The Foreign Service Journal, November 2006

A retired senior FSO, Terrell Arnold has had diplo- matic postings to Egypt, India, the Philippines, Brazil and Washington. He has also chaired the National War College’s Department of International Studies. He is the author, co-author or editor of four previous books on terrorism and related issues. The Third Try: Can the U.N. Work? Alison Broinowski and James Wilkinson, Scribe, 2005, $35.00, paperback, 320 pages. In its 60th year, the United Nations is up to its neck in con- troversy. Launched with great hopes, it has helped keep the peace, sheltered refugees and improved world health, but has fallen short on protecting human rights, preventing genocide and overcoming poverty. In The Third Try , Alison Broinowski and James Wilkinson consider the vision that inspired the founders, and ask how the world body can best move forward. “This book, bringing to bear the views and experi- ence of two seasoned diplomats from the U.S. and Australia, is a valuable contribution to a more informed and realistic debate about what kind of U.N. will best serve the public interest,” writes Ambassador Morton Abramowitz in the book’s foreword. Alison Broinowski, a former Australian diplomat, is a visiting fellow on the faculty of Asian Studies at the Australian National University. James Wilkinson, a retired Foreign Service officer, has served as deputy U.S. representative on the U.N. Security Council with the rank of ambassador, and as deputy assistant secre- tary of State for European and Canadian affairs. His diplomatic postings included Moscow, East Berlin, Bangkok and Canberra. The Central Liberal Truth: How Politics Can Change A Culture and Save It from Itself Lawrence E. Harrison, Oxford University Press, 2006, $28.00, hardcover, 272 pages. Which cultural values, beliefs and attitudes best pro- mote democracy, social justice and prosperity? How can we use the forces that shape cul- tural change to promote these values in the Third World? In this provocative and controversial book, Lawrence E. Harrison provides the answers. Drawing on a three-year research project that explored the cultural values of dozens of nations, Harrison argues that it is cultural values that determine whether countries are democratic and rich or authori- tarian and poor. To prove his point, he presents 25 val- ues that operate very differently around the globe, including one’s influence over destiny, the importance attached to education, the extent to which people iden- tify with and trust others, and the role of women in society. He also offers a series of practical guidelines for developing nations and lagging minority groups. Lawrence E. Harrison is a senior research fellow and adjunct lecturer at the Fletcher School of Diplomacy. He is the author of many books, among them Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind (Madison Books, 2000), Who Prospers? (Basic Books, 1993) and The Pan-American Dream (Westview Press, 1998); and co-editor, with Samuel Huntington, of Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress (Basic Books, 2001). Between 1965 and 1981, he directed USAID missions in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti and Nicaragua. Mission to Algiers: Diplomacy by Engagement Cameron R. Hume, Lexington Books, 2006, $24.95, paperback, 186 pages. Ambassador Cameron Hume has written an important case study of U.S.-Algerian relations from 1997 to 2000. Drawing from his personal records, he describes the Algerian govern- ment’s near-bankruptcy in the 1990s, the Islamist insurgency that killed 100,000 people and threatened the country’s stability and the slow push toward democracy. “At a time when the United States is encouraging democratic development in the Middle East, the Algerian case of partially successful transition to democracy should be better known,” declares William B. Quandt of the University of Virginia in his review of the book ( FSJ , September). “This is a well-written, firsthand account of recent history.” An FSO since 1970, Cameron Hume is currently chargé d’affaires in Khartoum. He was ambassador to 58 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 6