Robert Bruce Adolph joined us for this short episode to talk about his book Surviving the UN: The Unexpected Challenge. Robert worked on assignments in many conflict areas in the world in the 1990s during his second career as a UN Chief Security Officer, following his retirement as US Army Special Forces Lieutenant-Colonel. He was present during the deadly bomb attack on the UN compound in Baghdad on 19 August 2003.
Over two decades later, as we approach the anniversary of that horrific event, Robert Adolph talks about why he wrote the book and about learning from failure.
Resources
Adolph, Robert Bruce. (2020). Surviving the UN: The Unexpected Challenge. New Academia Publishing/Vellum.
(Available at the UNOG bookstore)
Website: Robert Bruce Adolph - https://robertbruceadolph.com/
Bob's book recommendation
Pinker, Steven. (2012). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. Penguin Books.
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Host: Amy Smith
Speakers: Robert Bruce Adolph
Production and editing: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
*This episode was recorded online and we apologize for the low sound quality.
(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to the next page, the podcast of the library and archives dedicated to advancing the conversation on multilateralism. Today we're going to talk about a book and it's my very big pleasure to welcome our guests for this episode, Robert Bruce Adolf. Robert is the author of the book, surviving the UN, the unexpected challenge. He's also a consultant, an international speaker, a commentator and a writer. Robert's book reflects on his second career in the UN during which he became chief security advisor. Prior to that, Robert had a long career in the US military, including volunteering for UN peacekeeping missions and he retired as special forces Lieutenant Colonel before joining the UN. Robert Adolf, welcome to the next page. - Thank you, it's a pleasure to be here. - It's nice to see you. The book ends with a series of little mask scenes that you call Bob's laws. And if I may cite the start of the 15th law of Bob, it's a failure. Now and always remains the best teacher. I'm sure we can always learn and improve from our individual and collective behavior. And I'm sure we're going to learn something through this conversation that's going to focus on your book. But first, Robert, perhaps as a ways of an introduction, perhaps you could tell us more about entering the very different world of the UN when you retired from the US military and started out in the UN. What year was that? What moved you to join the UN at that time? - Well, I retired from the US military service in 1997. Most retirement, I felt a distinct loss of direction at birth. Although I may seem a romantic notion to some, I thought first sang career and would have meaning beyond the majority. My previous volunteer assignments in the UN PCP and in Japan Israel, Cambodia, and Iraq and Kuwait invited some players familiaring with all the UN missions. And in the abstract, peacekeeping struck me as an honorable objective. I applied for the UN civil service in 1999 because I saw, I believed and still drew, but the goals and aspirations stated in the UN charter are worth fighting for, worth sacrificing for, but not necessarily worth risking light and limit or greed. I believed this especially true in humanitarian action, eating the hungry, protecting women and children, eradicating disease and less, but harder at least, searching for ways to establish peace for a non-previously-insistent. I had both seen and experienced a place of war. Based on least events in Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan and elsewhere, we still have a long way to go. However, we must make the intent, continuing to strongly become better than the snow of our parts. The effort itself makes us better. This is a new thing, Bob's Law and River said. Of course, the entire list can be found on my website. - I'm sure people will read that. Robert, you've just listed some of your experience and you have a lot of it and your book surviving the UN, the Unexpected Challenge, recounts your experience during the period you just mentioned. What motivated you to write the book, though? - Well, my first four years of UN service are covered in that book, as you mentioned. These years were stressful in the extreme, beginning of the successful emergency evacuation of over 200 UN civil staff and pre-turn and Sierra Leone. When the Revolutionary matter front invaded in May of 2000, my piecekeeping of saying that as I go silent by an appointment as the UN Security Advisors are young, where I consulted successfully on several international tribal kidnappings. The concluding jazz of my book, discussed what kind of trials elevated to the position of what to be, used to all day duty security advisor posts for a ride in the wake of the U.S. invasion in brief. We were coming armed in Wonderland. God of suicide bothered, drilled on some bad truck into our band-dead headquarters on 19 August of 2003, till in '22 and wounding another 150. The woman who would later become my wife was among those injured. She was working for the World Soon program. I felt that these stories needed to be told, so that, respectfully, they might be exerted by those in positions of authority and the lessons learned that were integrated in the future of UN operations. Granted, this never happened, the complete security and the right accountability report was declared UN confidential. To my knowledge, it still has not been released. Nobody, by knowing that I have spoken to, knows why. And I've spoken to a lot of people in the preparation of my book. That import over 100 pages should be released by the spectators I go with all these cities, so that we can collectively learn from these terrific events, which reflects the single greatest loss of life in UN history. More later, families and those who died deserve to know why their loved ones are no longer among us. You asked about my own provider. In answer, I could have easily been killed in each of these assignments. I received the debt that was often studied in the elbow. The invasion of free town, tribal gun batting in my apartment building in Yemen, and of course, the Baghdad bombing. Also, there's the double meaning in the title. Aside from true survival, I had to survive in my career as well. I took staff, safety, and security issues very, very seriously. Some of my most senior superiors tragically did not. Some of the resulting clashes are detailed in the bomb. To my knowledge, I'm the only staff member of UN history to have been twice fired because of those struggles, then surprisingly, twice promoted to. In fact, I'm very lucky to be here speaking with you now. - It was, as you said, such a horrific incident, and we have the tattered remains of the UN flag from the compound in Baghdad framed in memory and hanging on the walls of the conference center here at the Pali D'Inacio as a