A Rope from the Sky

The untold story of America's attempt to forge a nation from scratch, from europhric birth to heart-wrenching collapse. 

South Sudan's independence was celebrated around the world—a triumph for global justice and an end to one of the world's most devastating wars.  But the party would not last long: South Sudan's freedom fighters soon plunged their new nation into chaos, shattering the promise of liberation and exposing the hubris of their foreign backers. 

Chronicling extraordinary stories of hope, identity, and survival, A Rope from the Sky journeys inside an epic tale of paradise won and then lost. This character-driven narrative is first a story of power, promise, greed, compassion, violence, and redemption from the world's most neglected patch of territory.  But it is also a story about the best and worst of America—both its big-hearted ideals and its difficult reckoning with the limits of American power amid a changing global landscape.

Zach's Vertin's firsthand acounts, from deadly war zones to the halls of Washington power, brings readers inside this remarkable episode—an unprecedented experiment in state-building and a cautionary tale.  It is brilliant and breathtaking, a moder-day Greek tragedy that will challenge our perspectives on global politics.

ZACH VERTIN is an American writer, foreign policy expert, and diplomat. He currently serves in the Biden Administration as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Vertin also teaches at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. He was previously a Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Brookings Doha Center, where he conceived and led a project on the New Geopolitics of the Red Sea. 

Vertin's areas of expertise include: U.S. foreign policy, multilateral diplomacy, China, the UN and international institutions, conflict analysis and resolution, mediation, peace processes, political transitions, and global norm development. He has worked on a range of global policy challenges in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and at the United Nations. Vertin also served in the Obama Administration as Director of Policy for the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan. Prior to that, he spent six years at the International Crisis Group, as a Senior Analyst in the Africa program and as an Advisor on the United Nations and multilateral diplomacy. He was also a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and has consulted for the International Peace Institute, Atlantic Council, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.  

Vertin's 2019 book, A Rope from the Sky: The Making & Unmaking of the World's Newest State (Pegasus Books) chronicled the extraordinary birth of South Sudan, its subsequent collapse, and a reckoning with the limits of American influence amid a changing global landscape. Vertin has also published policy reports, long-form analyses, and op-eds on a broad range of topics and contributed expert commentary to: The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Economist, CNN, Al Jazeera, Guardian, Le Monde, and the BBC.