In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, the featured article was about the U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon and his struggles on the world stage as he crosses the half way point of his tenure.  The simple question that underlies all of his criticisms is how can one man and the institution he leads please the world when every country and region has its own political and economic agenda?  According to the U.N. charter, the two roles of the U.N. Secretary-General are:

“To be an administrator, and to help shape the U.N.’s diplomatic agenda by bringing issues to the Security Council. The latter role can be controversial. Mr. Bolton, the former U.S. envoy to the U.N., decries activist secretaries-general who confront member states’ own interests. The charter doesn’t call the secretary-general “president of the world” or “chief poet and visionary,” he says.”

Mr. Ban’s predecessor, Kofi Annan, was a more charismatic diplomat.  Mr. Ban is described to be a quieter figure who navigates diplomacy behind the curtains.  There’s been much debate to Mr. Ban’s effectiveness at the head of the U.N. and he admittedly has made some missteps as well as misquotes, but the ultimate question that one should ask at the midpoint and in the end is, “are we better off today then we were previously and have we made the right decisions for a better future?”  As we all know, history will be the judge of one’s accomplishments and the decisions made by the U.N. today may only see actual outcomes decades later.  What we can say about Mr. Ban is that he has an exceptional story having been born in extreme poverty in South Korea and to have risen to a position on the world’s stage is inspiring.  The world always wants you to be someone you may not but you can only be who you are and you have to use your life’s experiences as a guiding beacon.

Mr. Ban grew up in war-ravaged Korea, where his parents were so poor, they foraged for wild grain in Sangdong, a village about 200 miles south of Seoul. One of eight children (two died before he was born), Mr. Ban walked miles everyday to a schoolhouse that had no roof.

In 1962, the 18-year-old Mr. Ban won an English-language competition in high school, and was rewarded with a trip to the U.S. and the White House, where he shook President Kennedy’s hand. He says he vowed that day to become a diplomat. Mr. Ban earned a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1984 and became an adviser to South Korean presidents.

Related posts:

1. Howard Koh tapped for Asst Secretary for the Dept of HHS Washington has tapped an associate dean at the Harvard School...
2. South Korean President is Asking for Korean-Americans to Help South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met with South Korean residents...
3. Al Gore seeks release of Americans Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore has asked United States...
4. Clinton Calls for Amnesty for Journalists in North Korea Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken up on behalf...
5. Has South Korea Become Complacent to North Korea? Perhaps it’s ignorance to North Korea.  The New York Times...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.