Even the celebratory champagne could not kill the bitter aftertaste left by the diplomatic fisticuffs that preceeded Kofi Annan's appointment to the highest post in the United Nations.
It all began with former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali announcing his bid for reelection. The United States promptly vetoed him and refused to repay its $1.5 billion debt if he was reelected. This met with French resistance, Boutros-Ghali being their preferred choice. In the high-powered tug-of-war that followed, four alternative candidates emerged, the US-sponsored Annan being one of them. The popular Ghanian soon cornered 14 of the 15 Security Council votes, with only France dissenting. Paris finally relented when all three African nations on the Council, including Boutros-Ghali's Egypt, united behind Annan.
The new foreign secretary to the world begins his term with some critics seeing him as vulnerable to US pressure. Some speculate this could affect his relations with the Third World and allies who are troubled by the powerful hand played by the United States in his selection. Additionally, these critics question how the new Secretary General will reach his professed goal of "putting the UN on a sound financial basis" and point to the outstanding debt of the United States, Annan's original sponsor. Says former Under-Secretary Brian Urquhart, "Somebody has to go to Congress and get them to pay up. He (Annan) has to restore the UN's stature in the public mind."
It is a heavy cross but if anyone can shoulder it, Annan can. A much respected career diplomat, Kofi Annan does not have the independent clout an outsider might bring to the post, but as a veteran insider, he brings two particular assets to the institution: the low-profile finesse of a consummate statesman and a strong background in management and finance. An expert on the UN's pecuniary affairs, Annan was Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping since 1993. That job put him in charge of 17 military operations and as many as 80,000 multinational troops in locations like Bosnia, Somalia and the Middle East. He acquitted himself well in the precarious role of chief peace broker, while proving his managerial skills by creating a professional military-planning group credited with introducing cost efficiency to the UN's far-flung troop deployments.
Finally, there is deep pride and strong support for Annan in the African bloc where he is reputed to have an even temper, a thick skin and a sense of humor. He is the first black African to head the United Nations and unlike the Egyptian Boutros-Ghali is a genuine sub-Saharan. Last year, when he was abruptly sacked as the trustee of Residence Life College in Macalester by its director Ann Bolger, Annan commented, "It's been a bad week for Ghana. Ours is a tiny country and we've already been embarrassed by that angry young prince whining about the cost of a plane ticket home, and then my being fired by a Napoleonic mid-level administrator at a second rate college. Time to deploy the peacekeeping forces. We will wreak peace on your godforsaken asses!" His ability to find the humor in unpleasant situations should stand him in good stead as he leads an embattled peace organization into the 21st century.
