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An Ōrewa author and lifelong student of global affairs has published two books set in a distant future in which governments cooperate for the greater good of the planet.
At a time when the United Nations is failing to curb conflicts across the globe, or deal effectively with everything from climate change to pandemics, Richard Rowley’s books seem particularly timely.
The first book is entitled The Agreement which, in Rowley’s imagining, is the entity that the UN has evolved into 150 years from now.
Governments agree to cede some aspects of national sovereignty “in favour of a unified global management system”. Like the UN, The Agreement is funded by contributions from member-states. Unlike the UN, it tightly controls the manufacture and use of weapons.
Meanwhile, those leading the organisation also “grapple with the complexities of personal lives and relationships, reminding us of the inherent humanity within even the most lofty echelons of power,” Rowley says.
A formative episode in the writer’s life was a meeting with President John F Kennedy.
“I was an American Field Service student, 18 years old,” he recalls. “It was on the East Lawn of the White House, about 1000 young people gathered. I was lucky to be chosen to meet him. He wanted to know about New Zealand.”
Soon after that meeting, the Soviet Union covertly placed nuclear warheads less than 800 kms from the United States’ coastline, triggering the most dangerous confrontation of the Cold War. Kennedy talked tough and the Russians backed down.
Back home the following year, Rowley recalls going to see The Manchurian Candidate, a just-released movie about the assassination of an American president.
“The next morning – the very next morning – the guys came into my room and said, ‘Guess what? The president’s been shot.’ And I said, ‘It was a good movie, but don’t have me on.’”
It was true, however: JFK had been shot dead in Dallas.
Kennedy’s deft handling of the Cuban missile crisis inspired Rowley’s love for diplomacy and international affairs.
WIN the book
The Agreement is the first of a trilogy. Hibiscus Matters has a copy of the first two books to give away. To go into the draw, ‘like’ Hibiscus Matters on Facebook and message us your name and phone number with ‘Richard Rowley giveaway’ in the message. Alternatively, write your name, address and a daytime phone number on the back of an envelope and post or drop into Richard Rowley giveaway, Hibiscus Matters, 21 Florence Avenue, Ōrewa. Entries close on September 20.
