Selecting the World's CEO

Brian Urquhart

From Foreign Affairs, May/June 1995

Article preview: first 500 of 2,839 words total.

Summary:  For the United Nations to manage the post_Cold War world effectively, its members must improve the selection process for the crucial job of secretary-general.

Brian Urquhart is a Scholar in Residence at the Ford Foundation. His most recent book is Ralph Bunche: An American Life.

During periods of international disaster, a troubled world feels the need for an outstanding full-time supervisor. At first, with the horrors of World War I still fresh in their minds, the founders of the League of Nations considered calling the head of their organization "chancellor." When World War II was at its height, the title "moderator" was suggested for the head of the future United Nations. In both cases, the wartime mood passed, and the more bureaucratic title of "secretary-general" was chosen.

From the outset, the U.N. secretary-general has been an important part of the institution, not only as its chief executive, but as both symbol and guardian of the original vision of the organization. There, however, specific agreement has ended. The United Nations, like any important organization, needs strong and independent leadership, but it is an intergovernmental organization, and governments have no intention of giving up control of it. While the secretary-general can be extraordinarily useful in times of crisis, the office inevitably embodies something more than international cooperation--sometimes even an unwelcome hint of supranationalism. Thus, the attitude of governments toward the United Nations' chief and only elected official is and has been necessarily ambivalent.

THE ROLE

Fifty-one years ago at Dumbarton Oaks, when the Allied powers met to discuss some of the details of a future international organization, their ambivalence about the secretary-general's role was already evident. They strongly opposed a secretary-general directly elected by the General Assembly, and they defended the veto held by the Security Council's permanent members--Britain, China, France, the Soviet Union (now Russia), and the United States--over the selection process. In fact, the permanent members have always controlled the appointment of the secretary-general, a responsibility that they have often failed to live up to. The founders of the United Nations were purposely ambiguous about the secretary-general's responsibilities. Despite President Roosevelt's vision of the job as a moderator, the primary function of the secretary-general as outlined in the U.N. Charter is to act as the chief administrative officer of the organization. Secondarily, he is obligated to carry out the decisions of the main organs of the United Nations. Only Article 99 of the charter opens the door to independent political action, and then not very wide. Under Article 99, the secretary-general "may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security." If the secretary-general has any independent political role, this article provides the mandate for it.

When the time came to appoint the first secretary-general, governments were extraordinarily vague regarding the position's qualifications. In September 1945, for example, the U.S. representative on the preparatory commission, Adlai Stevenson, told Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, "We favor the choice of an outstandingly qualified individual, preferably a figure who has attained some international position and preferably a national of a small or middle power"--not exactly an overwhelming job description. (The idea of a female secretary-general was never even considered.)

After some eminent ...

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