On July 15 in the RIA Novosti Press Center, ex-Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan presented his book Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, while discussing the relevant issues with RIAC President Igor Ivanov. In an interview with RIAC, Mr. Annan talked about the challenges facing the UN, ways to reform it, the implementation of the concept “Responsibility to Protect”, and the situation surrounding Syria.
On July 15 in the RIA Novosti Press Center, ex-Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan presented his book Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, while discussing the relevant issues with RIAC President Igor Ivanov. In an interview with RIAC, Mr. Annan talked about the challenges facing the UN, ways to reform it, the implementation of the concept “Responsibility to Protect”, and the situation surrounding Syria.
The UN Reform
I set about reforming the United Nations Organization straight away upon being elected Secretary General. To begin with, we defined what we could do ourselves, in what fields to cooperate with other institutions, and what to shift onto others, with changes aimed at turning the UN into an efficient international institution. Six weeks later, a leading U.S. edition ran an article about how I had failed with the reform. I met members of the Security Council to comment on the subject, and Sergey Lavrov, the then Russian Ambassador to the UN reminded me that even the Lord had six days to complete the Creation. “But the Lord had the wonderful advantage of being able to work alone,” I said.
The reform had one key point. I thought the UN should concentrate on three pillars that form the basis of our work around the world, i.e. support of democratic societies, supremacy of the law and respect of human rights. And human rights became the focus within the UN Security Council.
Today, the UN requires reform as well. The current environment and the UN Security Council structure reflect the geopolitics of 1995. But the world has changed and the United Nations must reflect the new reality. I was disappointed on having failed to complete the reforms when occupying the post of Secretary General. Anyway, concrete measures were proposed, and the reforms will take place sooner or later. I believe it will happen soon, otherwise the UN will face many problems.
Among other things, the Security Council must be definitely expanded. We have a billion-population India and Brazil, a Latin American leader. These countries must have a vote. The Security Council must offer its table to the leading powers able to face the new challenges to international cooperation.
Reforms are also a must for the decision-making mechanism. Currently, decisions are taken on a consensus basis, unanimously. But we need democratic and at the same time more effective tools for making decisions.
Interference and Conflicts
The Security Council’s function in interstate conflicts has become fundamentally different. Previously, UN forces were employed only after peace agreements governing interstate conflict had been signed. Now we are running into situations that require other decisions – Somalia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia. The Rwanda failure was a great tragedy for me. I understood that commitments for protection of the population in international conflicts must be different. We raised the issue about the need for new decisions, after which Canada put forward the "Responsibility to Protect" concept that obligates the international community to take appropriate measures for preventing humanitarian disasters.
Governments are obliged to protect the population from genocide, humanitarian and international crimes. The world community has the same obligation if the government fails to do so. The UN may pressure a state to take decisions on protection of its population. At that, intervention does not always mean the use of force, as it may also go about diplomatic efforts, commercial and trade pressure.
To my mind, the best example for the implementation of the R2P initiative was Kenya in 2007, when elections were followed by a conflict between the winning party and opposition. To resolve the conflict, we obtained an African Union mandate. A week after the conflict broke out, economic measures were taken to restrain Kenya's economic life. We worked together and reached an agreement to have the powers divided depending on the number of votes. As a result, a comprehensive reform package was developed to eradicate all the problems that had given rise to the conflict.
The Syrian Problem
When the Syrian conflict surfaced, I participated in a search for a compromise as a mediator. I believe that the developments there are a real tragedy. In June last year at the Geneva Conference, where I posed as the Arab League-UN Special Envoy, we adopted a communiqué stating that everyone agreed about the need for a decision to be made on a political settlement and the need for a transitional government. The point was to take measures to eradicate the chaos in the country and organize the protection of Syrians. In July 2012, I quit the mediating position and said that advancement required a political effort, including that from President Obama. While officials refrained from blaming the UN for the Syrian failure, the media did so. Nevertheless, the problem must be resolved by UN member-states. We must always realize that the UN consists of member-states that have their own mandates, influence, resources and power, which may be used to put an end to this or that conflict, while the UN is only a secretariat. Hence, nobody should shift the entire responsibility on the UN Secretariat.
The Security Council is effective only if it is united and speaks with one voice. If opinions of the Council members differ, the mission will not be accomplished. I saw views fragmenting, and saw that it was very difficult to put everyone in the same boat and proceed in the same direction. This was exactly the aim of the first Geneva Conference. We managed to sit around the table – all countries with influence in the region including five Permanent Members of the Security Council. But we failed to reach an agreement with Iran. The Saudi position was also missing, and finally our work turned fruitless.
A lot must be done to make the new Geneva conference on Syrian settlement effective. The opposing sides must speak to each other, and discuss the conflict in this way or another.
I think the situation in Syria is deteriorating, while a lot of time will pass before the first signs of improvement appear. I hope the new Geneva conference will be convened sooner and states agree to work together. And we must also accept the fact that Iran must become a decision-taking party.
Presentation of Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, a book by Kofi Annan
