Even so, Ban's mission is not impossible. To rebuild trust in the U.N., he could start by:
•Focusing on making the U.N. bureaucracy more accountable. Fitful reform efforts and several reports by Congress have identified where the inefficiency, incompetence and corruption lie. Some of it has been addressed by axing jobs, closing several U.N. information centers and creating an ethics committee. But that's just a beginning.
An investigation, led by former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker, into the kickback-plagued Iraqi oil-for-food program highlighted failures of leadership and supervision by Annan. Ban could make it a cause to shine the spotlight on waste, mismanagement and inefficiency. That would help establish his authority and placate critics.
•Making a new diplomatic push to halt the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region. Though stopping the slaughter there is a priority of the U.N. and the United States, both have been stymied. The Security Council authorized the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers, but Sudan's leaders won't let them in. It can take months or years to persuade countries to provide and fund peacekeepers.
Ban could start gathering troops for quick deployment if and when Sudan's leaders accept them. China has been maddeningly ambivalent about which is more important: its major oil interests in Sudan or its desire to be seen as upholding responsibilities befitting an emerging power. A request from Ban for troops could make it choose.
Ban's predecessor began his decade-long tenure amid high hopes but ends with a mixed record. Annan, 68, and the U.N. won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for "their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." But he soon faced growing problems: the Iraq war, which he opposed, the oil-for-food scandal and deteriorating relations with the Bush administration and U.S. conservatives who called for his dismissal.
His greatest achievements were enshrining a U.N. responsibility to protect civilians when their rulers cannot or will not, and his fights against poverty and AIDS. His final years were notable more for speeches - often ill-considered, particularly when attacking the United States, which supplies nearly a quarter of the U.N. budget - than for the kind of staff supervision and back-channel cajoling needed to effect real change.
Six weeks after Annan took the job, he complained that he was being criticized for not yet reforming the United Nations. The Russian ambassador joked that he had already had more time than God did to create the heavens and the earth. Yes, agreed Annan, but God had one big advantage: He worked alone, without a General Assembly, a Security Council and the committees.
The anecdote shows the limitations the new secretary-general faces. If Ban can work successfully within them, an increasingly dangerous world will be better off.
Source: New chief at U.N. offers new chance for change - Yahoo! News
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