[lbo-talk] FT: Annan calls for overhaul of world system

[Michael Pollak]

[Yes, I know, one should never expect much of the UN or Annan.  But even
when justly discounted by a pessimistic spirit, there are two points that
stand out.  One is that the idea of fundamentally reform international
political institutions is at least being openly put on the agenda during a
time of transformative crisis.  And secondly is that it is motivated a
dynamic might almost be called a dialectic if it ever gave rise to
anything.  That is: The UN is being pulled into Iraq.  It is attracted, it
is ambitious.  And it is also being pushed.  It is terrified that if it
doesn't go in it will become irrelevant.  But it is now also physically
terrified of going in, which adds a new edge to its desparation to figure
out how the situation can possibly be made unterrifying -- which seems at
first sight only by making the UN more legitimate.  Meanwhile the US is
quietly desperate to get the UN in. Yes, it's true, they only want them as
a fig leaf.  But the more they want the UN; the more they tacitly admit
they need them; and the more the rest of the world refuses to cooperate
without it; the more legitimacy it gives the UN.  The more legitimacy the
UN gets, the more it can demand for its entry.  The more the UN demands,
the less the US wants it in.  But the longer US tries to get by without
the UN, the more its need grows.  Etc.]

[Unlike the old dialectics, there's unfortunately no inevitability to this
one.  But if it is true that a UN that was adequate to the task of Iraq
would have to be a lot more than the UN we've got, it also seems at least
possible that Iraq could be one of the historical motors that begins to
pull it in that direction.]

Financial Times; September 6 2003, Front Page

Annan calls for overhaul of world security system

By Mark Turner at the United Nations

Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary general, has called for a fundamental
overhaul of the international security system, as nations embark on a
fraught effort to find consensus and legitimacy in the rebuilding of Iraq.

"We need to look at the way the international peace and security
architecture is structured and is functioning," he told the Financial
Times in an interview.

"We have to be able to adapt our institutions", a move which would "not
exclude reform of the Security Council".

His comments came as the world body faces one of the gravest crises in its
58-year history. Wracked by division in the run up to the war, facing a
host of new threats from global terrorism and weapons proliferation, and
directly attacked in last month's bombing of its Baghdad headquarters, the
UN is struggling to redefine its purpose and gain the broad support of its
members.

Yesterday Security Council ambassadors were discussing US proposals for
greater international help in Iraq's transition.  The move has been
cautiously welcomed by some as a tacit admission that even the superpower
cannot manage global affairs alone.

But the UN is not celebrating. Many of its officials are terrified that
the publicity elicited by the Baghdad bombing may spur terrorists to
further attacks on the organisation, and some have expressed disquiet over
the prospect of an expanded mandate in Iraq without wider acceptance.

"Staff should not be further traumatised by the United Nations, and will
not do the organisation or themselves any good by returning to the scene
of the attack," said the UN staff union this week. "Until such time as
measures are taken to improve security, no staff should be compelled to
work in areas they do not deem safe."

Mr Annan said he "would not hesitate" to protest if he felt he was being
given an unworkable task in insecure conditions. But more broadly, he
suggested a mechanism had to be found to find greater acceptance and
legitimacy for the UN's work, noting that many Gulf leaders had been
frustrated at their inability to influence the pre-war debate under
current arrangements.

Mr Annan is expected to lay out his vision in a report next week, ahead of
this month's UN General Assembly. But debate on reform is likely to be
difficult. A long list of nations is demanding a seat on the Security
Council, but permanent members fear the creation of an unwieldy body
crippled by indecision.

Despite those difficulties, however, officials suggest there is a new
appetite for change. "Mandatory retirement age is at 60, so I guess we
only have two years to go,"  said one UN official.

Additional reporting by Guy Dinmore in Washington and Judy Dempsey in Riva
del Garda