NPR's Book of the Day

Episode: ‘Peacemaker’ and ‘Tomorrow Is Yesterday’ are personal histories of diplomacy

Date: September 26, 2025
Host: Andrew Limbong

Episode Overview

This episode features in-depth discussions about two thought-provoking books that explore the complexities and personal dimensions of international diplomacy and peacemaking:

• "Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World" by Thant Mint Yu, a biography of the former UN Secretary General (1961–1971) and his pivotal role in Cold War crises.
• "Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel, Palestine" by Hussein Aga and Robert Malley, a critical examination of why the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has continually failed.

Both interviews dive into the personal experiences of the authors, the historical moments their books cover, and the enduring lessons for contemporary global conflicts.

Segment 1: "Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World"

Interview with Thant Mint Yu by Michelle Kellerman
[01:24–10:01]

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• Personal Connection and Early Memories

  • Thant Mint Yu recalls being three years old at the UN, meeting his grandfather, U Thant, and Apollo 11 astronauts:

    “I think I was about three years old... I remember driving to the UN and seeing the big, you know, the UN building... I think that was more exciting than anything else.”
    — Thant Mint Yu [01:45]

  • The inclusion of that photo in the book illustrates U Thant's fascination with space and the future of the UN.

• Inspirations for the Biography

  • Despite living with his grandfather, U Thant remained a “bit of a mystery” due to his early passing, motivating Yu to research and learn more as an adult.

• The Transformative Role of the UN Secretary General

  • U Thant and his predecessor pioneering the Secretary General’s role as mediator and peacemaker, which was not the original intent for the position.
  • Newly independent nations helped reshape the UN's purpose during the 1950s–1960s.
  • Much of this has been “airbrushed out of history.”

    “It’s a whole history of the late 50s, 1960s that are so pivotal… and it’s been again, sort of airbrushed out of history.”
    — Thant Mint Yu [03:52]

• U Thant’s Rapid Rise

  • From a schoolteacher in rural Burma to UN Secretary General in just over a decade, becoming the only figure acceptable to both Moscow and Washington after Dag Hammarskjöld’s death.

    “Within 10 years found himself as Burma’s new ambassador to the UN... he developed this reputation quite quickly as the man who sort of got on with everyone, both east and west, north and south.”
    — Thant Mint Yu [04:27]

• Experiences of Global South Diplomats in 1960s New York

  • Excitement and opportunities contrasted with discrimination and segregation, highlighting challenges faced by non-Western diplomats in the US.

• U Thant’s Crucial Role in the Cuban Missile Crisis

  • Contrary to his marginalization in many histories, archival evidence reveals U Thant as a quiet but pivotal mediator who created the diplomatic space for Kennedy and Khrushchev.

    “He intervenes... basically to create the space for them and the time for them to find a diplomatic solution.”
    — Thant Mint Yu [07:16]

• Lessons for Today’s UN

  • The decline of the Secretary General’s independent influence is lamented; Yu suggests reviving the model of the highly respected, neutral mediator in addressing today’s conflicts.

    “We miss this person called the UN Secretary General, who has sort of prestige, who has access to all the top leaders of the world...”
    — Thant Mint Yu [08:53]

Notable Quotes

• “He was the only person acceptable to both Moscow and Washington during the coldest years of the Cold War.”
  — Michelle Kellerman [05:34]

• “He was this neutral arbiter, this neutral figure that was essential to both sides in climbing down from what was then the very edge of a possible nuclear catastrophe.”
  — Thant Mint Yu [08:20]

Segment 2: "Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel, Palestine"

Discussion with Hussein Aga & Robert Malley, interviewed by Scott Simon
[11:03–20:28]

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• Reflections on the Hope of 1993

  • The episode recalls the optimism surrounding the signing of the Oslo Accords.
  • Scott Simon sets the tone:

    “Everyone on all sides had lost someone. People said they just wanted peace, to get on with their lives... There was hope. 32 years later, what happened?”
    — Scott Simon [11:24]

• Core Reasons for Peace Process Failure

  • Malley asserts that the process was fundamentally flawed:

    "It was premised on a complete dissonance between what Israelis were looking for and what Palestinians were looking for.”
    — Robert Malley [12:20]

  • Palestinians wanted justice and redress for 1948; Israelis wanted absolute security—“those things were not the same.”

