His major lifetime influences have been his service with the Australian Army in Papua and Dutch New Guinea during the crucial campaigns that turned back the "invincible" Japanese Army in World War Two; and his diplomatic career, including Ambassador in a variety of posts, over a period of some twenty years. As an economist - and having grown up in the Great Depression of the 1930s - he has sought to define policies more amenable to peaceful change and prosperity for us all. He has supported his wife's charitable campaigns, including her initiative of "Ihr Anruf Hilft" ("Your Call Helps.") He launched "The Democratic Initiative for Victory Over Want (VOW)" in 2002.

Birth Place: Rosewood, Q'land,  Australia

Accomplishments: James Cumes is the author of The Human Mirror: The Narcissistic Imperative in Human Behaviour, and - in March 2003 - the just-launched novels The Hedonists, Haverleigh and Operation Equalizer.
James has had a colourful career around the world, rich in experience of war and peace, love and hate, the violence, greed and evil that move men and women, their lusts and the care that can sometimes lead them to greatness.
James graduated in Arts (Queensland) and Diplomatic Studies (Canberra) and is a Doctor of Philosophy (London). After soldiering as a teenager in Papua and Dutch New Guinea in World War II and fascinating diplomatic posts in Paris, Geneva, London, Bonn and Berlin, he became Ambassador to the European Union and several individual countries, High Commissioner to Nigeria and visiting Ambassador to a dozen other West African countries, Permanent Representative to the United Nations and UNIDO in Vienna, Governor on the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Australian representative at UN and other meetings around the world. 

He has written a dozen books: on history, economics, philosophy and government and four novels. Because of its historical content and its recall of his wartime experiences, Haverleigh tends to be his favorite; but The Hedonists draws realistically on his dipomatic life,its shallow self-interest and sexual indulgence as well as its potential for more noble enterprise. Operation Equalizer is a warning of the ultimate terror, based especially on his background as Governor on IAEA.
He is married to an Austrian, Heide Schulte von Bäuminghaus who is herself a successful author, especially of the popular - and highly entertaining - Diplomatic Carousel. With their teenage daughter, Kim, they move between homes in Australia, Austria, Monaco and the South of France

Bookshelf of James Cumes
Published works and forthcoming books; biography, links, charities

When, at the beginning of 2002, he initiated Victory Over Want,he set up a process of public and private investment and full employment to achieve Victory Over Want all around the world - in the rich as well as the poor countries. He sees this as a practical, humanitarian mission to win peace and prosperity for all mankind.