Hume has written a ground-breaking study... his analysis is thoughtful and objective in the best tradiiton of the practitioner scholar." --Choice ... a ground-breaking book written by a rising star of the American diplomatic service who was himself intimately involved in the Beekman Place negotiations... Mr. Hume... guides the reader through the complex diplomacy that surrounded the Iraq-Iran war, showing how the great powers came to recognize that ending the conflict was in their interests." --Paul Lewis, New York Times Book Review Cameron Hume shows how the problems and perils arising from the war served as timely grist to the mills of the Security Council at the UN... This is something that well deserves to be saved from oblivion." --The Economist ... well-informed... an ably written diplomatic history that will be referred to for years to come by those who want to understand how the United Nations is meant to operate."--Foreign Affairs This book describes how the member states operate, in good times and bad. And it does so with grace and insight." --Gary Sick, Middle East Journal ... a serious and insightful account of the changing role of the UN in the Iran-Iraq conflict... by an able diplomat who was directly involved." --Shibley Telhami This insider's account of the revolutionary changes in the U.N. Security Council... is a major contribution to understanding why the U.N. and the Council are now more effective and more used.... a well-written, important book." --U.S. Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering Hume's authoritative account follows the transformation of the Security Council, since 1985, from a stage for acrimonious public diplomacy into a forum where governments collaborate to settle regional disputes.