Launch of "Peacemaker" by Thant Myint-U : Shared by Adhiratha

I was able to attend the presentation at Unicef house (some details and links below) about U Thant time which was excellent. As is the book about former SG U Thant. with great references and source material. Examples and approach could be relevant for current situations.

I believe former Unicef staff serving around the world during U Thants time or as students during those years might have much to add..

Note on TV link given below the audio seems very low but gets much better by 2 min 30 seconds in.....

with best wishes to all

adhiratha, former UN and Unicef staff from 1973 ....

Click here for our previous post about "Peacemaker"

Editor's Note : Thant Myint-U begins speaking at 4:58

Summary
This UN Publications event marked the launch of Peacemaker, historian Thant Myint-U’s biography of his grandfather, U Thant, the third UN Secretary-General. Opening remarks stressed the enduring power of books to connect people, build empathy, and make global crises tangible, linking U Thant’s leadership style in the 1960s to today’s challenges of disinformation, polarization, and climate change.

Thant Myint-U explained that the book grew from thousands of digitized UN archives and his grandfather’s personal papers, which revealed forgotten aspects of crises like the Cuban Missile Crisis, Congo, Vietnam, and the Six-Day War. He emphasized that U Thant emerged from humble origins in Burma, rose through the Afro-Asian diplomatic wave at the UN, and became a bridge-builder during Cold War deadlock.

A highlight is U Thant’s quiet but decisive role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, where, without a mandate, he opened channels between Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro, reframing the crisis as political rather than military and buying vital time for diplomacy. This intervention, though later overshadowed in Western accounts, was crucial to preventing nuclear war.

The discussion also touched on U Thant’s humility, Buddhist calm, advocacy for decolonization, and resistance to pressures from great powers. Questions explored why his legacy faded — reasons included Cold War politics, race, Vietnam, and the Six-Day War — and what lessons apply to today’s UN reform debates. Thant Myint-U argued that the UN should not be the starting point for reform but must be anchored in addressing real global dangers like the risk of great-power war.

Closing remarks by UN Foundation President Elizabeth Cousens praised Peacemaker as both history and urgent guidance, showing that the UN has always achieved progress “against impossible odds” and that individuals of imagination and character can still make a difference in turbulent times

Quotes

“Even in quite difficult times, bleak times, unsettled times, there is a way out. It depends not just on the big powers or big governments or big people, but ordinary people and small countries and organizations like the UN as well.”

“U Thant intervened without a mandate, without the Council or the General Assembly saying anything. He stepped in to create the space and the time necessary for diplomacy to work.”

“For the Russians, responding positively to an appeal from a non-aligned UN Secretary-General was very different from accepting an ultimatum from an American president.”

“He created a very calming atmosphere … in his presence you felt that things could be worked out.”

“By 1971, the UN was no longer fragile or temporary but an established international system based on sovereign equality — fundamentally different from what the founders in 1945 foresaw.”

“We have not in the past relied on the great powers to come up with the answers. The history of the 20th century is largely the history of many others — networks, coalitions, and the UN — shaping the international system.”

“Who would have thought that a school teacher from Burma would be part of the answer?”

“The UN’s responsibility — its founding purpose — is to prevent another cataclysmic world war. We should start with the dangers in front of us and then think about the kind of UN we need.”