The United Nations at work in Asia: An envoy’s account of development in China, Vietnam, Thailand and the South Pacific, by Roy D Morey

Abstract

Roy D Morey The United Nations at work in Asia: An envoy's account of development in China, Vietnam, Thailand and the South Pacific Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013. 300 pp., $35.00 (paperback) ISBN 978-0-7864-7871-2, elSBN 978-1-4766-1421-2, www.mcfarlandpub.comThe 1980s and 1990s witnessed profound socioeconomic and political transformations throughout much of East and Southeast Asia. In this book, Roy Morey, whose long and varied career included service as US deputy assistant secretary of state and chair of the Department of Political Science at Denison University, offers a unique and insightful record of the UN's involvement in these tumultuous times. In the interest of full disclosure, the reviewers must reveal that we became diplomatic colleagues and friends of Morey while in China during the dramatic events related in chapter six of his book. Thus, we cannot claim to be impartial about the author but we can attest to his account of the Tiananmen Square events as not only clear-eyed and factual but also eloquent in evoking the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty that gripped Beijing in the spring of 1989.The author's perspective in this book is intriguing for two reasons. First, he was a direct participant in many of the substantive events he discusses and had personal dealings with key Asian leaders. Second, he made the transition from dealing with America's bilateral relationships as a senior US State Department official to representing the multilateral agencies in the countries where he was accredited as the chief UN representative. Morey gives a detailed account of his 22 years of involvement with UN efforts to resolve crises in Asia, including responding to the numbers of Cambodian refugees camped along the Thai border; confronting the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge; trying to rid the Golden Triangle of opium production; striving to promote cooperation among North Korea, South Korea, China, and Mongolia; negotiating the agreement on the Mekong River Commission; and working constructively with reformist leaders in China and Vietnam.Morey's account is both memorable and informative: his narrative carries his audience along with him and at the same time preserves the essential elements of the story. There is no artifice here. This is a man who understands the importance of the historic economic and political changes he witnessed in the region and the impact of a multilateral approach to development and modernization.The book is organized in a way that makes it useful for readers: it unfolds chronologically; the chapter titles are informative and clear; there is a helpful index and an extensive bibliography. Readers interested in researching specific subjects will be able to select material from this tome with ease. Others will prefer to browse through this book for broad edification. Like us, they can enjoy it for what it is: the insightful memoir of a gentleman-scholar who ably fostered international cooperation and economic development wherever he served.For Canadian diplomats of an earlier age, Morey's book will hold special interest because we placed such hope in cooperation with all parts of the new postwar multilateral machinery in the decades he writes about. As citizens of a middle power, we believed that the UN system was the best way to lower international tensions because it allowed countries of every size and political persuasion to play a role in defusing disputes and promoting development. …