The United Nations Under Kurt Waldheim, 1972-1981

The first half of Ryan's (history, Bronx Community College, CUNY) text examines the challenges faced by Waldheim during his first term as Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 1971-1981. (The publisher, unfortunately, included the wrong dates in the titles of their first two printings of this otherwise competent book). Ryan chronicles the difficulties of operating in the shadow of U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger, Waldheim's achievements as a world leader, and the UN's quest for peace during his second term, and the intensification of the Cold War and weakening of the UN in the final years of his tenure. The second half of the text is devoted to a very detailed chronology of events for each of the ten years of Waldheim's tenure. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR