Backstabbing for Beginners - by Michael Soussan (Paperback)

About the Book

Presents a first-person account of the backstabbing and hypocrisy that led to the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food Program becoming the most corrupt enterprise ever overseen by the international community.

Book Synopsis

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 what PBS NewsHour described 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.

Review Quotes

"A great book and a fun read."
--Fareed Zakaria, GPS Book of the Week

About the Author

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.