UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 27 May 2008 -- With Chasing the Flame – Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World (Penguin Press, 2008) Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, has written a fascinating portrait of the kind of compassionate cosmopolitan figure of which there are far too few in this world.

The book is also a remarkably well-researched handbook on the UN, and it contains new and important material for a much-needed discussion, namely: under which circumstances should the UN be engaged in Iraq. Sergio, as everybody called him, was “the best man for a bad mission”. A UN veteran, he was used to clear mandates which gave him clout in difficult situations. Not so in Iraq. A legal adviser at the UN put up a screen saver on her computer with the text: “The UN Charter has left the building”.

Not only the Iraqis, but also the world community, need answers about the ulterior goals of the US. What will happen, for instance, as a result of the statement, signed on November 26 by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, which seemed to commit the US to a long-term military presence in the country and aimed to replace the existing Security Council mandate with "a bilateral setting"? Will we see a rejection of "democratic imperialism", after an illegal war that US Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez called "a nightmare without an end in sight"? Can we hope for a return to US respect for the UN charter and the Geneva Conventions?

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Keywords

Conflict Iraq Middle East Multilateralism UN United States

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Bio author: Pierre Schori

A Swedish diplomat with vast experience in foreign affairs, development cooperation and peacekeeping operations, Schori served from 2005 until the beginning of 2007 as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of Mission in Côte d’Ivoire. He was Minister for International Development Cooperation, Migration and Asylum Policy, and Deputy Foreign Minister between 1994 and 1999. In 2000, Schori was appointed Swedish Ambassador to the United Nations, a position he held until 2004. He is the Director General de FRIDE.

Labels: United Nations, U.N., FRIDE, Iraq

 

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