Thursday 12 March 2026
07:45
Thant Myint-U
The future of world peace
Drawing on newly declassified archives and the role his grandfather, U Thant, the longest-serving Secretary-General of the United Nations, played in defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis and preventing or ending more than half a dozen wars, Thant will tell a very different story of how our world came to be and the possibilities today for global peace.
Thant is an award-winning writer, historian, and conservationist. Born in New York, he holds a PhD in History from Cambridge University, where he is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College. He served on three UN peacekeeping operations and held senior positions at UN headquarters, including head of Policy Planning. From 2009-2021, he advised on political and economic reform in Myanmar while founding the Yangon Heritage Trust. Named among Foreign Policy’s “100 Leading Global Thinkers” (2013), he has received Japan’s Fukuoka Grand Prize and India’s Padma Shri. He is the author of 5 books, his most recent, Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World (2025).
'A beautifully written biography about a man who led the UN through a time of great turbulence, risk and uncertainty. Important reading at any time in history; essential in the world of today.'
Historian
Thant is an award-winning writer, historian, and conservationist. Born in New York, he holds a PhD in History from Cambridge University, where he is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College. He served on three UN peacekeeping operations and held senior positions at UN headquarters, including head of Policy Planning. From 2009-2021, he advised on political and economic reform in Myanmar while founding the Yangon Heritage Trust. Named among Foreign Policy’s “100 Leading Global Thinkers” (2013), he has received Japan’s Fukuoka Grand Prize and India’s Padma Shri. He is the author of 5 books, his most recent, Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World (2025).