Professor John Langmore, speaking ex-cathedra, views Kofi Annan’s stewardship of the UN as almost flawless. Before we start erecting a statue honoring Mr Annan we might ask the residents of Rwanda what they think of Kofi Annan.

Kofi Annan's period with the UN was when it started to look more and more like the League of Nations. By aligning itself with the left-liberal section of western public opinion, it isolated itself from countries like the US that realised that they were involved in World War III and had to defend themselves. Apologists for the UN should think for a moment whether there is any prospect that the UN would ever come to the assistance of Australia if it were to be deluged with refugees, subjected to a terrorist attack from the muslim world, or faced with any other threat to its security.

In a world that can be expected to have a population of 10 billion by 2050, threatened with crises ranging from oil to water, with an ever increasing gap between the rich and poor worlds, the UN will need to be re-invented if it is to have a part to play.

Right or wrong, there is a bit of a cloud hanging over Mr Annan in some hidden quarters.

It seems his wife (Nane) is a member of the Wallenberg empire and is closely associated (if not by blood then certainly by business) with the House of Rothschild - which is enough to set some conspiratorial dogs barking.

This is a bit of a shame because Nane is a fine humanitarian in her own right and deserving of more recognition.

I think Kofi's biggest mistake was over Rwanda as well as the more recent family financial allegations.

However his real blunder was being appointed in an era when the USA was doing its best to undermine and discredit the UN for its own purposes so he didn't really have much of a chance.

187 countries moved to punish 5 countries who hold permanent seats on the security council lead by the anti-western/anti-American group.
The USA chose to align itself with the democracies of NATO rather than bang heads with the pouters and have every decision needed watered down and made ineffectual to accommodate those countries that have ridden on the coattails of the leading industrial nations since WWII.
Kofi Anan did the best he could, no doubt, but any critical observance of the current make up of the U.N. and it's direction leads one to suspect that the worlds major superpower, the USA, will be turning to the NATO countries for assistance more and more and NOT the U.N.
The pendulum has swung. Those largest contributors to world aid and world monetary fund are demanding more than sloth as usual. Nations in need have to make concessions to trade, human rights and democracy. In this regard Kofi was a failure. The U.N. has failed. And what was once a repository of the worlds brightest and best is now but a forum for exerting influence by countries who have no interest in world development or world peace or a world growing beyond their current fixation on retribution for age old sins.
The world is in dire need of true leadership.

I'm not even going to bother and try to read such rubbish by this author. The U.N. of today is dominated by Russia, France and China. All nations known for selling weapons to any nation that they know is against them in the present.

Kofi Annan is in my mind, nothing but a coward.

Whenever he visited Australia, he visited certain political lobby groups who do not represent those they claim then to, then sets off to see the Prime Miniter without even raising the issues only to fire off a speech against Australia just before he hides on a plane or just after he arrives in the next country.

Such is the life of a coward.

USA was doing its best to undermine and discredit the UN for its own purposes

One long established purpose of the USA was to fund the lions share of the UN budget for decades. This would not have been a problem if the European nations were to ever pay back their post WWII loans as American taxpayers wouldn't have had to pay taxes for 10 years if the loans were repaid. In return America had to experience obfuscation, contempt, duplicity, corruption, pestilence, organised crime, cowardice, genocide and stupidity by UN officials and its policies.

How many benefactors would have been so patient?

Americans are sick and tired of funding international good works and being demonised at every turn. Isolationism is often talked about by the common folk.

But good news is on the horizon as the USD is falling and being threatened as a world currency, additionally, the USA is over spending on policing a foreign neighborhood so inflation looms again. Soon all the detractors may sleep soundly at night when France (dream on), Greece, Canada, Russia or China step up to fill the void.

They will certainly have the requisite integrity and intelligence for negotiating with Iran and North Korea. After all they don't have cowboys.

cowboy joe

ever been to Alberta hoss?

:-)

The Calgary Stampede, of course, I have been tactfully reminded of my error. Rodeo, another cultural pastime earmarked for extinction by the self appointed moral crusaders.

