For all the high ideals in the Charter, the United Nations is a very down-to-earth and pragmatic organization, which for the most part deals with hard political realities rather than with sweet reason or ideal aspirations. The opportunities for inspirational leadership or crusading are exceedingly rare.
SO said U.N. Secretary-General U Thant last week as he prepared to vacate the post he has held since 1961, a job that the U.N.'s first Secretary-General, Trygve Lie, once characterized as "the most impossible in the world." In an ordinary year, the selection of a new...
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