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Selecting the Next UN Secretary-General: A UNA-USA Report
Exclusive Video Interviews on the Selection Process
Related Articles
Fact Sheets
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Selecting the Next UN Secretary-General
A UNA-USA Report
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The upcoming leadership transition of the secretary-general at the end of 2006 could be the most important succession in the UN’s history. With this in mind, UNA-USA held a series of meetings over the past several months to shed light on improving the selection process, to think through what the next secretary-general’s roles and priorities should be, and to identify which qualities he or she should possess. Chaired by Thomas R. Pickering, former US ambassador the UN and former US under secretary of state for political affairs, and Sir Brian Urquhart, former UN under secretary-general for special political affairs, participants included member state representatives to the UN from every region of the world, former and current UN officials, private sector and nongovernmental organization representatives, scholars and other experts. The resulting report titled Selecting the Next UN Secretary-General offers a number of recommendations on the way forward.
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 S. Korean Is Lead Candidate for UN's Top Spot
by Michele Kelemen
National Public Radio
(October 1, 2006)
Listen to United Nations Association of the USA President Ambassador William H. Luers on who might be the next UN secretary general.
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EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEWS
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Thomas R. Pickering
Former US Ambassador to the UN
Get an inside look at the election of the next UN Secretary-General with this UNA-USA exclusive video featuring Thomas R. Pickering, former US ambassador to the UN, and Suzanne DiMaggio, UNA-USA's vice president for global policy.
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 Interview with Sir Brian Urquhart
Former Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs
| In the second series of exclusive video interviews, UNA-USA's Suzanne DiMaggio talks one-on-one with Sir Brian Urquhart, former UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, about the selection process for the next UN Secretary-General. |
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Korean Minister Likely Candidate to Replace Kofi Annan, but will the General Assembly Approve?
by Ayca Ariyoruk
On October 2, the UN Security Council voted 14 to 1 in an unofficial poll in support of South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon's bid to replace Kofi Annan. An official vote, which is likely to take place October 10 in the Security Council, will finalize the nomination. The soft-spoken minister, so far, has enough support in the council—nine affirmative votes with no vetoes are required—to stand before the General Assembly, whose 192 members must approve the council's selection.
Selecting the Next Secretary-General: Focus on UN Reform
by Suzanne DiMaggio
Published in Foreign Service Journal
UN Reform has been the hallmark of Kofi Annan's decade-long tenure. Finding a leader to continue that effort is critical.
Divided We Fall
by Ambassador William H. Luers
(June 2006)
Taking office on Jan. 1, 2007, Kofi Annan's successor will inherit a deeply divided United Nations. A newly empowered group of nations, which includes some of the United States' closest allies in the developing world, has put forward an agenda for reform that would increase the power of those bodies where their influence is greatest, principally the General Assembly, at the expense of the secretary-general and the Security Council. The current permanent members of the Security Council have defined the agenda of the U.N. for the past 60 years—and they want to keep on doing so.
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In the Search for a Secretary-General, "Today's UN" Must be Considered
by Suzanne DiMaggio
(March 2006)
It is self-evident that the demands currently being placed upon the UN are markedly different from those of just a decade ago, let alone since the organization's founding six decades ago. In many ways, the UN has become a peacekeeping and peacebuilding organization-a development that the founders of the UN could not have foreseen. Against this backdrop, the implications for the office of the secretary-general are significant.
Selecting the Next UN Secretary-General: Should Region Rule?
by Suzanne DiMaggio
(March 2006)
With Kofi Annan's second term set to expire at the end of 2006, the search for the world's top diplomat is gaining steam. Some observers have noted that the lack of clarity as to how the selection has unfolded in prior years has brought with it an element of flexibility that has been beneficial to the process. Others believe that while this may have worked in the past, the time has come to re-examine existing assumptions. One such assumption is that the region a candidate represents should matter.
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It's Asia's "Turn" for the Secretary-General Spot, but Which Candidate is Best?
by Barbara Crossette
(February 2006)
Though the idea is again gaining ground that it is Asia’s turn to nominate a secretary-general to replace Kofi Annan next January 1, there is not much of a campaign atmosphere in the region, and the dozens of countries that would qualify as Asian seem far from
agreeing on a common candidate.
A Woman Could Have the UN's Top Post
by Barbara Crossette
(January 2006)
While Americans, with an eye on Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, bat around the idea of women as presidential candidates in 2008, international women's groups are asking, "Why not a woman in the United Nations secretary-general's office in 2007?" Kofi Annan's second term-and last, he insists-will finish at the end of 2006, and there is a lot of discussion in the wake of a difficult year for the UN about whether there should be new thinking about how to choose his successor and what kind of leader the organization needs going forward.
Election Time at the UN: A Better Way to Choose the Secretary-General?
by Barbara Crosette
(November 2005)
Ambassador Thomas Pickering shares his ideas about the selection process, regional rotation and more with Barbara Crossette, a former New York Times UN bureau chief.
 An Historical Overview on the Selection of the United Nations Secretaries-General
(February 2006)
Selecting a United Nations Secretary-General: A Context for Reform?
(February 2006) |