  • For decades, negotiations missed core emotional and historical realities for both peoples.

  • Hussein Aga is more blunt:

    “For me, the peace process from day one was a fake process… laden with all kind of forces that are not amenable to success.”
    — Hussein Aga [13:10]

• The Role (and Failure) of U.S. Mediation

  • Both authors critique the US:
    • The US never exercised enough pressure on either side.
    • American mediation was “subordinate to other objectives.”

    “...One of the diagnoses that we come out with in the book is that pursuit of Israeli Palestinian peace was subordinate to other objectives that the US was pursuing.”
    — Robert Malley [14:44]

  • The US saw the conflict as technical, not emotional or historical.

    “It was not about that. The importance of history, the emotions, the feelings, the aspirations, the yearnings, they were never factored in.”
    — Hussein Aga [15:01]

• Entrenchment and the Current Reality

  • Discussion shifts to the ongoing conflict and the October 7 attack:

    "What Hamas has done is really more representative of what the Palestinians feel deep inside... Things are not very precise."
    — Hussein Aga [15:58]

  • Israeli society, across opposition and government, widely supports the war in Gaza.
  • Malley again underscores the consensus for war on both sides, and lack of significant protest:

    “This is not Netanyahu’s war, this is Israel’s.”
    — Robert Malley [17:24]

  • On the Palestinian side, little moral condemnation of Hamas; criticism focuses on the disastrous consequences of their actions, not the actions themselves.

• Is Peace Possible?

  • Hussein Aga remains cautiously hopeful, but insists fundamental rethinking is necessary:

    "Oh, the possibility of them being able to live in peace together is there. But you have to... start by knowing what the conflict is, by defining it and identifying it properly..."
    — Hussein Aga [18:54]

  • Malley frames the book as a provocation to “shake things up” and challenge stale assumptions:

    “...hopefully people who read the book … won’t keep their head in the sand and continue trying what has been done for so long and led to the disaster we’re in today.”
    — Robert Malley [19:31]

Notable Quotes

• “The process was not well thought out... The importance of history, the emotions, the feelings, the aspirations, the yearnings, they were never factored in...”
  — Hussein Aga [15:01]

• “So as we say in the book, this is not Netanyahu’s war, this is Israel’s.”
  — Robert Malley [17:24]

• “Oh, the possibility... is there. But you have to have a way of trying to address the conflict by starting by knowing what the conflict is... As long as it’s not the case, we'll be doing the same things over and over and over.”
  — Hussein Aga [18:54]

Memorable Moments & Quotes by Timestamp

• [01:45] — Thant Mint Yu recounts his first memory of the UN and his grandfather.
• [04:27] — The extraordinary rise of U Thant from a small town schoolteacher to Secretary General.
• [07:16] — Detailing U Thant’s critical mediation in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• [11:24] — Scott Simon’s snapshot of hope in 1993, and what has changed since.
• [12:20] — Malley on the inherent dissonance in peace process assumptions.
• [13:10] — Aga dismisses the peace process as fundamentally ill-fated.
• [14:44] — Malley’s critique that US mediation has always been compromised by other priorities.
• [17:24] — Malley on the broad consensus for the Gaza war in Israel, and the lack of moral reckoning on both sides.
• [18:54] — Aga on the possibility of peace, and the essential need to redefine the problem.

Conclusion

This episode provides remarkable personal and historical insights into high-stakes diplomacy and the ongoing struggle for peace. Listeners are offered a nuanced understanding of how personalities, misperceptions, and unaddressed grievances shape the world’s most difficult conflicts—and what might need to change for real peace to take root.