Global Leadership: After the Cold War

Boutros Boutros-Ghali

From Foreign Affairs, March/April 1996

Article preview: first 500 of 4,540 words total.

Summary:  The United Nations has stepped forward to meet the challenges of a world simultaneously fragmenting and going global. The world body has led the way in defining human rights, assisting states as they grope toward democracy and the market, calling attention to ignored conflicts, and cooperating with nongovernmental organizations. But it cannot fulfill its destiny unless its members provide it with the funds and resources it needs. A strong and independent secretary-general is the key to the U.N.'s future.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali is Secretary-General of the United Nations.

A NEW ROLE FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The definition of the U.N. secretary-general's role is far from precise. The U.N. Charter identifies the secretary-general as "the chief administrative officer" of the United Nations, permits him to "bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security," and instructs him to perform those functions entrusted to him by U.N. organs, but it leaves much about the position a mystery. This is not a liability but an asset. The leeway the language of the charter provides is essential if the United Nations as a whole, and the secretary-general in particular, are to deal effectively with the rapidly changing complexity of human and international affairs.

During the Cold War, the superpowers controlled global decisions, and the ideological contest between them constrained the secretary-general. Today we are living in the midst of a worldwide revolution. With the end of the Cold War, an international system that had politically, economically, and strategically involved every country in the world disappeared almost overnight. As international trade and commerce have rapidly expanded, peoples and places have undergone unprecedented change. The explosion of scientific knowledge has produced remarkable inventions, and human horizons appear limitless. With the communications revolution, image is becoming more influential than fact.

As the 21st century approaches, the planet is in the grip of two vast, opposing forces: globalization and fragmentation. Globalization is creating a world that is increasingly interconnected, in which national boundaries are less important, and it is generating both possibilities and problems. Alarming environmental developments expose the earth to permanent damage and spur massive human migration. Transnational criminal activity grows. Even the spread of communications technologies, which has produced so much good, engenders pressures that our institutions were not designed to address.

And then there are the forces of fragmentation. Rising insecurity and unmet needs are leading people everywhere to seek refuge in smaller groups. This tendency can promote the healthy growth of civil society, as evidenced by the burgeoning of citizens groups and nongovernmental organizations acting in pursuit of public purposes. But fragmentation can also breed fanaticism, isolationism, separatism, and the proliferation of civil conflict.

History reveals that those caught up in revolutionary change rarely understand its ultimate significance. The outcome of the current transition period cannot yet be foreseen, but we are not helpless in the face of these global developments. The United Nations can help deal with the challenges that globalization and fragmentation pose now and in the future. It was designed to be both the world organization and the organization of its member states, responding both to global concerns and to the needs of member states and their peoples. As if in training for precisely this moment, the United Nations has in its 50 years gained enormous experience in contending with the problems that both trends have spawned.

In response to globalization, the United Nations has defined human rights for the international community. It has fostered ...

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