8 - Pope, pharaoh, or prophet? The Secretary-General after the Cold War

Summary

This chapter examines the role of the Secretary-General as the “face” of the United Nations, focusing specifically on the two African Secretaries-General: Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992–1996) and Kofi Annan (1997–2006). Though I characterize Boutros-Ghali and Annan respectively as “the pharaoh” and “the prophet”, every Secretary-General has exhibited such traits, as well as those of a third and more common metaphor of being a sort of “Pope”. Through these three lenses, the chapter examines the major achievements and failures of Boutros-Ghali and Annan, as well as the reaction of key actors at the United Nations to the efforts of both men to achieve their objectives in the areas of peace and security, socio-economic development, and “humanitarian intervention”. Since both Africans occupied the post for the fifteen years after the end of the Cold War, this is also a study of the role of the Secretary-General in the post-Cold War era. This period saw tremendous changes in the geopolitical landscape, including the collapse of the Communist Bloc and the rise of a unipolar world, the eruption of conflicts in the Balkans and Africa, and an increase in the membership of the United Nations from 159 to 192. All of these transformations had an impact on the United Nations in general but led, in different ways, to greater attention being paid to the role of its Chief Administrative Officer.

Another reason to focus on the two African Secretaries-General concerns the importance of the United Nations to Africa and vice versa.