Conclusion

What advice would you give young people who are starting out and might wish to pursue a career in diplomacy and peace?

If I were young, I don't think I would necessarily want to go into the foreign service of the country I belonged to, because I think diplomats and diplomacy are, to some extent, a thing of the past. With modern communications, their main functions are not as necessary as they used to be. They become sort of hotel keepers and public relations people to some extent, though that's probably less true of the United States foreign service than any other. The UN, at the moment, has a hiring freeze and is likely to have one for some time. The bureaucracy is in bad shape not least because it's been paralyzed by all these cuts. It's not a happy ship. Personally, I think it's indifferently led, but I suppose that will change. There are some fascinating jobs in the UN. The best place to learn about this kind of thing would be in some of the field operations. Working for the High Commissioner for Refugees, for example, which is a very tough, extremely exciting, hands-on job in desperate circumstances. You learn more about human beings and organization, and even about governments and politics, than you learn sitting in an office. There are a lot of very good nongovernmental organizations engaged in this same kind of work. The whole humanitarian relief group -- CARE, Oxfam, Save the Children, and so on -- and the human rights organizations -- Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch. These are fascinating organizations to work in. There are wonderful environmental organizations. The UN has a big environmental program, but it's kind of stymied at the minute by all the cost-cutting.

I am left, after reading your biography and hearing you speak here and on the campus, with the feeling that Brian Urquhart, in the end, is a pragmatic optimist. Is that correct?

Yes, I would say that's right. I would say I was a pragmatic optimist and a idealistic realist. I think idealism is the only form of realism because unless you're idealistic to some extent, you don't have anything to look forward to, you don't have anywhere to go. And I think there's no point in being pessimistic. After all, we're only on this world once as far as we know. You might as well make the best of it. And also, we've learned a great deal. There are tremendous opportunities in the next century. There are also tremendous possibilities for disaster, and the great thing to do is to work in some field where you'll make sure that the opportunities are realized and the disasters are minimized. That's what the international service, and indeed a lot of national service, is all about.

Sir Brian, thank you very much for being here today and thank you for spending a month on the campus. We hope to have you back again sometime soon.

Well thank you. It's been an enormous pleasure for me.

And thank you very much for joining us for this "Conversation on International Affairs."

See Sir Brian Urquart's "Globetrotter" homepage with many links.

Sir Brian Urquhart's memoir, A Life in Peace and War, is published by Harper & Row.