14 Points

After 31 years with the United Nations, Kofi Annan steps down from his post as Secretary General this month. But what will be his major legacy?

At Princeton University two weeks ago, speaking on the subject of nuclear non-proliferation, Annan described the world as an aircraft with no-one at the controls, rushing headlong towards disaster. If you’ll allow me to gratuitously replace “non-proliferation” with “humanitarian intervention”, then the analogy is just as apt.

Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter praised Annan for his major contribution to UN policy, the doctrine of “responsibility to protect”, the brainchild of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty that Annan endorsed. Annan has bravely attempted to chart new airspace, and his tenacity is laudable. But at the same time the praise sounds hollow, given the UN’s patent inability to implement the policy. The resulting drift leaves the world in peril.

After the 2006 bombings in Europe and the growing insurgent violence in Palestinian disputed territory, Iraq and Afghanistan, there is still no international consensus concerning global terrorism. Some political leaders, such as Prime Minister Tony Blair, however, are taking a strong stand against terrorism. Blair is calling for the U.S. to lead a global alliance to promote “global values” of democracy, human rights, liberty, religious tolerance, and rule of law. Supporting these values would allow for the international community to reduce the threat of Islamic radicals and insurgents who would use nuclear weapons to attain their political grievances against the West and its value system. He also suggests that we convince terrorists that these values of democracy, individual rights, peace and stability can help terrorists’ achieve their more legitimate political goals.

Despite the importance of promoting global values for global stability and security, there is a critical element missing in Blair’s proposal; it does not directly address terrorism. An international pledge to promote global values does not provide the shift in ideas and motivation needed to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons getting into the hands of international criminals. Countering global terrorism requires more international collaboration to condemn it, prosecute it, and address its perpetrators’ underlying grievances.

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