice to make The Fog of Peace a remarkable accomplishment."
-IISS Journal


"As can be expected from an author of Jean-Marie Guhennos experience and prescience, The Fog of Peace captures well the moral conundrums and diplomatic obstacles that the United Nations and its Department of Peacekeeping face in the postcold war era. At a time when the international framework established to curtail conflict and human suffering is under increasing pressure, his book provides valuable insights and timely advice on how to strengthen our global security architecture."
Kofi A. Annan Secretary General of the United Nations, 19972006

"In Afghanistan and Sudan I shared with Jean-Marie Guhenno the accomplishments and the frustrations he portrays in The Fog of Peace. This honest and probing account captures the realities of peacekeeping in the twenty-first century. It is a first-hand recounting of some of the most difficult work the United Nations has undertaken."
Lakhdar Brahimi former UN Special Envoy to Syria and special representative to Haiti, South Africa, Afghanistan, and Iraq

"Jean-Marie Guhenno is a scholar-diplomat of immense integrity, intelligence, judgment, and charm. He won international respect during his eight-year stewardship of UN peacekeepingno mean feat given those years coincided precisely with George W. Bushs presidency. What shines through this thoughtful and detailed account is the admirable way in which Guhenno maintained his own moral compass amid a swirl of competing pragmatic and political imperatives, never succumbing to the weary cynicism that so often afflicts international public servants. We could have no better guide to navigating the fog of peace."
-Gareth Evans Foreign Minister of Australia, 198896, and President of the International Crisis Group, 200009

Author Bio

Jean-Marie Guhennois former under secretary general for U.N. peacekeeping operations; he is current president and CEO of the International Crisis Group.