Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations, after remitting office in 2006, was the United Nations and Arab League envoy to Syria for six months until August 2012. He quit frustrated over the UNSC’s failure to come to a decision over Syria. It might seem surprising that a former secretary-general is criticising the UN, but if one were to read his Interventions, it will be clear that he has never shied from pointing out the pitfalls in the UN.
Interventions has eight chapters, each dealing with a different challenge and providing a different insight. Kofi Annan speaks about his role and growth in the UN. Interestingly, Annan gives a 360 degree view of each of the situations, tries to give a point of view of both the parties and makes it appear that though each time a peaceful solution was at reachable distance, it was not attained because of simple reasons.
The prologue is a powerful extract of what the book has to offer. A highlight is the scathing remarks he has for the ways world countries have gone about furthering ‘peace’ and is also critical of the role the UN has played in certain areas.
In statements like “For much of the global community in those days (after the 9/11 attacks)…the greatest threat to world peace came not from Saddam, but from an enraged and vengeful United States” and “Despite the singular contribution of the United States to the UN’s founding and its mission in the decades that followed, after Iraq, America was too often unwilling to listen, and the world unable to speak its true mind”, one can see the frustration Annan has towards Washington’s bulldozing ways. Kofi Annan does not mince his words when he says that the US went into Iraq hunting for WMDs on “highly circumstantial evidence” and doubts Tony Blair’s ability to “act as a credible mediator” during the Lebanon war.
The Ghanaian diplomat regrets to be the first UN secretary-general to endorse military action without the sanction of the UNSC in the 1999 Serbian campaign. He also regrets UN’s failure in Rwanda and Bosnia. A very astute statesman is seen in Annan when he says that if the UN has to achieve its primary role in today’s world, “we would have to acknowledge our past failures and set out a vision for how we would act differently in the future”.
Peacekeeping is a very important role the UN plays around the world. However, it will be hard to believe that before 1992 there were only a few hundreds of UN observers around the world deputed under the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). By 1994, this changed. There were around 80,000 peacekeeping forces around the world. Annan, as deputy chief of the DPKO, was witness to this change—albeit for the worse. He notes how An Agenda for Peace, developed at a January 1992 meeting, changed the nature of peacekeeping missions.
Interventions by Kofi Annan is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about the United Nations from someone who has been a part of the organisation for five decades. It gives an unprecedented view into the workings within the UN. A 2001 Nobel Peace Laureate, Kofi Annan is perhaps one of the few people who have been part of the UN at a very crucial time — conflicts in Rwanda, Somalia, East Timor, Darfur, Kosovo; the global fight against HIV/AIDS; the Millennium Development Goals and the war on terror. It’s not often one gets to see such literature.
(This appeared on December 23 in the books page of The New Indian Express)
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