The General Secretary of the United Nations has more to do with the internal workings and administration of United Nations (UN) as an organization than anything else. Despite this, Kofi Annan was one of the most influential figures in the world politics during his time as General Secretary.

Kofi Anna’s stature was largely owing to his own personal charisma and goodwill. He was in office from 1997 till 2007, which was easily one of the most turbulent times in world politics. Even though the General Secretary does not hold any real powers and Annan belonged to a developing country from Africa, he made great contributions to world peace and will forever be remembered for it.

Kofi Annan the Gentleman

In a world driven by power politics, he used his personal standing and credibility to successfully mediate between the big powers. His commitment to world peace was admired by friends and foes alike. And that’s not all. In fact, Kofi Annan Kofi Annan was every bit a politician as well. He couldn’t have achieved what he did otherwise. While he staunchly subscribed to high moral ideals, he was at the same time well aware of the realities of the international affairs that were solely based on power politics.

The African Leader Who Took Difficult Decisions

Despite subscribing to idealistic principals, he was grounded in realities of world politics. Annan seemed willing to put up with the American hegemony as he provided carefully calculated support to the US intervention in Kosovo despite the Security Council not backing it. He hoped to persuade the US to work alongside other powers for world peace.

Annan was also especially mindful of the Russian situation in a post cold-war world. Owing to his knowledge and attention to detail, Annan managed to engage Russia into working alongside other powers to resolve matters related to world peace, such as the Kosovo episode and even the longstanding Palestine and Israel conflict.

He opposed the US intervention in the Iraq in 2003 but at the same time pushed for UN-led efforts in Iraq’s reconstruction post war. This was a master move to improve relations with Washington while pacifying other powers such as Russia and France who opposed the idea of the US rebuilding Iraq alone.

Through his work, Annan established that it was important to embrace the realities of international affairs, and that this did not necessarily mean kneeling down to the superpowers.

The name will always be remembered for the services he rendered for world peace, the stature that he restored to the seat of the United Nations General Secretary, and the pride that he brought to the African region.

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