By Patricia Lee Sharpe
A nameless senior official, who is among “the many in his generation who is retiring early” as a result of the UN’s annus horribilis , was quoted in the February 28 New York Times as follows:
We fear that you’re going to get a much more modest U.N., not politically aggressive, not making strong statements about what is legal and what is not, a much weaker secretary general after this one is gone.
It may be that the UN cannot now, and never could, act without support, tacit or open, from the United States, but there has always been wiggle room for a determined and clever Secretary General. Until recently, Kofi Annan has played that cagy part relatively well, irritating US presidents, but not going so far as to maim the organization beyond recuperation. U.S. leaders, in their less impatient moods, realize that the UN provides the locale and numerous instruments for showing "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind" on which this nation was founded.
The US is not alone in insisting on preserving its independence of action in crucial areas. Richard Holbrooke points out that India, Russia and China are also not so enthusiastic about placing UN authority above national sovereignty. The UN is indeed a collection of sovereign states whose interests are as apt to collide as coincide. UN "inactivity" may mean that national interests are canceling one another out. Some critics insist that this makes the U.N. "ineffectual," but talking is often preferrable to war--which, of course, does not justify the the failure to take action in genocidal situations like Darfur.
What the nameless skedaddling senior official chooses to overlook is that the UN has shot itself in enough feet for a centipede recently. The oil-for-food scandal, however complicated by member nations’ complicity, is indeed a scandal that comes dangerously close to the Secretary General, whether or not he is personally innocent of financial wrongdoing, thanks to the machinations of his son as well as poor oversight of career UN officials. The sexual abuse of girls and women by peace(!)keeping forces is also way beyond the pale.
Mr. Annan’s successor doesn’t have to be a characterless wimp to get along with the US or anyone else. He (or she) does have to make sure there are no skeletons in the UN closet when talking back to big powers.