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Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World
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.
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.
376 pages, Hardcover
Published June 15, 2021
17 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Ban Ki-moon
19 books9 followersSouth Korean diplomat Ban Ki Moon or Ban Ki-moon took office as secretary-general of the United Nations in 2007.
Ban graduated from university, then entered the service in that year, and accepted his first post in New Delhi, India. Ban passed a career in ministry of foreign affairs. From January 2007, Ban Ki-moon, a politician, served eighth to December 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-...
Ban graduated from university, then entered the service in that year, and accepted his first post in New Delhi, India. Ban passed a career in ministry of foreign affairs. From January 2007, Ban Ki-moon, a politician, served eighth to December 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-...
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 25, 2021
NetGalley sent me this book in return for an honest review.
This would be the hardest job in the world, to try and keep the world at peace. Ban Ki-Moon is a remarkable and compassionate man. Passionate about humanity and has an unequivocal need to bring peace to this chaotic place we call home. His writing and words are real and raw.
This book opened my eyes to the devastation humanity has brought to all creation. To this one man and all of the UN people (Blue Helmets) on the ground, thank you for being and making the difference we all need to know about. Your strength and belief does not go unnoticed.
Ki-Moon uses the word ‘Umoja’, which means ‘unity’ in Swahili - remember this word and try to bring its meaning to your day-to-day life … it will make a global difference.
Some of Ban Ki-Moon’s key achievements:
Millennium Development Goals MDG 2000
The Bali Roadmap 2007
Global Sustainability Panel 2010
Panel of Eminent Persons 2012
Sustainable Development Goals SDG 2015
Paris Climate Agreement 2015
This would be the hardest job in the world, to try and keep the world at peace. Ban Ki-Moon is a remarkable and compassionate man. Passionate about humanity and has an unequivocal need to bring peace to this chaotic place we call home. His writing and words are real and raw.
This book opened my eyes to the devastation humanity has brought to all creation. To this one man and all of the UN people (Blue Helmets) on the ground, thank you for being and making the difference we all need to know about. Your strength and belief does not go unnoticed.
Ki-Moon uses the word ‘Umoja’, which means ‘unity’ in Swahili - remember this word and try to bring its meaning to your day-to-day life … it will make a global difference.
Some of Ban Ki-Moon’s key achievements:
Millennium Development Goals MDG 2000
The Bali Roadmap 2007
Global Sustainability Panel 2010
Panel of Eminent Persons 2012
Sustainable Development Goals SDG 2015
Paris Climate Agreement 2015
December 6, 2021
Resolved is an excellent memoir by Ban Ki-Moon that shows his journey to the Secretary-General of the UN. It gives a good insight into the work of a diplomat, and how much of diplomacy particularly when goes behind the scenes. This book really made me appreciate the tough work that UN diplomats and blue hats do throughout the world. It also gives an excellent insight about intricate the work of the UN actually is, and how much of it simply depends on developing good relationships and finding delicate face-saving compromises.
However, as a book, I did not find his analysis to be particularly deep or meaningful, but maybe that’s because he is not an academic but a politician/ public servant. So overall, I will be giving the book a three-star rating.
However, as a book, I did not find his analysis to be particularly deep or meaningful, but maybe that’s because he is not an academic but a politician/ public servant. So overall, I will be giving the book a three-star rating.
July 11, 2023
The most thankless and impossible job in the world indeed! An eye opening account on how diplomacy works and its many complications.
May 26, 2021
One of the most commanding voices of our time! Resolved offers readers the rare opportunity to feel the full existential angst of deciding humanity’s fate beneath the tenuous sword of Damocles. How can one man shoulder this remarkably solemn task?
How does one measure up to the escalating crises of warming temperatures, ongoing depletion of natural resources, rising sea levels and the choking of our oceans with plastic? How do you talk dictators down from their throbbing, masturbatory burn for power? OR, in the case of natural disasters like cyclone Nargis and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, how do you: respect state-sovereignty, navigate kleptocratic corruption, tend to the needy, and simultaneously protect relief workers, only to be thanklessly accused of importing cholera in a crescendo of opportunism through a class-action lawsuit?
