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The UN's New Leader
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20407 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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3 / 1992 |
3,069 Words |
| Author
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Robert E. Hunter
Robert E. Hunter is vice president for regional programs at
the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington, D.C. During 1979-1981, he was director of Middle
East Affairs at the National Security Council. |
On New Year's Day, an Egyptian lawyer, professor, diplomat and political leader Boutros Ghali became the sixth secretary general of the United Nations. In ordinary times, transition in the highest office of this world body might be reported in the back pages of the daily newspaper: only in the Third World would the identity of the new man become rapidly known, provided that he was "one of us," But this time is different; The United Nations has suddenly begun coming into its own, potentially as a harbinger of a new world order. As a result, the man chosen as UN secretary general not only has assumed duties that are like to be more consequential than in the past. But he will also face the spotlight of world attention to a degree rivaled by few if any of his predecessors.
This time as well the contest for the secretary general was more spirited than usual. Ff the Western powers could have had together preference they would have favored someone from a developed country: One such candidate was Canadian Prime Minster Brian Mulroney, and speculation even ran to Britain's Margaret Thatcher. But in recent years, developing countries have come to believe that this position is rightfully their. This was particularly the view held by the African states, which argued that it was their continent's turn for the post. Europe (three times), Asia (once), and Latin America (once) had all provided a UN leader; now it was Africa's turn.
The selection of Boutros Ghali was thus an artful compromise. Technically, Egypt is in Africa although it rarely sees its destiny within that context. An Arab country perched on the edge of the Mediterranean, Egypt is certainly more easily identifiable as a Middle East state, looking westward to the Maghreb and eastward to the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Persian Gulf. In addition Egypt has played a significant role in the Organization of African Unity (OAU). It has historic concerns with the Nile River and the riparian states to the south and Boutros Ghali himself has diplomatic experience on the continent. Indeed he has long been a leader in conversation efforts, extending outward from Egypt's concern for the Nile and he played a key role in 1990 in securing the release from decades long detention of the black South African leader, Nelson Mandela. Boutros Ghali was, therefore one of the OAU's candidates for the secretary general's position.
Just as Egypt's geography gives it a foot in several camps so does the new UN secretary general's personal history. An Arab with a strong interest in the non-Arab part of Africa, Ghali is himself not a Muslim but a member of Egypt's minority
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