Стр. 6 - V

Author : A. Gorelik
Senior research associate, Center for International Institutions Research, Russian Presidential Academy
of National Economy and Public Administration
ON OCTOBER 13, 2016, the UN GA unanimously approved An-
tónio Guterres, a Portuguese statesman, whom the UN SC had
nominated as a candidate for the post of the UN Secretary-Gen-
eral. The road to this "vote of confidence," which looked natural
and logical, was winding and tortuous.
From the spring to the fall of 2016, nine candidates (five of them
women) from the countries of Eastern and Central Europe joined
the race; four candidates from other regions also ran.
This all ended as expected: several rounds of secret straw vote
pushed aside the East European candidates. António Guterres led
the race and was the first at the finish line.
António Guterres harbors no illusions: in the absence of prompt
and radical reforms, the foundations of the UN will be falling apart
at an even faster pace.
The newly elected Secretary-General assumed his post in a much more complex and contradic-
tory world than at least two of his predecessors - Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon.
Today and tomorrow, the UN cannot and will not relax; the situation is far from favorable. The
Organization cannot promptly respond to the outbursts of tension and cut short massive hideous
crimes in conflict zones. It cannot consistently respond to human rights violations hence accu-
sations of dual standards. In fact, the sphere of extraordinary humanitarian operations is over-
loaded and, hence, wobbling.
In short, the situation in the UN strengthens the feeling of destabilization of the global gover-
nance system.
IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN how the new master of the skyscraper on the East River will rule
and what results he will achieve. He will spare no effort to restore the former trust in the global
Organization, to prevent crises and to reform the system of the UN development since "the
challenges are now surpassing our ability to respond."
I can even say that the international community needs this leader as a moral authority to guide
the world at the moments of uncertainty and high risks. He is needed because the world should
have well-balanced assessments of events: national governments tend to be one-sided while the
media have become an instrument of propaganda rather than a source of information.
In a wider sense, he is needed to preserve the Organization's foundations of multi-sidedness
lest it finds itself "in low water" amid the malfunctioning of international relations.
It seems that the UN as the worldwide "cooperative" should look for and arrive, in the near fu-
ture, at a new combination of values, concepts and goals that would include the views and ideas
of the non-Western world.
Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Who Needs a Strong UN Secretary-General? António Guterres and
Mission Impossible