The writer of this authoritative and timely contribution to our understanding of the complex global scenario is a veteran diplomat who has represented India with distinction in diverse nations such as Japan, the UK, Sri Lanka and Brazil. This book is largely focussed on Hardeep Singh Puri’s posting as Permanent Representative in New York in 2011–2012 when India held the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council (UNSC). The attention paid to the UNSC is particularly valuable since few of us are familiar with the functioning of this
closed-door and arcane institution, where pious and lofty declarations in public have hardly any relation to the hard-headed, short-sighted and devious compulsions that propel national positions. Puri defines the phrase ‘perilous interventions’ in the title of the book as the
use of force without the approval of the UNSC, the only global body authorised to sanction military interventions in member states. The author points out that such interventions have generally been products of ‘whimsical and reflexive decision- making’, where decisions with far-reaching implications have been taken largely to serve short-term interests, usually regime change. But such interventions have generally had devastating effects on local
populations with large numbers being killed and displaced, and cities, infrastructure and societies—the result of centuries of human endeavour—destroyed within a few months. More serious are the long-term implications. In almost all instances, broken polities have become playgrounds for ferocious militants, impelled by extremist doctrines of faith and personal identity. This book examines the role
of the UNSC in four ongoing conflicts—Libya, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine— looking at the historical background, the processes of decision-making and the implementation of these decisions and their consequences, intended or otherwise.
The Arab Spring events from 2011 set off convulsions across West Asia as regional potentates desperately sought to safeguard their thrones. In this effort, the Gulf Arab leaders have often cooperated with jihadi forces, and mobilised domestic and regional support by using the emotive force of sectarianism.
Western nations have been equally cynical. After initially welcoming the popular aspirations of the Arab Spring, they pursued their own interests by
working closely with the very same Gulf Arab leaders whose replacement they had initially sought. The conflict in Libya emerged from this quagmire of deceit and chicanery. Taking advantage of Mummar Gaddafi’s poor image globally, Western powers saw in the sporadic uprisings in the country an opportunity to effect regime change. Their media whipped up the demonisation of the Libyan leader, even asserting, with no credible evidence, that he was planning a nation- wide genocide.

Amidst this frenzy, the UNSC passed Resolution 1973 in March 2011 which provided for a ceasefire and mediation by the African Union, a no-fly zone and an arms embargo, targetted sanctions and the use of ‘all necessary means’ to protect Book Reviews / 677 civilians. Puri shows that the Western powers and their Arab allies were only interested in the use of force. They immediately began their assault on Libya,
and within a few weeks the Libyan leader was apprehended and brutally executed by militants.
Puri then surveys the consequences of this initiative—the descent of Libya into failure, the proliferation of militants and weaponry, the conditions created for Al Qaeda and ISIS to flourish, and of course the killing of the US ambassador and his colleagues by the very militants the West had armed. Syria, in the last seven years of conflict, has seen half a million of its population killed, and several million others who have become refugees abroad or have
been displaced at home live in misery and destitution. However, the active role of Russia in the conflict on the side of the Assad regime and the use of its veto have ensured that the UNSC remains ineffective. Puri has pointed that as early as September 2015, President Barack Obama had agreed to work with Russia and
Iran towards a peace process. But this overture gained no traction as the US armed forces and their Western and Gulf allies continued to back the opposition, despite evidence that some of their weaponry was going to extremist groups.
In the case of Yemen too, the UN, in Puri’s words, has been ‘passive and inert’, largely on account of US’s backing for Saudi Arabia and visceral hostility for Iran, even though, according to Puri, Saudi Arabia ‘bears major responsibility for causing further chaos and devastation in the country today’.
In the case of the Crimea/Ukraine crisis, the UN has again been ineffective. Puri explains it simply, ‘[The UNSC] is helpless in the face of an entrenched interest of one of its permanent members if that member has no hesitation in
exercising its veto power’. This reality has reduced the UN to the status of a bystander in the Ukraine saga. Flowing from the anarchy emanating from the uncontrolled conflicts in
different theatres, Puri has included two interesting discussions in his book—the problem of migrants who desperately seek safety from conflicts at home, and the ‘doctrine’ of the ‘Right to Protect’ (R2P) that advocates interventions by external powers in countries where state order has broken down and there are fears of
domestic or state-sponsored mass atrocities against vulnerable sections of the local population.
While migrants from war-torn zones in West Asia and North Africa are desperately seeking sanctuary in Western nations, they have generated strong resistance from local communities who view them as an economic and cultural threat and have sought support from extreme right-wing parties to confront this danger. The R2P doctrine has been developed in response to the failure of the international community to confront the mass killings that took place in the 1990s in Rwanda and Srebrenica. However, developing countries are concerned that Western powers will use this doctrine to justify military interventions to subserve their own interests in violation of the norms of state sovereignty. The book is embellished with two interesting bookends. First, a foreword by veteran Egyptian diplomat and minister Amre Moussa in which he suggests how the UN system could be reformed, and the second, an afterword by former UN Undersecretary General, Youssef Mahmoud who accepts that polities at present 678 / Social Change, 48, 4 (2018): 666–688 are seriously deficient in responding to popular aspirations and expectations. Moussa suggests better representation of developing countries in the UNSC, limits on the use of the veto by the permanent members and empowerment of the UN General Assembly in issues of peace and security. Mahmoud advocates ‘pluralistic systems of governance and building of internal resilience’ to cope with the diverse challenges that confront the modern state. But these writers do not tell us how these changes are to be achieved. Where West Asia is concerned Puri has correctly observed, ‘With waters now muddied by the international interventions, the underlying toxicity in the Arab world is likely to remain for a considerable period of time’. This thoughtful and perceptive book is a painful reminder that selfishness, short-sightedness and brute force continue to determine international actions, and reform remains a distant mirage.

(By Talmiz Ahmad
Former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia,Oman and the UAE)