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Is there a takeaway moment for you from his first term as Secretary General?
There are a few takeaway moments. I think Libya and
his "responsibility to protect" concept was extremely important; in part because many did not expect
a Korean Secretary General
to weigh in on such issues. He, in fact, campaigned on these issues (and I believe very boldly so)
before he became Secretary General, and it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone
that once he took on that role he emphasized these issues—marrying principles with power
to make sure those principles were observed. In the case of Libya, this was the first time
the Security Council invoked the "responsibility to protect,"
and it was extremely important
that the Secretary General took the lead on that in order to create the space for the
Security Council to make those decisions.
There are other takeaway moments from the first term—surprises for some and
some things that might have been expected
by others. The Secretary General led on climate change from day one in office, and this is
very striking given the economic rise of Asia and its interaction with
economic, environmental
and climate-related prospects. He brought with him relationships and sensibilities from
Asia, and they have been extremely important in driving the global climate change discussion
forward.
His rescue of the climate negotiations in Bali, and then again in Copenhagen, were really
quite bold in that no Secretary General is commissioned to engage in member state negotiations.
In both cases, he had earned the credibility such that
when negotiations broke down, he
was the one they turned to, to get them back on track. In very different spheres, his personal
leadership and his style have made a difference.
Moreover, Secretary General Ban was able to make a big difference
in the Myanmar/Burma
situation. As you might remember, he was greatly criticized at that time for becoming involved
with the Myanmar government. He then used the opportunity
of the disaster of Cyclone Nargis to engage with the government
and not only get access for international agencies to help the people in Myanmar (for which there was some serious resistance
within the country and regime). Even then,
he was able to hold a pledging conference for Myanmar in Myanmar—the first time anything
like that had ever happened. I dare say if he had not been Secretary General of the UN,
that would not have occurred. I think a lot of the quiet diplomacy around the transition
in Myanmar is due to the efforts of Secretary General Ban. It's a story that may be told
in full some day. His [prior] Korean engagement with Myanmar helped in that
and his sensibility, having
lived through what he lived through in Korea, certainly made a difference.