Samantha Power on Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World.Sergio Vieira de Mello was one of the greatest humanitarians of our time, and while surprisingly few people recognize his name, his role in our world becomes abundantly clear when you describe the details surrounding his death.
He died on the afternoon of August 19, 2003, when a suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives alongside the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, killing over twenty people working there for the United Nations. Vieira de Mello, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy, was buried beneath the wreckage, under the UN flag itself.
Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World is as much a biography of Vieira de Mello as it is a riveting account of the last four decades of global conflicts and our attempts to understand and resolve them.
Despite the tragic outcome in Iraq, the life of Sergio Vieira de Mello yields vital lessons for us today, providing us with his unique expertise on how to unite as nations, rebuild our international institutions, and establish peace and security in those parts of our world that need them the most.