memorial for that attack that happened in 2003, a horrific time. You've talked about survival during that time, but perhaps we could talk a little about peacekeeping. In the 1990s, there was a significant increase, some were of peacekeeping operations, and the nature of these operations changed during that time. There were many challenges to overcome, and sometimes failures. For many, peacekeeping at that time became a visible part of the multilateralism iceberg. This is somewhat paradoxical, as the concept of peacekeeping is not explicit in the UN charter as such. Peacekeeping is sometimes called chapter six and a half as Secretary-General Dag Hamaskold famously said, 'cause it sits in between the Pacific settlement of disputes, which is in chapter six of the UN charter and the use of force in the case of threats and breaches to peace, which is in chapter seven. So in the period that you were in peacekeeping, there were many serious incidents. How do you think that peacekeeping in that period compares to peacekeeping today? - Well, I'm not sure that peacekeeping in the main has changed appreciably. First and foremost, it must be a status and there's a genuine peace to key. Act was not the case in Sierra Leone by first UN posting. The security council seemed to have aired and authorized mandate. The revolution in the United Front simply was not serious about peace. Being insult to injury, permission was authorized to use violence when the attainment of mission goals. What became abundantly clear was that the UN is simply not a competent war fighting organization. The UN's fear in the Wanda genocide may be in the most prominent exam. More, the UN interim courses in Lebanon, USA, established over a half century though, are still there. There's clearly nothing interim about their mission. You could have some day in his development to chaos and barbarity, following many years of deep UN involvement, examined how the UN mission in Mara day on to achieve its goals. Before the security council approves the mandate or the continuance of a mandate, they should determine whether there's a genuine peace key or though often relegated to footnote status. Nearly bored mouths of blue helmets had died on UN peacekeeping missions. These deaths are not footnotes to their families. My maternal grandfather told me once that the fish sinks from the end die. The city's major New York and Geneva must be better to sit when the results on the ground may be gone. Now, others, field of essence, sometimes string out of headquarters misjudge. - Thinking about your book, what would you tell your younger self about joining the UN? - First and foremost, and by the way, thank you, then, to start a good question. First and foremost, I think I would give myself a copy of my satirically named Bob's laws. Yes, it's meant to be funny. These observations by the humanity attempt to capture some small degree of wisdom. What I believe that I have learned in nearly two decades of UN, uniformed and civil service. Failure is always a terrific starting point. It's necessary to understand we are the imperfect vessels. We will make errors. Each mistake is an opportunity to grow and learn. If you're making no mistakes, you're not trying to be better than the sum of your parts. Laying only a half the length. Life without failure is hardly life at all. - Yes, certainly agree with that. So Robert, what other law would you like to share with us and why? - One of my personal favorites is number 26. If you choose one word to guide your actions in life, make it the word kindness. Why do I like this one? Although there are a multitude of cultures, languages, and personalities represented in the UN, I know that kindness always translates near and perfectly. Every, no matter than creed, no matter their religion, no matter their status in the world, rich or poor, recognize and appreciate kindness. It is a universal human lubricant in all relationships, both professional and personal. - That's wonderful. I've also noted that you describe hope as the only illusion consistently worthy of embrace. I find that very touching. And I was wondering, having seen some of the real horrors of humanity, what is your hope for humanity? - First relative to hope. From my perspective, based on what I think I've learned, hope is necessary, hope is essential. The horrors of today and previous centuries make one's ill as if there's no hope for humanity, but I believe there is. We can always chart a different path. If not behold, what would be the sense in living? Down that desolate road, one without hope, lies madness and despair. The UN's focus on multilateralism, although loving, is not always supported by heavens, or greed, fear, prideless, and molecular power, often seems to predominate. As an individual, I've learned that the most powerful, positive trait that one can develop is empathy. Empathy is also the key, critical, ingredient in good leadership. But difficulty leads to understanding. Understanding leads to a greater willingness to compromise based on the growing comprehension of differing perspectives. To achieve this requires patience and a genuine desire to be listened. Peace is made in this way. Wars are averted in this way. Our common humanity comes to be better recognized in this way. Genesis and proven that almost saviors us are 99.5% to sage and the interns of our DNA. The 0.5% remaining is mostly about how we look. The least important characteristic and yet, the one that many focus on to the detriment of all. Hope is necessary, hope is essential. We can't live without hope. Indeed. So finally, we're coming to the end of this conversation and apart from your own books, surviving the UN, that we will certainly reference in the notes here, we're also asking our guests this year if you have a good book to recommend. - Anissa Lubely. Yes, and a release around your previous question regarding hope. Harvard University's professor, Stephen Baker, wrote a brain entitled The Better Angels of our Age. The phrase was lifted from a speech given by President Abraham Winton. - Pinker made solid points that no matter how bad things appear to us today, historically matters were much, much worse. He notes that Byron is less common today. We believe in the aggregate does this more right. The real thing, more often than not, is soft to be important. Powering, although still with us, is less for next. And life-stands are lengthening with improved medical care. Pinker essentially provides historical data to support the importance of hope in building a better future. Kind of important for those currently serving in the UN, even for us, now re-entire from the United Nations Service. - It is indeed, and that ties in so well. So thank you very much for recommending that. We'll also put the reference in the notes. Robert Adolph, thank you so much for joining us today. - My pleasure, Amy. Thank you so very much for being with us. - You're welcome. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING] You
