The United Nations - an organisation united or divided?
The United Nations was formed with the noble intention of creating 'a better world'. However, debate surrounding its usefulness and relevance has been going on for decades. Former eminent leader Kofi Annan, who was once so widely regarded, was practically hounded from office by scandal. We look deeper into the historic organisation and its most memorable leader in James Traub's "The Best Intentions"
Title: The Best Intentions
Author: James Traub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks
RRP: $24.95
"We the peoples of the United Nations are determined to: save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind; and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small; and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained; and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom."
As it has such pure and honourable ideals, it is hard not to be in awe of the United Nations (UN).
Formed with only "the best intentions", as author and contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine James Traub puts it, the UN was once seen as an admirable and worthy organisation, concerned only with improving the world.
However, these days, when most people think of the UN, they no longer see an ideological institution united in helping the world through times of strife.
Instead, the UN now evokes an image of an organisation which is plagued by inaction, scandal, embarrassment and even irrelevance. And at the head of this disaster is the former secretary-general, Kofi Annan.
In this fly-on-the-wall account, Traub asks the question: "Has the UN outlived its usefulness?"
Based on Annan's two terms as secretary-general, The Best Intentions is a critical study not only of the UN but also of Annan himself.
Through Annan's cooperation, Traub was able to gain unprecedented access to the man and his aides from 2003-06. This gives readers an unparalleled glimpse into the UN and its former leader.
While covering the history of the UN, Traub focuses on the era of US world power after the Gulf War and Annan's key role as head of peacekeeping and then as secretary-general.
He details the 'Oil for Food' scandal, the disaster of the inaction in the ethnic cleansing of Sudan and Annan's sweeping reforms.
However, it is Traub's personal account of Annan that proves to be the most interesting part of the book: "Annan is the most gracious of men ... while I spoke he would listen intently, nodding his head ever so slightly and sometimes even repeating back to me tiny fragments of my own narrative - an unconscious display of regard that, coming from a man who occupied so majestic a position, was both disarming and ever so slightly odd."
Although Traub is clearly in awe of Annan, he is careful not to lose objectivity. The result is a fascinating and thoroughly researched account which delivers one of the finest guides to the complex structure of the entity that is the UN.