How do you keep pressure on the DPRK and Iran from developing their nuclear capability, when an insane, egomaniacal, American populist (ahem, no names) can spastically walk back decades of negotiation overnight? How do you ask an autocrat to democratically legitimize his authority as he threatens to recall his troops - foreboding doom upon a costly peacekeeping mission mere miles away? How do you not interfere in a deadly civil war where a sly despot is gassing his people, while the veto-holding members of the Security Counsel are deadlocked over the fine-print of R2P (justified intervention)?
How do you defend the lofty ideals of the Universal Charter when certain member-states have no legal status for women, sexually- and ethno-diverse minorities? How does one reduce the hypocritical carbon footprint of a leviathan like the UN? How can you aid a poor nation for epidemic preparedness, when it is inevitably received as some western plot to export Polio, Ebola, and now, COVID-19?
There is always room to criticize, arguably, the most influential man on earth - the UN Secretary-General. Ban Ki-Moon doesn’t shy away from this heightened sense of conscience, either. But where the hell would we be if these thoughtful and steady men took a day off? I’ve frequently wondered, “Why can’t the voting American public ever get an executive like Hammarskjöld, Boutros-Gali, Annan, or Ban!”
These diplomats are far from perfect. But who else is going to advocate for the common interest of man?
5 stars. I salute you, sir. Fucking brilliant!
How does one measure up to the escalating crises of warming temperatures, ongoing depletion of natural resources, rising sea levels and the choking of our oceans with plastic? How do you talk dictators down from their throbbing, masturbatory burn for power? OR, in the case of natural disasters like cyclone Nargis and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, how do you: respect state-sovereignty, navigate kleptocratic corruption, tend to the needy, and simultaneously protect relief workers, only to be thanklessly accused of importing cholera in a crescendo of opportunism through a class-action lawsuit?
How do you keep pressure on the DPRK and Iran from developing their nuclear capability, when an insane, egomaniacal, American populist (ahem, no names) can spastically walk back decades of negotiation overnight? How do you ask an autocrat to democratically legitimize his authority as he threatens to recall his troops - foreboding doom upon a costly peacekeeping mission mere miles away? How do you not interfere in a deadly civil war where a sly despot is gassing his people, while the veto-holding members of the Security Counsel are deadlocked over the fine-print of R2P (justified intervention)?
How do you defend the lofty ideals of the Universal Charter when certain member-states have no legal status for women, sexually- and ethno-diverse minorities? How does one reduce the hypocritical carbon footprint of a leviathan like the UN? How can you aid a poor nation for epidemic preparedness, when it is inevitably received as some western plot to export Polio, Ebola, and now, COVID-19?
There is always room to criticize, arguably, the most influential man on earth - the UN Secretary-General. Ban Ki-Moon doesn’t shy away from this heightened sense of conscience, either. But where the hell would we be if these thoughtful and steady men took a day off? I’ve frequently wondered, “Why can’t the voting American public ever get an executive like Hammarskjöld, Boutros-Gali, Annan, or Ban!”
These diplomats are far from perfect. But who else is going to advocate for the common interest of man?
5 stars. I salute you, sir. Fucking brilliant!
October 13, 2021
3.5. This is somewhere between an account of the life of the world’s then top diplomat and a broad sweep of the global issues which are thrust on a person in that position. On the latter point, Ban covers a multitude of different crises and how he responded to them, ranging from the Haiti earthquake to the Arab Spring. It is certainly interesting to learn how the UN mobilises in response to various emergencies, but I thought some sections could have contained far more detail; at sort of 15-20 minutes long, I found that many chapters stopped just as they were beginning. On the flip side, for a book of ~500 pages, this reads incredibly quickly.
