The birth of South Sudan was celebrated the world round?a triumph for global justice and the end of one of the world’s most devastating wars. The Republic’s historic independence was acclaimed not only by its long-oppressed people but also by three U.S. presidents and the legions of Americans who championed their cause. But the celebration would not last: South Sudan’s freedom-fighters soon plunged their new nation back into chaos, shattering the promise of liberation and exposing the hubris of their American backers. Drawing on extraordinary personal stories of identity, liberation, and survival, this narrative tells an epic story of paradise won and then lost. Zach Vertin’s firsthand accounts from deadly war zones to the halls of Washington power bring listeners on an extraordinary journey into the rise and fall of the world’s newest state. South Sudan’s untold story is a unique episode in global history?an unprecedented experiment in international state-building?and a cautionary tale. A Rope from the Sky is propelled by characters both inspired and ordinary—their aspirations are matched by insecurities, their sins by courage and kindness. It is first a story of hope, power, greed, compassion, and conscience-shocking violence from the world’s most neglected patch of territory. But it is also a story about the best and worst of America: both our big-hearted ideals and our difficult reckoning with the limits of American power amid a world in disarray.
A Rope from the Sky : The Making and Unmaking of the World's Newest State
Author:
Narrator:
Duration:
- 483 pages
Language:
English
- 1 book
Zach Vertin
ZACH VERTIN is an American writer, foreign policy expert, and diplomat. He currently serves in the Biden Administration as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Vertin also teaches at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. He was previously a Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Brookings Doha Center, where he conceived and led a project on the New Geopolitics of the Red Sea. Vertin's areas of expertise include: U.S. foreign policy, multilateral diplomacy, China, the UN and international institutions, conflict analysis and resolution, mediation, peace processes, political transitions, and global norm development. He has worked on a range of global policy challenges in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and at the United Nations. Vertin also served in the Obama Administration as Director of Policy for the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan. Prior to that, he spent six years at the International Crisis Group, as a Senior Analyst in the Africa program and as an Advisor on the United Nations and multilateral diplomacy. He was also a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and has consulted for the International Peace Institute, Atlantic Council, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Vertin's 2019 book, A Rope from the Sky: The Making & Unmaking of the World's Newest State (Pegasus Books) chronicled the extraordinary birth of South Sudan, its subsequent collapse, and a reckoning with the limits of American influence amid a changing global landscape. Vertin has also published policy reports, long-form analyses, and op-eds on a broad range of topics and contributed expert commentary to: The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Economist, CNN, Al Jazeera, Guardian, Le Monde, and the BBC.
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