Encounters With Fate and Destiny: A Life in International Politics

Shukri Z. Al-Dajani has led a most extraordinary life. As a child, Al-Dajani and his family were forced to flee their Palestinian homeland, creating a new life in Egypt. Al-Dajani attended the prestigious Victoria College in Alexandria, where he made lifelong friends and a network of supportive contacts. Following training in Cardiff, he went on to carve out an impressive career in journalism, including reporting on the newly-independent state of Tanganyika, latterly Tanzania.

After a successful stint in Public Relations in Kuwait, he moved to the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the United Nations where he rose to the prominent role of Assistant Director General, responsible for the Arab States at the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the UN. Working closely with successive Director Generals of the ILO, especially Francis Blanchard and Michel Hansenne, Al-Dajani put forward the interests of Arab trade unions and labour organizations in this most prominent of international fora.

In this memoir, Al-Dajani provides insights into his career and his many encounters with a range of individuals including royalty, nation-builders and others in political power as well as adventurers, journalists and diplomats. His book presents a fine mosaic of the post-colonial world and the modern Middle East, and reveals the workings of politics at the highest of international diplomatic levels.