While Canada may have the desire to do good works I doubt they would have the resources to achieve an impact on a global scale.

Cowboy Joe
Don't be too critical of lil' old Canada. 2nd largest country in the world with a population that just broke 30 million. And they've always been a great friend to Australia. I remember my Dad telling me stories of North Africa. Natural friends I think he said. :-)
This is a bit of a new experience for the world. Been a long time since we had a single superpower and smaller nations like Australia or Canada once backed the United Kingdom now find themselves backing the USA. I'm not suggesting there was ever complete agreement but the way was clear. Colonialism was the name of the game. Today, whether we like it or not, democratic hegemony is the new game. Which is why I believe that while I wouldn't say the U.N. is dead, I do think we will see the U.S. turn to her friends with in NATO in order to accomplish said democratic hegemony, and only use the U.N as a maintenance structure. China is the wild card and Russia may prove to be the joker in the deck.
As Winston Churchill said. "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honour, duty, mercy, hope."
"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

To blame Kofi Annan for what happened in Rwanda is akin to holding the speaker of Australian Parliament liable for the Workchoices reforms. To suggest that, at a click of his fingers, Kofi had the option of saving the day is ridiculous. The commitment of UN troops is a heavily complicated, bureaucratic purpose that rests largely on the nations within the UN. All human beings are to blame equally as much as Kofi for what is one of the most shameful, preventable humanitarian disasters the world has ever seen.

The US, in WWIII as someone called it, has annointed itself as the 'guardian of freedom'. Where was this guardian in Rwanda, in the Sudan, hell, take you pick of Africa.. Oh wait, thats right, genocide is ok if there's no oil there and we turn a blind eye.

The UN may well be crippled and weak, but to blame the spokesperson and the organisation itself is counter-productive and illogical. If the biggest superpowers who give the UN its power don't want to commit to ensuring 'freedom equality and justice' globally, then it will remain crippled. Stop pointing fingers and start thinking about things realistically.

Realistically... how would say, the Darfuri, think? Genocide. Never again. Somehow even with countless Security Council Resolutions, the UN appear to be little more than a guard dog with a mediocre bark and a non-existent bite.

To say that Kofi Annan is solely to blame would be absurd. To say that he isn't because others are also at fault would perhaps be even more so.

As far as his legacy goes? Sure, he has made positive contributions. However one must also take responsibility for their mistakes. For one with his tremendous responsibility, not learning from his own mistakes proved to be a costly one. But then the lives of Africans seem to be a small price to pay for many....

Today, whether we like it or not, democratic hegemony is the new game

I prefer such a form of benign evolution preferable to both the potential and present influence of Indonesia.

Unfortunately, the United Nations is fundamentally flawed and until some very real reformationm and restructuring takes place, it will continue to take a back seat to bilateral or multi-lateral agreements. It is right to say that Kofi Annan cannot be held entirely accountable for Rwanda, Sudan and Zimbabwe, but ultimately the responsibility is his, just as Iraq is ultimately the responsibility of Bush.

Personally, I see Kofi Annan as a hypocrite. For example, while the AWB saga was playing out, Annan's son was inextricably linked to dealings with the former Iraq regime, limks that could only have been sanctioned (or covered up by his father). Furthermore, as a truly African secretary general, who could be better qualified to understand the issues and prevent at least 3 African genocides from taking place under his watch? Once again though, Annan bowed to the inaction and political manipulation of Mbeki, Mugabe & Co.

The only real progress that has been made on the HIV issue while Annan has been around, has been made in Asia and Latin America by countries unilaterally making their own decisions. Once again Africa is sadly lagging behind. Despite increased access to treatment, many senior african politicians refuse to accept HIV even exists. The South African health minister insists it can be treated with garlic and by 'eating well', while the former Vice President had sex with a young woman he knew to be infected but later informed the population that this was fine because 'I had a shower'. What hope? The answer is there is no hope- Zimbabwe for instance now has a staggering 23% rate of HIV infection (SA is not far behind).