Soon to be a major motion picture starring Ben Kingsley and Theo James, the gripping true story of a young program coordinator at the United Nations who stumbles upon a conspiracy involving Iraq's oil reserves.
What made this episode in our collective history possible was not so much the lies we told one another, but the lies we told ourselves.
A recent Brown University graduate, Michael Soussan was elated when he landed a position as a program coordinator for the United Nations' Iraq Program. Little did he know that he would end up a whistleblower in whatPBS NewsHourdescribed as the largest financial scandal in UN history.
Breaking a conspiracy of silence that had prevailed for years, Soussan sparked an unprecedented corruption probe into the Oil-for-Food program that exposed a worldwide system of bribes, kickbacks, and blackmail involving ruthless power-players from around the globe.
At the crossroads of pressing humanitarian concerns, crisis diplomacy, and multibillion-dollar business interests, Soussan's story highlights core flaws of our international system and exposes the frightening, corrupting power of the black elixir that fuels our world's economy.
Michael Soussan is a journalist and screenwriter whose writing has appeared in the
New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, CNN,
Time, NPR, BBC, and a range of international media. His has worked at CNN, the UN, and K Street in Washington, DC, and has taught writing and public communication at NYU and advised a range of global organizations and corporations. A native of Denmark, he lives in Los Angeles.
A great book and a fun read.
Fareed Zakaria, GPS Book of the Week
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