Tower of Babble

How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos

By: Dore Gold

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

A United Nations insider exposes how anti-American and antidemocratic forces have hijacked the UN and put America and its allies at risk

Politicians and pundits are imploring the United States to give the UN a major role in American foreign policy. But as best-selling author Dore Gold reveals in Tower of Babble, it is absurd to look to the UN to fight aggression, combat terrorism, and preserve global order. The UN is an abject failure - a fatally flawed organization that has actually accelerated and spread global chaos. And it is dominated by anti-Western forces, dictatorships, state sponsors of terrorism, and America’s worst enemies. 

In his New York Times best seller Hatred’s Kingdom, Gold blew the lid off Saudi support for terrorism, and now he uncovers an even more important story. As a former UN ambassador, he has a unique insider’s perspective on why the UN fails to address - or in many cases exacerbates - the very problems it was created to solve. He shows how President Franklin Roosevelt’s great vision has been corrupted beyond recognition. Using internal UN documents and classified cables, Gold presents stark evidence of how the UN ignores mass murder, emboldens terrorists, props up dictators, and otherwise betrays its mission to protect the world’s security. 

Tower of Babble reveals:

• Why America can - and indeed must - go outside the UN to address the most serious threats to national security
• How the UN jeopardizes the success of the war on terror - and how terrorist groups have actually penetrated UN organizations
• How, in the space of a year, the UN turned a blind eye to two horrifying episodes of mass murder - and why the slaughters could have been prevented
• How the oil-for-food scandal only hints at the UN’s repeated failures to deal with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq
• How the UN’s new international criminal court threatens America’s sovereignty
• How the UN’s startling record of failure has led Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton, and George W. Bush to bypass the UN Security Council 

As this hard-hitting book reveals, it is, quite simply, a myth that the United Nations is a positive force for world order or the “sole source of international legitimacy.” And unless the United States and its allies recognize this now, they will continue to put themselves at risk. 

"Dore Gold's book is informed and informative. It can be read with pleasure and profit by anyone with a genuine interest in the United Nations. I warmly recommend it." (Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, former Ambassador to the United Nations)

"For anyone wondering what's wrong with the United Nations, this is the book to read. Providing both a concise history and an urgent warning for our own time, Dore Gold in clear and lively detail explains how and why the UN too often promotes not peace, but problems - and what we can do about it." (Claudia Rosett, columnist, the Wall Street Journal's Opinionjournal.com)

"Dore Gold's Tower of Babble is bound to be one of the most controversial critiques in the public debate on the UN." (Henry Kissinger, Former Secretary of State) 

©2004 Dore Gold (P)2004 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic Reviews

“An exceptionally valuable and timely book...Shocking...Gold brings us face to face with the reality that, even with the passing of the Soviet Union, the UN’s moral failings have not much diminished.” (Commentary)

“Dore Gold’s excellent book Tower of Babble documents the UN’s shortcomings.” (New York Sun)  

“Most conservatives, of course, realize by now that abolishing, or withdrawing from, the United Nations is never going to happen. Instead, they’re seeking to bring it to heel. The strategy is outlined by former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore Gold in his book Tower of Babble.” (Los Angeles Times) 

U.N.: Ally of Tyranny and Chaos

Why did "The Killing Fields" Pol Pot never face a tribunal?

Why didn't the UN take action on Rawanda, Somalia, or much else?

Dore Gold (author of the excellent "Hatred's Kingdom") writes a very timely book. A very profound book. Moral Equivalency is not tolerance, it rings the death knell of Western Civilization.
Gold answers the questions and puts forward a strong case that The U.N. is not benign.
This book is a News Hound's delight.
Robertson Dean narrates perfectly.Buy this book! You'll be glad you did!

A Must Read!!

This is the only book that I can recall giving five stars to, because it is so timely in its nature and well done in its content. We are largely uneducated about the origins, purpose, and history of the UN, and given that a large contingent of American political thinkers believe that this organization should have an increasing influence in our policymaking, we had better change that. Dore Gold does an admirable job of laying out in detail the seminar events in the UNs history, from its founding and in how it has reacted to numerous crises. Almost universally, the performance of the UN has been an abject failure when measured against the ideals upon which it was founded. One need only look at Syria's place on the Security Council and Libya's place on the Human Rights Commission to see the level of self-parody that this worse-than-useless organization has sunk to, but there is a mountain of evidence presented by Gold that dams the UN in detail. Failure to prevent or even stem genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia; failure to deter, chill or resolve regional conflict after regional conflict; total flaccidity in the realm of human rights; the Oil for Food fiasco; the Keystone Cop weapons inspection regimes... it's all there in black and white. The UN is a failure that causes more problems than it solves. Whatever we decide to do with it, we should never rely on it let alone--God forbid--submit a shred of our sovereignty to it.

Essential

This is an extremely important book; fascinating and full of essential information for understanding international affairs in today's world. A knowledge of UN history enables one to sift through increasingly biased news reports to get a grasp of reality. Looking around today's world, fingerprints of the UN's attitude of moral equivalency are everywhere. UN history is also a good example of the effects of corruption in places of unchecked power. To say that this book is essential is putting it mildly. Its content covers a political arena in which our electorate needs much education. This is a life changing book...take advantage!

Very clarifying.

it was good to understand some conflicting issues related to UN along the last decades.

Not a bad listen

An intelligent critique of the UN from a clearly Neo conservative perspective. Would recommend.

I learned a lot about the UN struggles

Loved this from the start. very informative and thorough. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any student of international politics.

Scaremongering biased bush worshiping drivel

Would you try another book written by Dore Gold or narrated by Robertson Dean?

No. The author likely has some personal vendetta against the United Nations, as they do not look at the situation in an unbiased light/

Has Tower of Babble put you off other books in this genre?

No. This is a standout horror in the genre.

What aspect of Robertson Dean’s performance might you have changed?

It was very grand and impressive, and he has a good voice for these sort of things.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger and irritation. I had expected a balanced analysis of the problems of the UN, or even a rubbishing account which gave a decent summary of some of the weaknesses of the organisation. Instead I got a book which suggested that George Bush was taking on the mantle his father had left him, an utterly absurd statement as he is the president of the united states and should be acting for the country and not because of his father's legacy. It rubbished the UN again and again and its sensationalist writing only made me think that the author must be trying to deliberately misguide readers - it's common courtesy to at least give the opposite side of the argument and then refute it. Instead the book barely touches on anything but its supposed damming account of the United Nations, making it sound more absurd than accurate.

Any additional comments?

The author should try writing a book which people may actually believe.