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UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./ - 24 September 2007 – The 62nd
General Assembly opens, as always, with the Brazilian representative making the
first speech in the General Debate, after Ban Ki Moon has made his own inaugural
opening speech as Secretary General to the General Assembly.
Nine months
gestation in office, and Ban is still something of an enigma. Personally affable
and approachable, officially it is still difficult to pin him down on
positions.
While he
professes the highest regard for lofty principles of international law and
humanitarianism, he consummately avoids being pinned down on specifics. He still
prides himself on the title the Korean press corps gave him -"the slippery
eel."
One of the reasons for this is that his role as the world's conscience
contradicts the other role that has accreted to the office, which is to be the
global Arch-Envoy.
A Secretary
General has to epitomize the UN's global conscience, but to get immediate
results he must sometimes shake the bloodstained hands of politicians who are
breaking international law.
For example, it is now becoming apparent how much personal effort he has put
into resolution of the
Sudan
and
Darfur
problems, but for many months, only the most sharp-eared observers in UN
headquarters knew how much effort he was putting into this, with incessant calls
to the President of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir.
However, that it came to public notice at all was at least in part because he
had finally expanded his staff from the small hard-core Korean dominated team
that he brought with him.
In effect, they
had bought the John-Bolton angled American agenda that saw the previous
administration of Kofi Annan as corrupt and inefficient. They thought that they
really had little to learn from the existing office-holders, many of whom were
cleared out.
That lack of institutional and global experience often shows, and not just on
the
Middle East
.
South Korea
, where Ban was foreign minister, sees the world from the bottom of a well,
whose walls are
China
,
Russia
,
Japan
,
North Korea
and
America
.
One can forgive
them for not having studied the rest of the world as much as they should, and
indeed for taking for granted an American version of what is happening.
By now, they may be learning that factions in
Washington
will always attack the United Nations, no matter who the Secretary General
is.
Many Non-Aligned
representatives regarded Boutros Gali and Kofi Annan as being overly
accommodating to the
US
to the point of being tools of
Washington
but that bought them no protection in
Washington
as soon as they disagreed with American policies.
Nor did their appointment of American nominees to high office protect the UN
from attacks from Congress and the American media.
So there was
apprehension when Ban appointed an American diplomat, B. Lynn Pascoe as
Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, which tended to confirm
Non-Aligned suspicions that from now on there would be no difference between
American and UN Secretariat positions.
Ironically, however, Pascoe has actually moderated the Korean impulses to follow
Washington
's positions on matters like the Middle East, which is an issue will almost
inevitably lead to conflict between the
US
administration and any Secretary General who upholds UN positions.
Boutros Ghali and Annan worked hard to bring Israeli and American Jewish support
behind the organization, but tempered that with an awareness that there were UN
resolutions and principles that applied.
Initially
Ban's team were totally unbalanced in their approach, as charged by the retiring
Middle East envoy, Alvaro de Soto, whose leaked
report showed how far UN practice was straying from its De Soto complained
about the "unprecedented access" Israel had to the Secretary General's
office, which went as far as helping choose officials as well as determining
positions on the Palestine conflict.
For example when
Ban went to
Israel
and the
Occupied
Territories
, the pro-Israeli faction fought successfully to stop him going to
Gaza
where he would have seen the full horror of life for ordinary Palestinians.
There
are some signs of change. After six months of statements that implicitly took a
pro-Israeli position, the pressure of reality led this summer to him cautioning
the Israelis about using tanks in built up areas.
It was a small
but significant step to a more measured position, but Arab ambassadors and
indeed many Non-Aligned are watching him very critically.
In
that context, his success in getting the attention of
Khartoum
, and harnessing the neighouring states, notably
Libya
, is notable. But his triumph in getting Bashir to accept a UN force can still
backfire.
In
effect, the UN is now accepting responsibility and blame for what is essentially
the failure of the great powers. Ironically,
China
's wish not to have boycotts and protests rain on its Olympics next year
probably had more to do with
Sudan
's agreement than traditional diplomacy.
Sadly, Al-Bashir
shows every sign of learning from the Slobodan Milosevic school of
statesmanship, taking the occasional one step backwards to defuse pressure and
then moving two steps forward as soon as pressure is relaxed.
Reassuringly,
insiders suggest that Ban Ki Moon is in a wait and see mode with the Sudanese,
rather than naivety. With the reported air attacks this week, perhaps that is
just as well. But in every sense, we are unlikely to see him raising the
temperature of a debate. He is dampens fires, not fans them.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N., Ian
Williams
~~~~~
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