Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

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Urquhart

 A Life in Peace and War: Conversation with Sir Brian Urquhart; 3/19/96 by Harry Kreisler

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Photos courtesy of Sir Brian.

Welcome to a Conversation on International Affairs. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our distinguished guest today is Sir Brian Urquhart, former Undersecretary General of the United Nations. book cover: Hammarskjold biographySir Brian is a Regents' Lecturer on the Berkeley campus this [spring 1996] semester.

  1. Education ... family, Westminster, Oxford, and the war
  2. The Battle of Arnhem ... "Operation Market Garden" ... the bridge too far ... British overconfidence ... the vanity and ambition of leaders
  3. The Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp ... the postwar plans of German scientists ... entering the camp ... the effect on British soldiers
  4. The Experience of War Leads to the Formation of the UN ... Roosevelt and Churchill ... the importance of human rights ... postwar optimism ... the Cold War "faultline" ... American ideals
  5. Eleanor Roosevelt and Ralph Bunche ... Eleanor Roosevelt and the Declaration of Human Rights ... Eleanor Roosevelt takes on the Russians ... Bunche's early scholarship on racism and colonialism ... an early founder of the Civil Rights Movement and the National Negro Congress ... Bunche's understanding of the threat of Hitler ... side-tracked in the Middle East ... the Nobel Peace Prize
  6. Early Peacekeeping Operations: Israel/Palestine; the Congo ... Bunche creates the first peacekeeping force ... civil war in the Congo ... Urquhart is held hostage ... remembering Dag Hammarskjöld
  7. The UN in the Post - Cold War World ... when is peacekeeping useful? ... comparing Desert Storm with the wars in Somalia or Yugoslavia ... the need for an instant deployment force ... the turnaround in U.S. attitudes toward the UN
  8. Conclusion ... careers in peace and diplomacy ... basic philosophy

See the Brian Urquhart page with links to other interviews, internet "chats" with high school and college students, biography, and more.

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