UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (left) has made his last appeal to revive the UN as the world foreign policy leader.
Photo: AP
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Annan Rebukes America’s Go-It-Alone Policy
Friendship of Nations
Kofi Annan, in his farewell address as UN Secretary General, lashed out at U.S. President George W. Bush, accusing him of curtailing democracy and seeking world dominance. However, the White House had the final word in a long-lasting row between the UN secretary general and Bush’s administration. Washington called Kofi Annan’s speech “a lost opportunity” to mention really important issues.
With Harry Truman against George Bush
It is quite symbolic that the UN seventh secretary general delivered his last major speech in this capacity at the presidential library of Harry Truman, the man who helped found the Organization of United Nations six decades ago. However, Kofi Annan went to Missouri not just to commemorate the strong backer of the UN. Kofi Annan’s address repeatedly underscored a need to go back to the legacy of President Truman whose vision of international policy the UN chief set off against the concept of President Bush. Anna’s choice of quotations shows that the outgoing UN chief has decided to attack his rival from the White House with statements of his great predecessor. “Harry Truman said, ‘We all have to recognize, no matter how great our strength, that we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please’,” Annan said, hinting that America’s foreign policy had long abandoned this view. “When power, especially military force, is used, the world will consider it legitimate only when convinced that it is being used for the right purpose – for broadly shared aims – in accordance with broadly accepted norms,” Annan noted, evidently imagining George Bush as his main listener.
Three weeks before leaving the UN skyscraper in New York, Kofi Anna told the audience that he had learnt five main lessons during his two five-year terms as the UN security general. The first lesson was that “we are all responsible for each other’s security”. The second lesson was that “we must give everyone the chance to benefit from global prosperity”. Thirdly, “both security and prosperity depend on respect for human rights and the rule of law”. Fourth, “states must be accountable for each other in their international conduct.” Finally, the fifth lesson derives from those other four. Kofi Annan put it in the following way: “No nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others. We all share responsibility for each other’s security.”
The UN secretary general’s last lesson was an evident hint at the operation in Iraq which the UN harshly criticized from the beginning, calling it an attempt to substitute the multilateralism of the UN by U.S. unilateral actions.
Yet, finishing his speech and answering question, Kofi Annan made it a point that his final address as the UN secretary general must not be interpreted as an attempt to question America’s leadership in international affairs. Giving credit to achievements of American diplomacy, Annan wrapped up this speech with a call to revive “far-sighted American leadership, in the Truman tradition.”
With Ehud Olmert against Annan
Although Annan made no single mention of George Bush, his farewell volley on the White House did not go unnoticed. After a short comment by White House spokesperson Sean McCormack who only said that Kofi Annan was entitled to his opinions and to disagree with Washington on certain points. In contrast, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was blunter on the outgoing UN chief. Rice said Annan in his farewell speech had failed to mention the most important things. For example, Ms. Rice thinks that Mr. Annan overlooked the positive role that the United States has been playing in the world. “I hoped that he would speak about work that we have done together,” Condoleezza Rice complained, listing recent achievements such as creating a global fund to battle the AIDS and adopting resolutions of the UN Security Council on Sudan and Lebanon. “If it had not been for the United States, cease-fire would not have been achieved,” Condoleezza Rice said and reminded the way peace in Lebanon was won this summer. “I could keep on mentioning the positive things that we have done, and I’m sorry that his speech underscored other things.” Rice was left unmoved by Truman’s quotations or Kofi Annan’s “five lessons”. “This speech is really a lost opportunity,” the U.S. Secretary of State said.
Kofi Annan’s farewell address stirred a number of influential American congressmen linked with the Bush administration. Republican Representative Henry Hyde, chair of the House International Relations Committee, believes that Annan simply tried to divert attention from “the rampant financial and moral mismanagement at the United Nations”. “Mr. Annan’s inability to assume responsibility for a decade of scandals in the UN is quite understandable,” he said. “It should have been expected.” Hyde’s committee is investigating abuses in the UN-led Oil-for-Food Program where a number of high-ranking UN officials including Kofi Annan’s son Kojo have been purportedly involved.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert joined the choir those criticizing Annan on Tuesday. Olmert expressed his disagreement with Kofi Annan’s statement at Truman’s library that Middle East settlement could have a positive effect on developments in Lebanon and Iraq. “There are lots of problems in this region that we have nothing to do with,” the prime minister said. Ehud Olmert also doubted that the outgoing UN secretary general is able to understand key international issues.
Will This Conflict Ever End?
Kofi Annan’s farewell speech and the United States’ backlash to it clearly show that Annan has failed to settle the continuing conflict between UN officials and Washington. It is of note that Kofi Annan’s nomination for Secretary General was highly promoted by the Bill Clinton administration. Ironically, ten years ago the White House viewed Kofi Annan as the best candidate to replace then UN chief Boutros Ghali, the unbending Egyptian who was firm in opposing America’s domination in the world. Many viewed Kofi Annan as the would-be U.S.-loyal UN chief who would put an end to confrontation of the sole great power and the “international embassy”. More radical critics of Washington even dubbed Koffi Annan “America’s rubber stamp secretary general”.
Yet, as the Clinton epoch in Washington ended and the Bush era began, Ghana’s Annan found himself following in the footsteps of his Egyptian predecessor. Building U.S. foreign policy on reversing Bill Clinton’s legacy, George W. Bush could have avoided coming into conflict with Kofi Annan. This confrontation culminated in the days of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.
Now it is for the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to deal with legacy of his predecessors and resolve the conflict between the United States and the UN.
Sergey Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 13, 2006
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