Ban refers to himself as a “private citizen” on numerous occasions, but he rarely uses this position to expose some of the flaws in the United Nations that he noticed during his tenure. His fidelity to his former workplace is evident, not least in the fact that he structures the book to reflect the UN’s core aims of peace, security, human rights and development. At times, Ban writes with real emotion and his frustration at various instances of inaction is palpable. Sometimes, he directly calls out states that inhibited his plans and initiatives and, towards the end of the book, I was pleased to see him actually challenge the UN’s handling of the coronavirus. However, for a book title Resolved, he doesn’t offer many solutions. I would quite have liked more reflection on what he didn’t do well, what could be done better (and how it could be done) and what is wrong with the UN as an institution which is genuinely fixable. Admittedly, the final section of the book looks to the UN’s future, but only in general terms. No-one hides from the fact that the UN is hamstrung by state sovereignty and realpolitik and Ban implies this on a number of occasions in his book. It is a shame, however, that these issues were not dealt with more rigorously by Ban who, as the UN’s top staffer, must have so many preliminary ideas on how to address them. I think someone as devoted to peace and security has every right to offer constructive criticism regarding the UN, irrespective the fact he previously worked there.
Ban refers to himself as a “private citizen” on numerous occasions, but he rarely uses this position to expose some of the flaws in the United Nations that he noticed during his tenure. His fidelity to his former workplace is evident, not least in the fact that he structures the book to reflect the UN’s core aims of peace, security, human rights and development. At times, Ban writes with real emotion and his frustration at various instances of inaction is palpable. Sometimes, he directly calls out states that inhibited his plans and initiatives and, towards the end of the book, I was pleased to see him actually challenge the UN’s handling of the coronavirus. However, for a book title Resolved, he doesn’t offer many solutions. I would quite have liked more reflection on what he didn’t do well, what could be done better (and how it could be done) and what is wrong with the UN as an institution which is genuinely fixable. Admittedly, the final section of the book looks to the UN’s future, but only in general terms. No-one hides from the fact that the UN is hamstrung by state sovereignty and realpolitik and Ban implies this on a number of occasions in his book. It is a shame, however, that these issues were not dealt with more rigorously by Ban who, as the UN’s top staffer, must have so many preliminary ideas on how to address them. I think someone as devoted to peace and security has every right to offer constructive criticism regarding the UN, irrespective the fact he previously worked there.
August 5, 2021
A very formal, carefully written account of Ban Ki-Moon's two terms as Secretary General. It will be of interest to those eager to learn more about how decisions are taken at the UN. It is structured in a way that is not always flattering, and sometimes strange- he has a section about times he was in danger which follows up an assassination threat with a time he slipped on a boat. The bulk of the book is dealing with crises, in which Ban comes off as very reactive, often udnerscoring the inability of the UN to do much. Better are the sections dealing with some of the issues he cares passionately about- women's rights and climate change in particular. His tale of the history of the Paris Agreement is fascinating- it leaves out Obama's role entirely- and will be of interest to anyone who wants to understand the overall picture of how these agreements come into being.
April 20, 2022
Audiobook.
August 3, 2023
I wanted to know what it's like to be the UN Secretary General, and I got my answer. It's like constantly keeping up the appearance of being bland. Moon, in his own words, works hard, builds consensus, and avoids crisis. I do appreciate his use of the word "ulcerous" used to describe his work, and I enjoyed some of his diplomatic tricks. Now I know how to force an American president to sit through other people's speeches; schedule the president's speech last.
August 31, 2021
I was fortunate to have worked at the UN for a decade and served briefly as part of Secretary-General Ban's office. What is fascinating about this book is learning more about his family and formative years, and how those experiences shaped his ideals career path and lifelong dedication to diplomacy and service. He profoundly understands the mission and potential of this institution, along with the global challenges it faces. My only complaint is that this book is at times repetitive, and bounces around a bit- but overall a really great reflection!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews