SURVIVING THE UNITED NATIONS
Robert Bruce Adolph
GENRE: NonFiction
BLURB:
This is the astonishing true story of a US Army Special Forces soldier who became a warrior for peace. In his humanitarian and peacekeeping missions for the United Nations he dealt with child-soldiers, blood diamonds, a double hostage-taking, an invasion by brutal guerrillas, an emergency aerial evacuation, a desperate hostage recover mission, tribal gunfights, refugee camp violence, suicide bombings, and institutional corruption. His UN career brought him face to face with the best and worst of human nature and he shares it all here.
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In 1996 a former UN official, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, was elected President. The new President’s first order of business was to sign a peace treaty with Sankoh that rapidly failed. Sankoh continued to maintain control of the most valuable diamond-producing areas. The following year, the fledgling President was overthrown by Major Johnny Paul Koroma and the Sierra Leone Army. Koroma immediately suspended the Constitution, outlawed demonstrations, and abolished all political parties. President Kabbah beat a hasty retreat to the country of Guinea, immediately to the north and east of Sierra Leone.
Two years later, the Nigerian-led Western African Intervention Force entered Freetown to cheering crowds. The cheers died quickly when the RUF later attempted to take Freetown by force. The UN Military Observer mission in Sierra Leone evacuated its staff northward to Conakry, Guinea. Its headquarters compound was subsequently burned-out by the RUF.
The West African Intervention Force subsequently retook Freetown. The RUF returned to the bush, while maintaining control of the diamond-producing areas in the south and east of the country. The UN then arranged a ceasefire. Later, in Lomé, Togo, an UN-brokered peace agreement was signed between Kabbah’s government and the RUF. Not many in Sierra Leone believed that the peace agreement would hold. Fear was omnipresent. Nobody knew what the future might hold.
Confirmed reports spoke to many RUF atrocities. Because they had lost the previously held general election, their revenge was to cut off the hands of over 1,000 residents of Freetown. This equated in their minds to punishment for voting the wrong way.
Interview with Robert Bruce Adolph
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I now find that Wine sometimes compliments the process. Seriously, I learned that the only secret is to write. Write when you don’t feel like it. Write when you are ill. Write when you are angry. Write when you are sad. Write when time permits. Write when time doesn’t permit. Write your way through the writer’s block. Writing is the most egalitarian of art forms. The more you write, the better you will get. Writing is now and has always been the most rigorous form of thought. There is no better exercise for the mind than writing. If your readers hope to be one day better, they should write. If they hope to influence others, they should write. If your readers hope one day to build a legacy, they should write
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
I think it wasn’t until I published my first article while serving in the Army as a young captain of military intelligence. I wrote that piece because I had never done so before. Trying new things is something of a passion for me. I liked the responses to my first article, so I wrote another, and another, and I am still at it over four decades later. At last count, I have published over three hundred articles, commentaries and book reviews. My works have appeared in over fifty newspapers, magazines, and journals, in the US, Europe, and Asia.
What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?
None of us is absolutely objective, no matter how we try. I would gladly give up all my biases and preconceptions - which would automatically make me a better writer.
Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?
I was born in Massachusetts, but because my dad was in the military, I was raised all over the US - the eldest of nine children. At last count, and due to my Army and United Nations assignments, I have lived and worked in 17 different countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, many of which were in crisis. These varied assignments inform much of my writing. I think it is fair to say that my perspective might not be main stream.
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
I think I would have just started sooner. Journaling or keeping a diary or something of that sort, maybe trying to write articles for the many military newspapers and magazines on the installations I lived on. If I had just started sooner I think it would have made my writing stronger.
What is the biggest surprise that you experienced after becoming a writer?
One of the things about writing and publishing is that other people will let you know how they feel about your work. Sometimes they are complimentary, sometimes not. You must be prepared for either response without taking offense. Writing is not for the faint of heart. I have received considerable hate mail for my political writings. Thick skin is beneficial if you intend to write about US politics these days.
Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book and why it is a must-read?
It’s the true story of my humanitarian and peacekeeping missions for the United Nations. I dealt with child-soldiers, blood diamonds, a double hostage-taking, an invasion by brutal guerrillas, an emergency aerial evacuation, a desperate hostage recover mission, tribal gunfights, refugee camp violence, suicide bombings, and institutional corruption. My UN career brought mw face to face with the best and worst of human nature and I share it all in the book.
I think my book is a must read because it reflects raw reality in Sierra Leone, Yemen, and Iraq. My book deals with the worst of humanity - rapists; those merciless men who create child soldiers; kidnappers; blood diamonds, brutal guerrillas; institutional corruption; tribal firefights; jihadist suicide bombers; and refugee camp violence. It doesn’t get any more real than this, and it is all true, verified by those who were there with me. The truth is center stage.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Robert Bruce Adolph is a retired UN Chief Security Advisor & US Army Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel. He holds master’s degrees in both International Affairs (Middle East Studies) from American University’s School of International Service and National Security Studies and Strategy from the US Army’s Command and General Staff College.
Adolph served nearly 26-years in multiple Special Forces, Counterterrorism, Psychological Operations, Civil Affairs, Foreign Area Officer, and Military Intelligence command and staff assignments in the US and overseas. He also volunteered to serve on UN peacekeeping missions in Egypt, Israel, Cambodia, Iraq and Kuwait.
After he retired from active military service in 1997, he began a second career as a senior UN Security Advisor. Among his positions he served as the Chief of the Middle East and North Africa in the UN Department of Safety and Security.
Connect with Robert Bruce Adolph
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3 comments:
Thank you so much for featuring SURVIVING THE UNITED NATIONS today.
This sounds like an interesting nonfiction read.
Looks very interesting.
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