Newswise — On Monday, Oct. 9, 2006, the UN Security Council is expected to formally vote that Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon, 62, of South Korea, serve as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations. On Dec. 31, 2006, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will conclude his 10-year term in the post.
Alynna Lyon, associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire and director of the university's Model UN program, is available to discuss the change in leadership at the United Nations, Kofi Annan and his tenure, Ban Ki Moon, the history and relevancy of the United Nations, and issues the next secretary-general will face.
"If Ban Ki Moon does become the next secretary-general, this will be the first time we will have had a candidate who has actively campaigned for the office," Lyon says. Asia has not held the post since U Thant of Burma, who served from 1961 to 1971. Each secretary general serves a five-year term and is eligible to be re-elected, although no secretary-general has served more than two terms.
"The politics of the election are very important. Most of the time you want people who will emphasize the secretarial portion of the job and not the general portion of the job. These are people who are seen as moderates who will not be confrontational to the permanent five," Lyon says. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council are China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Regarding Ban Ki Moon, Lyon says he has an interesting background and holds a master of public administration from Harvard. "He has served in many roles in the Korean government and was cabinet chief to the presidency to the 56th session of the UN General Assembly when it was held by the Republic of Korea. That session began on Sept. 12, 2001, and many people have argued that he was very instrumental in providing leadership at that difficult time after the terrorist attacks in the United States," she says.
According to Lyon, individual personality often makes or breaks the UN secretary-generalship because legal powers granted to the office are very limited. The authority of the office comes from an individual's ability to maintain credibility and legitimacy, and be seen as an honest broker in any situation. Her research has found that personality is a significant component of this.
"In many ways, the position has mutually exclusive expectations in that you are trying to balance the desires of the permanent five and at the same time represent all of the countries of the world. The expectation also is that the secretary-general is an advocate of people, not just countries. You have to be someone who looks out for human rights and individuals, which often can run counter to the desires of countries," she says.
"The mission of the United Nations goes beyond the mission of the member states because there are issues that countries do not bring to the table and may not even be able to address by themselves. We live in an era of globalization and complex interdependencies. Countries are trying to work through issues involving refugees, human rights violations, media and the bird flu that they cannot deal with on their own," Lyon says.
"If we destroyed the UN today, we'd have to rebuild it tomorrow. The UN serves a very important purpose. It essentially is the plumbing of the international community, and it's up to the member states to turn on the water. If they want to empower it to do something effectively, they need to give it the tools to do it," she says.
On the issue of reforming the United Nations, Lyon says implementing reform is very difficult. "The people who would need to change the UN are the strongest countries, and they don't want to change it because it would impede their access to power," Lyon says.
According to Lyon, Americans generally have about a 60 percent approval rate for the United Nations, although that approval rating has taken dips. "My research indicates that those dips come from elite cues, specifically presidential cues " the president talking about the United Nations. Perceptions tend to come from presidents saying the UN is ineffective, and we've seen that happen on both sides of the aisle."
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