Ralph Bunche and the Making of the Modern World

Ralph Bunche was a towering diplomat, scholar, and civil rights advocate who transformed world order and America’s global role in the twentieth century. Raised in humble circumstances in the era of Jim Crow, he rose to become one of the most famous Americans of his generation, a counselor to presidents and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. As an architect of the United Nations and later a senior UN official, Bunche accelerated the pace of decolonization, helped invent UN peacekeeping, and exposed the chasm between U.S. support for human rights abroad and enduring racial discrimination at home.

Join us for a conversation on Bunche’s remarkable life and enduring legacy with UCLA professor Kal Raustiala, professor at UCLA and author of the recently-released biography, The Absolutely Indispensable Man: Ralph Bunche, the United Nations, and the Fight to End Empire.