This book and its third edition would not have been possible without the encouragement, advice, and support of many people. To all of the diplomats, UN officials, analysts, and experts whom I have interviewed, I express my sincere appreciation for their interest and participation as “insiders” in this book. They include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane. They also include former UN Deputy Secretary-General Lord Mark Malloch-Brown; former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; former US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer; US Ambassadors John Bolton, John Danforth, Richard Holbrooke, Zalmay Khalilzad, Joseph Melrose, John Negroponte, and Nancy Soderberg; Ambassadors Munir Akram (Pakistan), Colin Keating (New Zealand), David Malone (Canada), and Danilo Türk (Slovenia); and officials at the UN and experts on the UN, including Sebastian von Einsiedel, Shepard Forman, Felice Gaer, Richard Gowan, Jeffrey Laurenti, Edward Luck, William Luers, Hillel Neuer, Stewart Patrick, Brian Urquhart, and Ruth Wedgwood, who all graciously shared their unique and invaluable personal insights and experiences.
It has been a consistent pleasure over the years to work with the wonderful professionals at Yale University Press, those in the editorial and executive divisions as well as the marketing, sales, and publicity departments. One could not ask for a better publishing experience. Thanks especially to my editor Bill Frucht, who proposed this new edition, and to assistant editor Jaya Chatterjee.
I also express my appreciation to my friends and colleagues at the UN, National Public Radio, and elsewhere who gave encouragement along the way. To my longtime friend and colleague Bill Zeisel, of QED Associates, I offer my appreciation for his continued and invaluable role in this project and his exceptionally discerning eye in the preparation of the manuscript for all three editions. I also appreciate the interview transcriptions done by Vanessa Rocha.
I thank my son, Alex, for his research assistance, my mother, Mary, for her help in transcribing recorded interviews, and my husband, Rob, for enthusiastic support. For their assistance and constant encouragement I am incredibly appreciative.