The Absolutely Indispensable Man : Ralph Bunche, the United Nations, and the Fight to End Empire

## Abstract Nobel Laureate, UN Under Secretary General, and American diplomat, Ralph Bunche was present at the creation of the postwar international order. Yet even before that order was launched Bunche championed one of the most consequential, but often unsung, transformations of the twentieth century: the end of colonialism and the transition, for much of Africa and Asia, from empire to sovereignty. As a scholar in the 1930s, Bunche studied the colonial system. As a mediator in postcolonial Palestine, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to the new state of Israel and its Arab neighbors. As a rare Black man in the very white world of diplomacy, Bunche fought to ensure that new states were welcomed—and guided—into the international community. Once “the most honored African American in America,” Ralph Bunche is largely forgotten today; remembered by some as a master of international diplomacy, by others as an icon of racial equality, yet little known to the public at large. Bunche merits recognition both for his extraordinary American life and for the lens he provides on two significant features of the 20th century—the creation of the postwar international order and the struggle for racial equality—that are rarely joined but deserve to be, and that he himself married in the realm of ideas and in his own person. Bunche saw no dissonance in this pairing of diplomacy and civil rights. He sought to make both America and the world more just, more free, and more fair. During his lifetime—and in part due to his efforts—nearly a billion people of color gained independence from foreign rule. The titanic global conflicts of the 20th century, from the Great War to the Cold War, are rarely viewed today through the lens of race and rights. Yet for much of the 20th century race was arguably the central principle in international relations. To Bunche racial justice was a global, not merely national, issue, and empire was one of racism’s most potent and perilous guises. Colonialism was an oppressive form of governance, and the fight to end empire provided a throughline to his stellar—and fascinating—career. "A wide-ranging political biography of diplomat, Nobel prize winner, and civil rights leader Ralph Bunche. A legendary diplomat, scholar, and civil rights leader, Ralph Bunche was one of the most prominent Black Americans of the twentieth century. The first African American to obtain a political science Ph.D. from Harvard and a celebrated diplomat at the United Nations, he was once so famous he handed out the Best Picture award at the Oscars. Yet today Ralph Bunche is largely forgotten. In The Absolutely Indispensable Man, Kal Raustiala restores Bunche to his rightful place in history. He shows that Bunche was not only a singular figure in midcentury America; he was also one of the key architects of the postwar international order. Raustiala tells the story of Bunche's dramatic life, from his early years in prewar Los Angeles to UCLA, Harvard, the State Department, and the heights of global diplomacy at the United Nations. After narrowly avoiding assassination Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize for his ground-breaking mediation of the first Arab-Israeli conflict, catapulting him to popular fame. A central player in some of the most dramatic crises of the Cold War, he pioneered conflict management and peacekeeping at the UN. But as Raustiala argues, his most enduring achievement was his work to dismantle European empire. Bunche perceptively saw colonialism as the central issue of the 20th century and decolonization as a project of global racial justice. From marching with Martin Luther King to advising presidents and prime ministers, Ralph Bunche shaped our world in lasting ways. This definitive biography gives him his due. It also reminds us that postwar decolonization not only fundamentally transformed world politics, but also powerfully intersected with America's own civil rights struggle." -- Provided by publisher In this political biography, Kal Raustiala tells the life story of famed diplomat, scholar, Nobel prize winner, and civil rights leader Ralph Bunche. Raustiala argues that his most lasting achievement was his work against the European empire across the globe. As a high-ranking United Nations official in the 1950s and 1960s, Bunche saw decolonization as a project of global racial justice. From marching with Martin Luther King to advising presidents and prime ministers, Bunche is one of the most prominent Black Americans of the twentieth century. This definitive biography gives him his due. It also reminds us that the end of empire had a powerful impact on America's own civil rights struggle