22 March 2007

GPPi publication reviews the Annan years at the UN

GPPi Associate Director Thorsten Benner published a piece taking stock of the Annan years at the United Nations for the Spring issue of Internationale Politik – Global Edition.

The article entitled "Filling Sisyphus’s Shoes" addresses the question of what lessons the Annan years hold for the future of the United Nations. It reviews the UN’s work in four crucial areas: peace and security, human rights, development and management of the UN Secretariat. The article emphasizes Annan’s role as a "norm entrepreneur" advocating a new understanding of sovereignty that paved the way for the "responsibility to protect" as well as inventing and promoting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Unlike his predecessor Boutros-Ghali, Annan deserves credit for having made the universiality of human rights a cornerstone of his work. Forging new alliances with business and civil society (such as the Global Compact) is also a lasting legacy of the Annan years. Annan raised the political profile of the position of UN Secetary-General in a way that only compares to Dag Hammerskjöld. However, he partly undermined his agenda by not devoting enough attention and energy to the critical task of reforming the UN Secretariat’s bureaucracy, a failure that came to haunt Annan during the discussions on the oil-for-food program. The article argues that Annan’s tenure demonstrates both the potential and the weaknesses of the position of UN Secretary General. Secretary-Generals can be highly effective using the moral clout of their office as well as its diplomatic standing to contribute to defusing crises all over the world. However, if there are fundamental disagreements between key member states, especially in the areas of peace and security, the UN chief can do little to break the gridlock. It is up to the member states, the article argues, to live up to their responsibilities to the organization – something they often shamefully neglected during the Annan years.

Please click here to download the publication.

For further information, please contact Thorsten Benner.

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